- 01 Nov 08, 17:47#77347Well, from a McLaren perspective, things are not ideal. Ideally, Hamilton would have been a couple of further places up the grid. Hamilton doesn't really have much margin for error, is on the dirty side of the grid, and the first corner is always a nightmare at Interlagos. Raikkonen is going to be Massa's rear-gunner, Trulli has thrown a spanner in the works today and could do so tomorrow, and Alonso is directly behind Hamilton... There is a lot of things that go wrong, then. The only saving graces are that Kovalainen is beside Hamilton and that he can afford to finish fifth. In theory, rain will help McLaren, particularly because the MP4-23's tyres are getting absolutely smoked, but the drawbacks include increased likelihood of safety car incidents etc.. There's a lot for McLaren and Hamilton to consider.
Ferrari, on the other hand, will be pretty happy. Regardless of fuel levels, Massa and Raikkonen were both quick, and their cars looked to understeering much less in Q3. It's almost better that Raikkonen is third, for that's on the clean side of the grid. On top of that, Ferrari have little to worry about. The constructors' title is pretty well stacked in their favour and they've nothing to lose in the drivers' title.
Personally, I'm feeling pretty nervous. It only properly dawned on me whilst watching the qualifying on the TV that McLaren could officially win a world title for the first time in nine years tomorrow. It's been a long wait, made all the more painful because of several near misses etc.. Watching the race tomorrow is going to be very tense.

Ayrton Senna: WDC 1988,
1989, 1990, 1991
McLaren: WCC 1974, 1984, 1985, 1988, 1989, 1990, 1991, 1998,
1999, 2007McLaren: WDC 1974, 1976, 1984, 1985, 1986, 1988, 1989, 1990, 1991, 1998, 1999, 2008