7:15 on a Monday Morning

I don't believe it. It's 7:15 on a Monday morning, and I've been at work for 45 minutes.
I've been at work for 45 minutes because this morning I got up at 3am and watched the Brazilian Grand Prix, the final round of the world championship. Normally I don't watch Brazil as its on at such an awkward time, but there was no way I was missing this morning's race. Felipe Massa needed to win and Lewis Hamilton needed to finish 5th or worse, and Massa would win the World Championship. If Lewis finished anywhere higher than 5th, regardless of where Massa finished he would win the World Championship.

In the end it came down to the last corner of the last lap. I kid you not. Massa led the entire race, just got in front and never looked back. Hamilton on the other hand, lagged. At one point he was in 7th place, but mostly he just stayed in 5th. With 7 laps remaining it began to rain. Everyone jumped into the pits at the front but Hamilton didn't, bumping him up to third. Then, disaster! Sebastian Vettel in the Toro Rosso OVERTOOK Hamilton on the penultimate lap, putting him back in 5th place. Then, after Felipe Massa had crossed the line and the Ferrari team were celebrating the world championship, the third-placed Toyota of Timo Glock slowed almost to a halt, allowing Vettel and Hamilton to overtake him on the last corner, handing Hamilton 4th place and the World Championship.

There'll be recriminations over this. The topic will be endlessly debated for years: did Hamilton deserve the Championship? Did Glock deliberately slow his car? From where I sat it looked mighty suspicious. For the last 5 laps Glock had been running in the 1:18s, then on the last lap (with no interference from other cars and no change in the track) he ran a 1:44. He later claimed that he was struggling to drive his car in the wet.

But you know what? Whatever the way of the world, we now have a new World Champion and what's more for the first time ever he's of African descent. Formula One has never had many different races represented on the winner's podium. Winners have mainly been European, with the odd Brazilian thrown in. Now, however, Formula One can lay claim to being truly multicultural. And that can only be good.