Home Of Tong

Kimi who? Some of you might ask. But if you really have no clue about him you have just missed the Formula 1 race of the season.

You see, yesterday, or rather, early this morning (at midnight actually), drama unfolded in the last F1 race of the season at Sao Paolo, Brazil. Not since 1986 has there been a 3 way fight for the Driver’s Championship going into the last race. The standing before the race goes like this:

• Lewis Hamilton, McClaren, 107pts
• Fernando Alonso, McClaren, 103pts
• Kimi Raikkonen, Ferrari, 100pts

Hamilton is expected by many to take the Championship during the last race but crashed out. Still, many expect him to still win the Championship as long as he can get a podium finish, something which he had consistently did during the course of the season. Alonso can only win the Championship if he wins the last race and hope Hamilton falls out of the top 3. For Raikkonen, or Kimi as I like to call him, the race is a lot tougher. He will need Alonso to finish 3rd or lower, and Hamilton to finish out of the top 6, and he himself needs to win this last race for any chance to win the Championship. Nobody really gave him a chance to win as all eyes are focused on the 2 McClarens

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But nobody expected the Ferrari to change the script. Massa at pole and Hamilton 2nd, followed by Kimi and Alonso on 3rd and 4th respectively. The stage seems set for Hamilton to win, but Ferrari had other ideas. The 5 red lights go off signaling the start of the race, at turn 1, Massa went in front of Hamilton, blocking him and allowing Kimi to move pass Hamilton, Kimi almost went pass Massa at the same time but Massa kept cool and fight hard to maintain the lead. Ferarri 1-2. Hamilton immediately tried to fight back to go pass Kimi, but only to give Alonso the chance to overtake him into 3rd position. A panicky Hamilton (that’s how I envision it) tries to win back 3rd position from Alonso but overdid it and went off course, joining back out of the top 8. So it’s Massa-Kimi-Alonso taking the lead and Hamilton at a distant behind.

Nothing is going to stop Hamilton from challenging though and he fought back to be in the top 8 only to be let down by a gear box problem, dropping him out of the top 8 again. In the end, his 3 stops strategy failed to work in his favour, while the Ferrari, especially Kimi, have an absolutely perfect race. Kimi overtaking Massa after the 2nd pit stop and lead all the way to the chequered flag, with the McClaren simply unable to keep pace. Alonso finished some 57s behind, and Hamilton, a lap behind at 7th.

So, a perfect race with a perfect result help Kimi and Ferrari achieved the almost impossible as Ferrari clinched both the Driver and Constructor Championship for the F1 2007 season. Next season will be another excellent season to watch as Kimi tries to defends his title against Hamilton who would have absorbed this season’s experience, and Alonso will be gunning for the Championship too, most likely with a new team (or old team), and I reckon it will probably be Renault. Massa will be no pushover too after winning 3 races this season, and only some unfortunate mechanical problem causes him to be out of the Championship race this season. Also, with a possible night race in Singapore and some new tracks added to the calender, next season promises to be quite spectacular.

After a long ‘absence’, I guess I have to write about this, especially as it just happened, and happened so dramatically. Yes, I am going to write about my beloved Liverpool.

You see, Liverpool visits Everton today for the traditional Merseyside Derby, and any Liverpool fans know that this is THE biggest match of the season, bigger than even the Liverpool-ManU match. It gives the victor bragging rights till the next Merseyside Derby come along. This is especially so for those living in Liverpool. Yes, the blue and the red separate the otherwise quiet and peaceful city and if the team you support wins it, you can lift up your head a little higher walking on the street. Such is the passion of football that those who don’t watch will never understand.

I have been a Liverpool fan since I know what a football is, so moments like this just gets my adrenalin rises up. Most people have been critical of the team this last few weeks, even though they have yet to lose a match in the BPL. You sometimes wonder what you must do to keep the critic happy, and than you think deeper and the answer will come out, “NOTHING”. Yes, absolutely nothing, unless you win 5-0 every match, playing superb attractive football everytime, and don’t change a single player every match. No, after a while they may say you are too one dimensional. So I got sick of reading news after news about this so call ‘expert’, who I wonder if they are so good why is no club clamoring for their signature to sign for them as their manager, who picks on every little fault and expect a perfect game everytime.

Everton vs Liverpool games never fails to keep your heart pumping faster and faster and after a good start, Liverpool faded away and allow Everton to come at them. Just before half time, a rare Sami Hyypia own goal allow Everton to take the lead. I could almost see tomorrow’s headline, “Rafa the tinker-man does it again”, and the sub-headline will read, “Liverpool’s season over after defeat at Everton, no thanks to Rafa rotation policy”.

In the second half, Liverpool started strongly again but failed to press home their advantage, and Everton started to gain confidence. I was particularly impress by Lescott who played the left back position, a position he played for England last week. But Superhero Gerrard is at it again as in one of his now familiar surging run, he was taken down in the box by Hibbert, and been the last man, was rightfully send off by the referee. Kuyt converted the resultant penalty and it is now game on. Strangely, when Liverpool seems to be on top and controlling the situation, Rafa decided to take off Gerrard and replaced him with Leiva, a decision greeted with great amazement and disgust by first Gerrard himself, and than the commentator, the fans, and I sure just about everyone.

I could almost picture another headline. “Rafa blew it by taking Gerrard off”, and the sub-headline will probably read, “What the hell is Rafa thinking!?!”. Pardon me for my language here but I truly believe someone will really write that if Liverpool had lost. But Rafa in the end have the last laugh and the man who replaces him had that kick in injury time that Neville had to save with his hand (just in case you don’t know, Neville is NOT their goalkeeper) and Liverpool got their second penalty of the game and Everton got their second player sent off. Kuyt is up again, same player, same direction, same result. Everton 1 – 2 Liverpool. That’s for bragging rights till the next time we meet.

You’ll Never Walk Alone.