It had to happen sometime, but I expected it to happen through bad luck, not stupidity. Lewis Hamilton retired from a Grand Prix for the first time this season, bringing the championship down to a three-way battle in the last race.
This wasn’t bad luck though, it was a direct result of bad decisions either by Lewis or by his team. It was obvious his tyres were completely worn out at least two laps before his exit. By the time he actually tried to get into the pits the canvas was clearly visible on one tyre and had been for about a lap. Why did they leave him out so long? What were they trying to achieve?
There was tyre confusion throughout the field thanks to some very variable weather conditions, which caused some people (like Sebastien Vettel) to get lucky with their strategy and some people to get unlucky but everyone else managed to get their drivers into the pits before they went ice skating.
Apart from the shock exit of Hamilton the race was another fairly dull one. The weather added some interest, and it was good to see Button fight his way up to a sixth place finish, but there still wasn’t a whole lot of racing.
Brazil is going to be very interesting. Lewis has to score at least six points to guarantee his championship if Alonso wins the race. If Kimi wins the race Lewis only needs three points. I expect Lewis to be very cautious, while Alonso and Raikonnen will throw caution to the wind and just go for it. I’m not sure about Kimi, but if Fernando gets the chance to push Lewis off the track he will take it.