It appears Lewis Hamilton's grovelling to the FIA has worked and he has avoided a suspension following his post-race comments after the Monaco Grand Prix. Moreover, the 2008 world champion apologised to both Felipe Massa and Pastor Maldonado via his Twitter page in the ensuing aftermath and I have no doubt he made his peace privately also.Allowing Hamilton to race rather then let him stew on the sidelines was a no-brainer. Hamilton is box office material for the sport and is quite simply a immensely talented racing driver. His emotions get the better of him on numerous occasions but we forgive him because what he produces on track is nothing short of mesmerising.
His overtaking prowess in F1 is still, in my eyes, unrivalled and that is another aspect to why he wasn't given a ban. Sebastian Vettel is romping away with the championship at present and it will be extremely difficult for anyone to overhaul his 58 point lead. After what we have seen from the opening six rounds of the campaign, Hamilton offers the best possibility of a duel for the 2011 title this season. He knows, deep down, he could have won at least three of the races so far but the luck is currently with Red Bull's star man.
You may feel I am biased because I am a fellow Brit and I prefer Lewis' driving style to Jenson Button's but let's face it, Hamilton has given Vettel the most food for thought this term. In Australia, Vettel was in cruise control but in Malaysia he was very fortunate to claim pole ahead of both Mclarens and his team-mate Mark Webber. Nick Heidfeld's sensational start in Kuala Lumpar put paid to Hamilton's assault. In China, Vettel was undone by clever strategy and Hamilton's incessant desire for victory but to say this was their first duel on an even keel would be misplaced. Hamilton was on fresher tyres; having a quicker car is only secondary to that. Their first battle of the season came at the Spanish Grand Prix, where I thought Vettel defended magnificently throughout.
Nevertheless, the Barcelona circuit isn't a playground for overtaking and although Hamilton appeared the faster driver, he was never close enough to make a move. In Monaco it wasn't just Hamilton who felt the win slipped from his grasp. His team-mate Button and Ferrari's Fernando Alonso could (and should) have beaten Vettel but it was to no avail. I think Red Bull played a masterstroke in Monte Carlo by only bringing in Vettel once. He proved in Spain how much his stoke defensively had risen and on a circuit where overtaking is nigh on impossible, I thought it was a perfectly executed strategy.
Reverting back to Hamilton for a second, he is also wonderful to watch around the Circuit Gilles Villeneuve and after all the tribulations of the past two weeks it really would not surprise me to see him blow the field away. With a F1 season which is turning into a one horse race, isn't that just what we need?
Josh.
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