Hubris and heartbreak in Hungary

Why oh why do British pundits never learn? Why do they always talk up the prospects of a team, athlete or racing driver only to end up having to hang their heads in shame. (Before the brickbats begin flying my way, let me assure all of you that I am as guilty as the worst of them.) Lewis Hamilton's relaxed manner after yesterday's qualifying had all the hacks reaching for their thesauri in search of superlatives. "Hamilton's confidence has spooked the opposition," they said. "Hamilton is so self-assured that you have to begin to wonder whether anyone has the gumption to challenge him." Well, Hamilton didn't win the race, Heikki Kovalainen did. And congratulations to him for his luck.

We need to be careful of these hubristic pronouncements. They could well be what did for Michael Schumacher in 1999 and Lewis Hamilton in 2007.

Even you weren't a Ferrari fan, you could not help but sympathise with the hapless Felipe Massa. What absolutely rotten luck. What has he done to deserve this? He qualified in third but more than redeemed himself at the start of the race by leapfrogging both McLarens - Hamilton, embarrassingly included - and then proceeded to command the Hungaroring as if he had Hapsburg blood running through his veins. But it was not to be. Three laps to the chequered flag, his engine decided it had had enough. What started out as a disaster for Hamilton and McLaren ended up rather neatly with Hamilton leaving Hungary still in the lead of the world championship.

It looks to me as though luck will be the story of the 2008 season. A quiet word in your ear: in a season such as this, you would be ill advised to take any betting tips from yours truly. But then again, you've got to live a little, haven't you?

Gitau
4 August 2008