Lewis puts F1 back on track

WELL, what a great season of Formula One motor racing.

Hats off to Lewis Hamilton for banishing the ghosts of last season to become the youngest ever world champion.

I have been an avid F1 fan for several years now, and I feel I’m in a minority. Sure people will tune in on a Sunday afternoon while tucking into their roast dinner, but that is only because the engine noise drowns out the mother-in-law.

But now Hamilton has injected some British driving success into the sport for the first time in more than a decade, perhaps audiences will come flooding back, especially if the showdown in Brazil is anything to go by. The ITV coverage of the race was watched by in excess of 13million viewers.

It goes without saying that the British support in most sports is somewhat fickle. If we are not winning, we are not interested. We have had flirtations with curling and most recently cycling, mainly because our nation has actually won something.

Hamilton’s championship victory could be the catalyst to attract new interest from these shores into the multi-million pound sport of F1.

But is it not just a bunch of millionaire playboys driving around a track for an hour and a half? Oh no. It is much more. The physical demands on the drivers is astounding and, although the season is finished, they will be hammering the treadmills from now until March. People who instantly dismiss the sport need to take a closer look.

It has to be said that F1 was always going to struggle to reach new audiences during the Schumacher years. What was the point in tuning in when the result was pretty much guaranteed? But in the immediate seasons following the German’s retirement we have seen some great wheel-to-wheel racing.

My biggest complaint with F1 broadcasts over the last decade has been the advert breaks, which always seem to be aired while all the best action is taking place.

But the BBC have snapped up the rights to F1 from next season so that won’t be a problem.

I have to admit I’m not the biggest fan of Hamilton. He’s a bit too clean cut for my liking. Drivers like David Coulthard would always speak their mind and we are not going to see the next James Hunt or Eddie Irvine in a hurry.

But for now Hamilton will do. He has reinvigorated a sport and looks destined to become a global phenomenon, especially if more world titles follow. But if I had a piece of advice for the Stevenage-born speed demon and his father Anthony, it would simply be: “Don’t take yourselves too seriously. Have a laugh - you have earned it.”