Last year, McLaren won eight Grands Prix, and the combined total of the world championship points scored in the world drivers’ championship by Lewis Hamilton and Fernando Alonso exceeded the combined total scored by any other team’s two drivers. That statistic is something that people who like to describe 2007 as a bad year for McLaren would do well to remember.

If it’s not Massa v. Hamilton down the stretch, then Lewis is going to run away with the title. Ferrari has given Massa a car that can beat McLaren every week, but reliability is clearly a problem for them, and it could cost them one or both titles in the end. McLaren is clearly on top of their game- with harmony in the team as ooposed to chaos last season- and I don’t seem them fading out down the stretch.

Of course some times a driver scores points for two teams in one season, like Sebastian Vettel last year – his point from Indianapolis was counted by BMW and his points from later in the season went to Toro Rosso.

Rich

I did a post along these lines in May – it’s quite unusual for a defending champion to lose the title to his team mate the following year. However Alain Prost twice beat a title-holding team mate:

Could Felipe Massa ‘do a Prost’?

After China GP last year, Malasiang GP and Canada GP in 2008 I read Lewis get all fault for the bad results. In China all we know that the team has a huge responsibility on that incident and in Malasian this year Lewis recovered a penalty, a bad pit stop made by the team and never moaning about it.

After Bahrein he said: “A very poor performance. I sort of let the team down today. I’m as disappointed as you could be, I guess. As a professional, when you start off badly you need to pick things up and still deliver, and I did none of that for the team.”

What more do you want, mate?

This year he have been recovering from a sort of penalties and bad performances and never moaning o offering excuses about it. He is a true man, mate. Look what mature guys as Felipe and David say when they spin or crash into another driver…

I have no doubt that Lewis was under the weather, the point is if he brings it up after he loses it sounds like he’s offering excuses; that he could have won if he was feeling better.

I’d have liked it a lot better if he just said Felipe and Ferrari had our number this weekend, we’ll get back on pace at Spa.

As a McLaren fan I’m trying to get behind Lewis for the title, it’s a little difficult after his contributions to last year’s debacle.