Glad you could get that in person, I don't remember seeing a shot of Hamilton at the hairpin that gave much of a feel of what was happening. The Massa pass remains vivid in my mind, though. How he stayed so far to the inside of the hairpin when the other two drivers were drifting out so wide I will never know. Sounds from your description like LH had the hairpin figured out too. They have to go around that corner at such a slow velocity that you can really see a lot. I remember seeing cars go by in a support race as we were walking to our seats and you are really on top of the action there.

Actually, Jayhawk, it was nothing specific that LH did that was impressive, it was how he minimized sliding exiting the corner, not going wide and setting himself to hit the apex of the next turn in a nearly straight line.

J-Ugly (cool name for a rapper): No sweat... a Ronnie Peterson avatar gets you alot of slack... I still believe you're a true fan... I know I am, and I have a big goose egg going... no lie, I honestly thought Heikke would do it in Germany... I got no vibe on the guy at all for Hungary... who knew?

Mr. Kia, you must have sat close to where I did in '97, but I was a couple of stands farther down the track and could see the hairpin, but the large screen was hard to see from where I was. Bummer. Massa's pass did look really good on TV, but don't remember seeing LH doing anything at the hairpin. I think the WDC is still pretty much up in the air, but if I had to bet on one I would have to pick KR, with LH only a hair behind him, and Massa a tiny bit behind LH. What happens in the next few races should be interesting. Because to me this one could go right down to the wire if LH doesn't show a lot of speed in the next couple of races. He seems to have the pace in qualifying (and Heikki, too) and the Ferrari have a lot of speed over the course of the race.

Jump, calm down, man. <br /><br />Seriously it is very hard to pick drivers in the right position. Mr. Kia picked three drivers in one race, several have picked two, but it ain't easy.

OMG! My avatar would slap me if he saw where I am in the standings.<br />I'm embarrassed to even post. I feel like Fisi, Sato, Lela Lombardi!<br /><br />Honey! My Pills!

I shall not belabor the point that I was lucky/stupid enough to run my credit cards up to the hilt and see Montr?al this year, but Hamilton and Massa were the two drivers who impressed me the most. I was at the hairpin; Massa's pass was electrifying. And it was at the hairpin, where the track was "falling apart," where I could see Lewis' talent and how he was the best driver on the circuit. Unfortunately, from the hairpin, I could not see pit row except on the large screen.<br />Right now, with all due respect to Mr. Hill, I'd bet on LH and FM, in that order. I think Felipe is due for a dose of good luck with a thank you to the Lord.

When I saw the photo, I thought the article was going to be some new revelation about who the song "Faster" was about, & then I see it's Damon Hill!<br /><br />Damon was never my favorite driver, but by the time he got his F1 race ride, he was pretty much up in years (especially with regard to modern GP drivers) & he did all right. Don't know if it was accurate, and I suspect it relates only to post-WDC races (since 1950), but they said on Speed that when Hekki won the Hungarian GP, he was only the 100th driver to win a GP. To win a GP puts one in a very exclusive club, and to win a WDC is even more exclusive. Ol' Damon deserves credit (& by all accounts his dad was a fabulous driver - I never saw him drive, but a friend of mine saw him at the Glen and said you could tell he was coming by his downshifts - he blipped & hit every gear on the way down, like a metronome).

Anyone who doubts Damon Hill is a great driver need look no further than the championships won by Mansell and Prost. News Flash: Damon Hill was the test driver for that incarnation of the Williams, and put in the bulk of the hard work and grind that made that car what it was. It was only fitting that he would go on to win a World Championship in it, and should have had two.

George, I mean Damon, should have won two WDC's if Schumi hadn't used him like a crash dummy, like Otis said.

Wow, I've seen street people who look to be in better shape than that picture of Damon. I have to agree with lawman, Damon Hill is not on my list of alltime great drivers, even if he is a WDC.<br /><br />But I would have to agree that LH lost some momentum at Hungary, and KR (and Massas too, even with his bad luck at the end) gained momentum in the WDC chase.

LG: It was mentioned in jest, yes...<br /><br />You guys are all in trouble in Valencia... I'm hitting the Magic 33... you just wait... my devotion to Force India is going to pay off huge...

HeyOtis! - did someone mention Point Totals?!?<br /><br />Gents - here are the Point Totals in the WWF1FFPL after the British, German and Hungarian GP's:<br /><br />Lawman85: 30<br />Snickers: 26<br />BBSurfer: 25<br />EvesDrpr: 21<br />Chicane: 20<br />Joe1109: 20<br />LBGP76: 20<br />KingGnr: 18<br />SBandit: 18<br />CR535: 16<br />Vailoce: 16<br />tkAudi: 15<br />Gnid: 15<br />GoGoYub: 15<br />Jayhawk: 10<br />UberOwn: 10<br />BMW2003: 10<br />Digitalis: 10<br />DrBeaker: 9<br />Fin2Win: 6<br />S4KLR: 6<br />moTribe: 5<br />JumpUgly: 4<br /><br />All other posters: 0<br /><br />And, yes - Damon Hill looks a lot more like George Harrison than Ringo Starr..

Chicane... don't be bitter... just hold true to your beliefs and stay the course... <br /><br />I, for instance, have been pulling for Sutil since Australia... ask anyone (my points total is all the proof you should need...)

Damon got alot of sympathy because Schumacher used to use him as a Crash Test Dummy... plus his Pop was a pretty awesome driver... he won the WDC at a time when the UK was desperate for a winner, and he's riding it for all it's worth, I would imagine...<br /><br />My most recent memories of Damon are his performances at Goodwood on the bikes (good rider) and cars (he took Nick Mason's priceless '62 Ferrari GTO into the gravel... I bet Nick never let him near the car again...).

Never did like Damon Hill...he only could win with the very best equipment and all the stars aligned .Looks like he needs to clean himself up as well as the BRDC .If he thinks that the last race determined this years championship then he needs to take up cricket.There is plenty of action left and its anyones championship ...just waiting for someone to step up and take it.

How about the phrase "you don't want no. one drivers in a team". I've said I like the talent Lewis has shown at such an early age but I love the competition of having four guys still in it. Battle on!<br /><br />No Jumpy, that's not the ghost of George but it does kinda look like him. It also looks like Damon has gone over to the wild side.

Damon Hill flip-flopping again.Just a couple weeks ago he was ready to go all-in with LH.<br /><br />He must be learning from some of our posters here.This week they are FA fans,next week they are Kimi fans and most recently they have become FM fans.<br /><br />Seems that they are more like anyone-that-passes-LH fans to me.<br /><br />Which driver will they be a fan of next race?

jumpinugly,<br /><br />The "key phrase" was -<br /><br />"If you had asked me before the race, though, who I would put money on, I would have said Lewis, but I have to say I would want my bet back."<br /><br />Point is I think Hill would bet on Kimi or Massa over Lewis. That passing move at the start had a real impact.

JU, I think the key phrase is: "...so as an outside bet, I'd put my money on Raikkonen."<br /><br />He didnt say he expects Kimi to win but betting on him would yield a higher return.