Eurosport - Mon, 03 Nov 23:51:00 2008
Timo Glock said Lewis Hamilton won the World Championship by his own skills shown throughout the season and not because of the German's tyre choice for the final laps of the Brazilian Grand Prix.
Glock opted to stay on dry-weather tyres as light rain fell in the closing stages of the race and though he did not lose too much time initially, the final lap proved crucial as Hamilton passed him in the last few hundred metres to give the Briton the fifth place he needed to win the title.
"It was a hard race. I tried my best to get some points for Toyota," Glock told BBC Radio Five Live.
"Six laps from the end I asked about the tyre situation and about the weather conditions and I said every time 'I'll stay out, one more lap, one more lap' and at the end I stayed out for the whole race.
"That last lap just cost us the chance to be in the top five, and in the end decided the World Championship," added Glock, who finished sixth, behind race winner Felipe Massa, the Brazilian who would have taken the title had Glock held on to fifth place.
"I think at the end I didn't give the title to Lewis, I think they worked for that the whole year, and Felipe as well," he said.
"They both did a really great job all year and in the end it was a dramatic finale.
"I think it's exactly what the fans want to see - maybe the Brazilian fans are not on my side any more but I tried my best and drove my race, and in the end I can't change it."
Comment 471 - 490 of 530
Art T - the advantage of the BBC is that no missing anything for ads. Schumacher has proven himself to be the most successful driver of all time & will take some beating. LH has been in one of the best cars on the grid so you can't really make a comparison since Schumi started his career in a midfield car fighting against the likes of the late Ayrton Senna.
LH will never be as good as Schumi because he doesn't have the same mental agility - he may be fast but that's it.
mitevski - another @#$%
The BBC is full of pompous riff raff taking your Licence Fees and you want to defend them jbolan ?
Or do you believe M Lewis is not more successful than Michael Schumacher 24 months into their respective careers ?
What are you a piece of @#$% Wipe ?
jbolan:
try these ones fresh from the school playground:
"I know you are but what am I?"
or
"my dad is bigger than your dad"
or
"miss he started it"
or
better to be a peruvian (insert comment here) than a western sheep"
or
"your (head/bum/etc) is so big that you can't get through doors"
they should be about your level, jbolan.
jbolan posts 497 - 500:
Is that the best you can do?
hahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahaha hahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahaha
It is what it is, stop whining. If any of you played sports in the past and/or present you know that things like this happen. You don't hear any of the drivers @#$% and whining about it, so why do you?
Look everyone - the whole speculation about Glock getting a payout is getting tired. Whether he did or didn't doesn't matter - LH is the World Champion. The end was gripping stuff and hopefully a sample of what we have to look forward to next season! I would rather Massa won but he didn't. I have been watching F1 for many years & have long been a Ferrari fan. Both drivers this year have benefitted from FIA intervention so it is absurd for those LH fans to state that only Ferrari & Massa have benefited. Both drivers have given it their all and either one deserved the title - yesterday wasn't Felipe's day.
As for those who believe LH was robbed last season - consider this, if a horse in the Grand National is disqualified after winning would the jockey still be classed as a winner. The answer is simple - NO!!! Maclaren had their car effectively disqualified in 2007, had Hamilton won then it would have been a travesty - if the car is disqualified/excluded then logically so is the driver of the car since points gained for the driver's championship are gained by finishing in the top 8 in a car that has been disqualified.
Congratulations to LH, commiserations to little Felipe. Good Luck next year Felipe & Kimi.
Pull the other one Glock.
Wel now MASSA nows how LEWIS felt last year when he let KIMI past to win by one point hahahaah GODS wil
#486. What planet are you on the Red Baron has been retired for 2 whole seasons he has done, finished wake up even Michael reckons Lewis stands a very good chance of breaking his records !
And as it stands after 24 months Lewis is ahead of Michael's first 24 months in terms of like for like points, wins and Championships.
Jeremy Clarkson is a complete knobhead he should be sacked immediately :-)
david.d.parker
He made rookie mistakes last year and the best man won. Ths year Glock decided the title because lewis showed once again that when it maters the most he's a flop. He cant drive under pressure so glock let him go by. Massa was robbed this year i just wonder how much money Glock got for not holding on 200 more meters.
I 100% agree with post #504
The championship is seal and sign, the true winner is the CHAMPION
Lewis Hamilton not only done it he had to take on the so called Stewards
all.
Well done and GOOD LUCK to you.
Tuco Benedicto: Complete Arsh#l#. Fact
Joe B
Bourdais and Force India use Ferrari engines, Massa was penalised twice, Kimi twice. The fact is that Ron Dennis is arrogant and feels he and McLaren should be above the rules, when he retires you'll see how differently the FIA treat McLaren. I'm a great lover of the sport and give all congrats to Hami, he had a fantastic season, but I'm tired of hearing people whine about Ferrari favouritism in the FIA. Ferrari just are smart enough to realise you don't bite the hand that feeds you (or steal from other teams-absolutely unforgivable)
schumacher is still the best..no way will lewis win as much as the rainmaster/red baron...
diablito89130 whatever happened last season should have no bearing whatsoever on the season thats just finnished who are you trying to fool? Only an idiot would not see the blindingly obvious bias towards ferrari not just against Mclaren what about poor Force India and Bourdais?
FIA = Farrari's Injustice Association
The pull of the front and the coming cars force him into the single possible alternative to stay on track – namely continue countering the lack of grip using the motor by slowing down the braking process, follow-up the reaction of the front entering the natural inertia line and take the long trajectory for turning thus recovering the contact with the track and keeping the racing line clean to avoid accident. As Vetel and Lewis pass him, Timo already gets out of the turn and has one last problem to solve if he is to keep his 6th position. Acceleration. To do that, he simply follows tightly Lewis’ back after the exit and uses his tracks to carefully accelerate. What could have done Schumacher differently? He would have known in advance what trajectory to take and how his decision would affect the behaviour of the car. Remember – as you read this, the pilot should take these decisions within a fraction of a second!!! With his prodigious driving prowess Schumacher would have hold his position in front of Lewis for … another half or a full second. That is a lot! It is just an example of what margin of error Lewis had to keep the championship. What is the other alternative for Schumacher in the shoes of Timo 6 laps to go? Use the remaining 2 laps with the dry tires and than 3 to go pit and take the wets as the rain increases. Than use all of his prodigious driving skills to … eventually challenge Lewis in the last turn – something Lewis will already know from the box and will anticipate taking the best defensive line and having to keep of Schumacher for 1 turn. At F1 the odds of success in such an attack are almost equal to the odds of Lewis’ engine blowing up in the same time. Finally and simply said – if Glock wanted to be behind Lewis, he would have simply pit and he would not be blamed for anything. And that is the simple truth here.
From an Alonso Fan
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