It's a lot harder and there's a lot more pressure
Going into the final race of the season gives me a little bit of déjà vu. Lewis has a chance of winning the championship but I went into the final race of the 1999 season with a slim four-point lead and lost. On the plus side, it's a different scoring system now so Lewis has a better chance than I had as he only needs to finish behind Alonso. I just worry that because Alonso's brought himself and the team down this year, the only person he's left to bring down is Lewis and I can see an accident happening for him to complete the hat-trick. He can take the match ball home.
A mountainous task
Lewis made a mistake in China - it's as simple as that. Regardless of whether McLaren should have brought him in earlier or not, he made a mistake but it was an easy one to make so he should not be too hard on himself. McLaren have thrown everything at Lewis this year. They've given him the team-mate from hell, politics from hell, and a championship-winning car in his first season. He's in a championship leading position and had the lottery of two wet races in a row in changeable conditions. The guy's had to fu**ing climb Mount Everest after basically coming out of the womb!
He screwed up in China, made a mistake and took it in good grace. But what he was saying and what he would have been thinking were two different things, believe me! People have made a big issue out of the fact that it was a bizarre place to have a gravel trap on the outside of the pit entry but I actually think there should be more gravel traps. I don't agree with the fact that a driver can make a mistake, go off the track and come back on again. I think if you make a mistake, like in Monaco, you should hit a wall or get beached. But I prefer the idea of hitting a wall because you should pay the price for making an error.
A bizarre turn of events
As for the FIA bringing in their own moderator to check on McLaren during the weekend, I really don't know what's going on! I'm reading all the stuff between Jackie Stewart and Max Mosley and I kind of agree with both of them. I don't think Jackie is in the position to know all the details but at the same time you've got to agree with Jackie in that this has never happened before. I remember when I was at Ferrari and Michael went off and damaged his floor and because we only had two, they took the floor off my car and stuck it on his. Nothing was ever said. It was normal and I accepted it because I knew I was the number two and a new floor was worth two tenths a lap so he had to have it. I don't remember the FIA sending down an official about me losing my floor! It's quite bizarre what is happening and the teams should be allowed to look after their own matters.
Ron Dennis writes a cheque out for Alonso so if Ron Dennis tells Alonso he should stand on his head on the grid and it's in his contract, Alonso should have to do it. If you write the cheque out, you're the boss, end of story. Ron has been amazing in that he's let his drivers fight consistently the whole time at McLaren and it's always been the case. He's a real racer and he's in motor racing because of the sport and the same goes for Frank Williams. That's what the fans want to see, two drivers going head-to-head in the same car, winner takes all. But Alonso can't hack it having someone as good or better than him in the same car, so he's probably going to have to move to a less competitive team. At least he'll have an excuse then! I think he's lost the respect of 90% of Formula 1 fans apart from the Spanish. The two previous years he deserved the world title but not this year.
It can go any way now. McLaren and Lewis lost touch of what their job was in China because they had it in the bag. Now it's a lot harder and there's a lot more pressure. Anyone can walk away with this championship. Interlagos, contrary to belief, is an easy circuit. I went there and my car broke down on the first lap and I missed out the whole of the first day. I'd never been there before and on the second day I was quicker than Rubens within three laps and he knew the circuit like the back of his hand. If Lewis has a proper trainer, the anti-clockwise nature of the circuit should not provide too much strain on his body.
However, I have a sneaky suspicion Kimi Raikkonen is going to win this race but who knows the way this season has gone!
Enjoy the race,
Eddie Irvine.
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16th October 2007
