BENCHWARMER

Ramon S. Dacawi
Formula for a carless Sunday

(My son Johanne, a Ferrari fan without a car and father of two boys addicted to Ferrari models, writes this week’s column.)

Last year, when he was sitting on a seven-point lead in a Mclaren Mercedez, rookie Lewis Hamilton cracked under pressure at the final race of the season at Interlagos in Brazil. Kimi Raikkonen won by a point and Ferrari ended a dramatic, thrilling and scandalous year as winner of both the drivers’ and constructors’ championships.

I was reflecting on this when I was about to take a nap on a Sunday afternoon. I wanted to rest so I could gain enough energy to watch the final race on the calendar. This might sound overboard, but last year's race in Interlagos was enough to stop an old man's ticker.

So at about ten to six in the evening my wife tried to wake me up. After a while my elder son Lukie came to tell me it was about to start. I was already awake, praying in bed that Hamilton would crack up again. I was getting out of bed when my wife came in for the second time.

It was raining hard in Brazil. I held my little two-year old Dylan between my legs and hugged him tight. This was to contain my excitement, tokeep me from jumping up and down the living room. But when the red lights went off, I found myself hopping with Dylan in my arms.

He was competing at home and so Massa took control of the entire race. He needed to finish on top and Hamilton to place sixth on the standings to win the driver’s title. For Hamilton, he just needed to finish fifth or Massa to finish lower than first place to clinch the championship.

I thought this was the first time I saw Hamilton drive his MP4-23 like he was slightly pulling on the reins. I thought he was calm and his aggressiveness was not there. At the end of the race he said that his heart was in his mouth the whole time and that this was one of the most difficult races he ever did.

Of course it was! Because a seven point lead was nothing. He didn't only have to worry about the red cars. There were also two teams who were using Ferrari engines and they would definitely help their supplier in any way they can. There's also Fernando Alonso, who fell out badly with Hamilton when he was at Mclaren Mercedez, who said he would help Massa win.

My wife and Lukie wanted Hamilton to win. Dylan can not talk yet but I know he was for the Rosso car. It was painfully hard to accept that for six long years my own flesh and blood was a Ferrari fan like his Pa. But now Lukie sided with Hamilton and his Silver car. The reason for this, the kid told me one time, was because Hamilton won in the first race of the season.

And he predicted that he would then win the championship.

OK . . . . . Where did that come from? I tried to tell him that the passion and speed of the legendary "Prancing Horse" of Maranello is to die for. There was nothing I could do to persuade him, he was dead serious in his decision. In a last attempt, I told him I was his father! He calmly replied, "sei sempre il mio papa." (You are always my father)

My wife was rooting for Hamilton just to annoy her better half. Many times during the race, the camera man focused on the people on the box to have some sort of a break from the cars that go in circles around the circuit. There you see the team, some guest stars, the families of the drivers and their girlfriends or wives. You could tell how the race was going on from their faces.

What I liked to see were the facial gestures of the fathers of the drivers. Especially when their sons lose or make a serious mistake on the track. That look they have that says "It’s okay, my boy, it’s all fine and I'm still proud of you!" You can really see that special bond of father and son in Formula One. And in every race, win or lose, the fathers are just happy and thankful their sons crossed the finish line unharmed.

I saw something strange at the paddock of the Mclaren Mercedez team and told my wife about it. My wife didn't believe me at first but when they showed that Pussycat Doll again wearing a sexy red dress, it was like someone poured a bucket of cold water on her when she saw the Doll.

Quickly she said that she didn’t care about Hamilton any more - win or lose. It was like she was breaking up with someone and I was like, Uuhh okay. . . . . ? where did that come from! The girl in the red dress was Nicole Prescovia Elikolani Valiente Scherzinger, Hamilton’s girlfriend.

Back to the race. On the final laps the race stewards predicted it would rain again. Massa was beyond reach but it wasn't enough to lead him to the crown. He needed a miracle and the home crowd did the rain dance, Brazilian style. The heavens granted their wish.

On lap two all the cars went in for wet tires except for one, driver Timo Glock on a Toyota. Coming out of the pits the Brazilians cheered Massa on. As I knelt down in front of the TV with clasped hands pressed on my lips, my heart was beating so fast like I was ready to faint. When Massa passed by the final stretch to start his last lap, the cheering crowd sounded like a typhoon. Never in my sports watching life had I heard that kind of sound from the fans in any sport.

The volume of cheering doubled as Sebastian Vettel and Timo Glock made a pass on Hamilton, who was running fourth. Hamilton lost the title on that short moment that made the crowd wild as hell. But he held his nerve and drove on until he reached the final corners to see the Toyota struggling for grip on the wet tarmac. I got up and lost my temper. I cursed in front of the TV while my family was watching. I couldn't believe it. I couldn't believe myself after.

Driving on his parade lap, the Brazilian driver was addressed on the radio that he didn't make it. As he parked his car in the winners circle, still with his helmet on, he held his tears with his hands while his gloves were still on, too. I thought he was trying to stop his tears. A very emotional Felipe cried with the heavens as he beat his chest several times to dedicate the race to his fellow men. He won the race but lost the title.

My poor son Lukie didn't comprehend what went on during the final laps. He was in tears, too, as he thought Hamilton lost but wasn't sure. I comforted him and explained what happened. Lewis Hamilton made history.

When we were all preparing for bed that night. Lukie asked me to buy him a poster of the 2008 world champion like the poster we have on Ferrari and Kimi Raikkonen last season. Tucking him in bed I said we'll see. But deep down in me I promised to get him one.

As I kissed Dylan and then Lovelyn goodnight, brushing away the thoughts of her faded support on the new world champion, I was thinking about how Hamilton lost by a point the last time and in this race he won on that single point. It was a momentous win and nothing could have been better on how the race ended.