I predicted a Kimi Raikkonen win in my last column and I actually believe that Kimi would have won if he hadn't made a mistake in qualifying. But that's F1 and any little mistake can cost you and Felipe took full advantage.
As for Lewis, I believe that if he'd been on less fuel in qualifying, he would have been on pole and probably would have won the race. I think McLaren definitely screwed up on strategy there.
Of course, Lewis was unlucky with the puncture and would have finished ahead of Alonso - that said, he still drove a blinding race and he's showed Alonso the road. He was unlucky, but he can take comfort from the fact that Alonso's still a worried man. That's why I'd say Lewis has still got to be favourite even though the gap has been cut to just five points. He's the one who makes the fewest mistakes.
Media madness
Off track, a lot of the media focus has been on Lewis saying he wants to escape the country due to excessive media intrusion, but in my opinion it is more likely to be for financial reasons. These days it doesn't matter where you live, the media will always find you - but that is their job and the public should just remember that what you read is not always true. But I must say, if I was in Lewis' shoes, the media would be doing my head in! The guy comes out of the cinema with his mate and his mate's girlfriend and they turn his mate into the bouncer and the girlfriend into his girlfriend! It's hilarious! The newspapers have got ridiculous and I don't know how they get away with what they write. A newspaper is not a newspaper by definition any more, it's just a rag. By the sounds of it, he's trying to get a new girlfriend every week.
The other big news is that Alonso is still demanding number one status and McLaren aren't granting it to him. His arrogance last year made him feel that it was not necessary to stipulate it in his contract - he was not prepared for the impact of Lewis. Whoever his advisor is, he's either giving him crap advice or he doesn't bother listening to his advisor. He has undermined his brand completely - Good luck to him if he wants to leave for another Team. His problem is that if Lewis is beating him this year, he's going to murder him next year. Don't forget that Lewis still has a lot of things to learn, unlike Alonso who has a number of years of F1 experience behind him Next year, Lewis is going to be even stronger. The last thing Alonso wants is to look like he's getting buried by a 22-year-old which is what's going to happen next year, so he may jump ship. It's only going to get worse and it's already really bad!
An electric atmosphere
Next up it's Monza and it's a really, really hard race to predict. I'll put my neck out and say Raikkonen will win from Massa and Hamilton.
I actually hated Monza as a track but the atmosphere is electric. Even when I finished on the podium with Jaguar Racing I got an amazing reception because I was still seen as a Ferrari driver. Michael Schumacher was on top of the podium but the Italians were cheering for me because Michael's German and Italian's aren't big on Germans! The Italian fans are the most fanatical in the world in my opinion.
Italy and Milan are amazing places and I'd encourage everyone to go there, F1 fans or not. I am going to be filming over the weekend in Monza and Milan as the TV cameras follow me around - just hope the camera crew are used to very late nights and early starts!!! If you are going, the best restaurant is La Resaca but you may have trouble finding it and the best club in Milan is Hollywood. I still go to La Resaca and the owner of Hollywood was on my boat over the last two weeks!
Italy is probably my first home and I still have a place in Milan. Great for eye candy too because it's probably the modelling capital of Europe! The parties are always good and everyone looks fantastic.
Anyway, enjoy the race wherever you're watching it!
Eddie Irvine.
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Watch video: Renault hope for first podium finsh
4th September 2007
