Sunday

THE WINNER TAKES IT ALL

Today I went to check the Autosport website, as you do, and saw this article about Kimi Raikkonen. It quotes Raikkonen as saying he 'cannot afford to lose more ground' if he is to end the 2012 season as world champion. The reason why I'm mentioning this in a blog post is because I was almost amazed by Raikkonen believing that the world championship could still be his this year.

You all know that Fernando Alonso has enjoyed a terrific first half of the season and is therefore the current leader of the title battle. A lot of people are saying that the season is far from over and that Vettel, Webber, Hamilton and Raikkonen all have a chance at snatching the title from Alonso. I disagree...


I am one of those annoying people who starts thinking about the title and who will emerge victorious at the end of the season after approximately the third race of the season. I still enjoy every race as an individual and as they come but I do make rash assumptions about the title outcome. Last year we would have all been saying Vettel's won it, for obvious reasons, but this year provided a lot more surprises and unpredictability and there was a general consensus that the title fight would go down to the wire! We had seven different winners from the first seven races; a statistic I never get tired of hearing and one I loved watching break records as the races went on. I was enjoying not being able to tell who will win the championship and was enjoying it even more that my preferred driver, so to speak, was right in the mix (sorry Jenson fans)!


But then the European Grand Prix changed everything! I just felt absolutely certain from then on that Fernando Alonso would definitely take his third championship this year. I don't know exactly why I was so sure of the outcome considering so much has been changing this season and he hadn't accumulated a massive lead. Since then my theory had only been confirmed by the Spaniard as he went on to win in Germany as well as picking up strong points finishes elsewhere. From my perspective everything seems to be going right for Alonso so far. His car has good reliability and his talent as a driver able to outperform his machinery is certainly shining through. On top of this, his rivals just keep taking points off each other so no single driver is able to consistently cut down Alonso's lead.

Fernando's nearest challengers are the Red Bull boys; Mark and Sebastian! The latter is the driver we all think can realistically catch up to Alonso, despite Mark actually leading Sebastian in the standings. If neither of these two can win the title this year their inter-team battle is also an interesting one to keep an eye on. The fact that Webber and Vettel are closer to Alonso than Raikkonen means he has several drivers to beat before he can reach the number 1 spot.


Nevertheless, he has the 'spirit' of a racing driver and I'm sure all of the top 5 are thinking that the title can still be theirs. And that just means the racing will get that little bit more exciting! None of them will give up and with updates coming for cars, a bit of time away and a chance to refocus and realise what they are targeting will mean they are all heading to Spa and into part 2 of the season with only one goal in mind...

Oh and as for the other title, Red Bull have got that one!

I would personally love to be proven wrong and see a lot more chopping and changing at the top of the standings; much like what we saw only a few months ago. What do you think? Has Alonso already got his third WDC wrapped up or is there another driver who can take it from him?

Aqsa, @aqsasformula

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