Dramatic Finale for Lewis Hamilton
“I feel like any of the other drivers that are out there, that it is a dream for me to get to Formula One.”

Lewis Hamilton sped into the record books as Formula One’s youngest champion after a dramatic final lap at the season-ending Brazilian Grand Prix. With Felipe Massa wiping tears from his eyes-and placing first-it was Hamilton who nabbed the World Championship title from the Brazilian after placing fifth. (For those outta the loop-the championship is based on points earned throughout the year. So although Massa won this race, Hamilton had accumulated enough points this year to win the “Championship” title by simply placing fifth or better.)

The 23-year-old British beast almost gave me a nervous-break down during the final few laps. Needing only a fifth place finish, Hamilton held his position for most of the race. Massa held first-as expected-for most of the race-yet all eyes were on Hamilton as he pitted quickly and did just about everything right…until the final lap, when out of nowhere Timo Glock sped by him…pretty sure my neighbors heard me screaming as I watched what I though was a replay of last years finale when he lost it by a nose hair…less the one lap remaining-Massa is celebrating…rain is expected…Glock is racing on dry-tires ahead of Hamilton…without rain Hamilton will place sixth and lose… and then, a miracle…the race gods opened up the skies and sprinkled just the right dose of rain to give Hamilton and his wet tires the edge he needed to miraculously power past Glock…perhaps one of the most dramatic finishes I’ve ever seen.

Lewis Hamilton now becomes Britain’s ninth world champion after Mike Hawthorn, Graham Hill, Jim Clark, John Surtees, Sir Jackie Stewart, James Hunt, Nigel Mansell and Damon Hill. Shame on the Brazilian race fans who booed loudly as Hamilton stole victory from the pug (Massa). “It’s absolutely great and that’s a shame that the crowd are doing this (booing). They should be sportsmen. We have the championship and let’s look forward to the next one.”

Perhaps adding salt to the self-inflicted wounds of the racist-race-fans is that fact that Hamilton didn’t just earn the title by winning, but Hamilton also becomes the first black Formula One Champion, ever. Most of the chat rooms during the race were also filled with racist morons hoping for Hamilton to crash, burn and die. I can understand not wanting a Brit to beat your hometown hero, but to single him out for the color of his skin is moronic…Hamilton names Nelson Mandela and Martin Luther King as his heroes, “Being black is not a negative,” he told Black History Month magazine. “It’s a positive, if anything, because I’m different.”

Congratulations Lewis Hamilton. We all see you now!

 

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Delinda Lombardo

HAMILTON UPDATE: RACIST WEBSITE OWNED BY TWBA MEDIA

“The Spanish government cannot allow this organized and systematic racism to continue. These people must be widely condemned and the websites they use shut down immediately.”

Wow…the website used to target Lewis Hamilton with racists remarks and hatred has thankfully been shut down, but the most disturbing fact is that the site is owned and operated by New-York-based advertising agency, TWBA, which is part of the world’s largest media services group, Omnicom. And the kicker? The site belongs to the Spanish branch of the advertising firm.

Last night, the site was yanked and spanked after after hundreds of abusive messages were posted…and I don’t need to elaborate on what the messages said. We have British cabinet minister Andy Burnham to thank for the shut-down, as he led calls for action against the abuse. “This is a crucial race and the whole country will be behind him. I’m very concerned to hear reports of sites potentially fueling racist abuse. The authorities must take the toughest possible action against racism in sport.” Another one to thank is Keith Vaz, chairman of Labour’s ethnic minority taskforce, who urged foreign secretary David Miliband to lodge a formal protest:: “The Spanish government cannot allow this organized and systematic racism to continue. These people must be widely condemned and the websites they use shut down immediately.”

TBWA operates in 77 countries with 12,000 staff in 258 offices. Its clients include Absolut Vodka, Apple, Adidas, McDonald’s, Michelin, Sony PlayStation, and Singapore Airlines. Last year, Omnicom’s revenue was $12.7 B.

A spokesman in the New York office played dumb, saying they did not know why the site, designed and owned by its interactive marketing branch in Spain had not been monitored to stop racists using it to abuse Hamilton, but would take “appropriate action” once they identified the idiot who was responsible for the website.

Renault’s Fernando Alonso last night condemned the racist supporters. “If it’s true, obviously this is not possible [acceptable],” the Spaniard told reporters at the Brazilian Grand Prix. “In 2008 we cannot have these kind of people in our world. It’s not only formula one, not only sport, it’s normal life as well.”

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Delinda Lombardo

Lewis Hamilton is Again Targeted by Racists

In London, things are good for Lewis Hamilton-so good in fact, that he’s a piece of art…British artist Ian Cook unveiled his latest work of genius…a massive Lewis Hamilton painting he created by using remote controlled cars instead of paint brushes…this Sunday, Hamilton will go head-to-head with Felipe Massa for the Formula One world title. Hamilton currently holds a seven-point lead over Massa going into the final race of the season in Brazil…kinda like Obama over McCain…and of course, racists morons are not happy about their homeboy Massa being outperformed by a –oh-god-no! Black man.

I was literally sick to my stomach reading some of this shit. (Excuse my language kids but this fires me up). A new website has emerged-which I do NOT recommend you visit, especially if you have a weak stomach for hatred and racism. Massa fans can’t handle the fact that their pug-faced hero is about to lose the World Championships to yet another squeaky-voiced uber-sexy British beast. The website asks visitors to place pins, nails and porcupines on the ‘interactive map of the track’ to try and “stop Formula One’s first black driver from finishing Sundays race.”

The website has done nothing more than give cowardly racists a platform to voice their sub-par thoughts. More than 16,000 racist messages have been left so far….many taunting him about the color of his skin in a vile campaign that reprised the abuse he received at the start of the year in Barcelona. One coward wrote: “Conguito, you are going to die.” (conguito is a type of chocolate with racist overtones.) Other cowards wrote messages like: “Half-breed, kill yourself in your car,” and “I hope you run over your dad in the first pit stop, Hamilton.” And these are the nicer comments.

Formula One’s governing body condemned the Web site, according to Brazilian media, saying that it is against any act of ‘discrimination and prejudice.’ Earlier this year, FIA even launched an anti-racism campaign after Spanish fans taunted Hamilton during testing in Spain.

Now, while I do kinda believe in voodoo, I’m not too concerned about a lame website aimed at those with an IQ of less than 20. Hamilton-with his seven-point advantage over the Brazilian pug Massa, need only finish the race fifth or better. This he will do. He WILL win his first title and become F1’s youngest champion at age 23. And that my Brazilian haters, is a cold hard fact that you best put in your racist pipes and smoke it all to hell.

If you can stomach the hate, go to the Telegraph to read more and follow the link back to the site. Ain’t no way I was linking that crap up here.

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Delinda Lombardo

SINGAPORE GP: LIGHTS, CAMERA, ACTION- ALONSO!

The Singapore GP brought new meaning to the term ‘lights, camera, action’ as I awoke early to catch my favorite grid-boy Peter Windsor bask in the glow of the newly installed soft lights which illuminated the first ever Formula One night race. A 5.067-kilometer street circuit was created in Marina Bay for the event, but preparations have been tricky according to Toyota’s Italian driver Jarno Trulli.  “I’ve seen the plans and the Grand Prix looks amazing so far, even if before we can get a real idea I would like to drive on the circuit for the first time, or anyway to see the first the circuit laid down, to understand especially the safety, the corners, the speed - and then you get a better idea about the set-up and the kind of down force we’re going to have.”

And now, lets take it down to Peter Windsor on the grid: “The atmosphere is just brilliant. More than ever before there are a lot of smiling faces around the cars and the people.” As he speaks, he eyes the crowded grid like a lion stalking its prey along the Serengeti plains…first victim is Flavio Britore (managing director, Renault) who strolls by as Windsor grabs Flavio by the arm. Flavio turns around to find the microphone in his face: “Flavio, we’re live on American television, Speed, first of all what are you thoughts on the atmosphere here?” He echoes Windsor’s sentiment…Windsor spots Italian GP winner Sebastian Vettel…”Live on American TV” (someone whispers in Vettels ear) as Windsor ignores the interruption: “Live on American TV, great job at Monza mate and enjoy the race.”…Vettel says thank you and Windsor turns his microphone back towards the grid in efforts to find a more flavorful meal…Sir Jackie Stewart feeds a few words to P-dogg, saying he was initially skeptical but all is good…the grid beast then moves in another direction, proclaiming. “There’s Mark Windsor who’s looking like he wants to be interviewed” he approaches, “Mark, hasn’t been a great weekend so far mate, but anyway, you got a few honors, you were the first guy to hit the wall.” Webber scratches his head, ”Yeah, exactly…one of our weaker qualifying performances in the last the year.” Windsor: “But what do you think about the show?” Webber: “We need to do more of these.” Cut to commercial break…back to the grid…Windsor with Nelson Piquet. Piquet, in his usual blah-blah-blahness, “Yeah, qualifying was a pity because testing was really good and me, plus the team, screwed up with strategy, with set-up, we, we thought we could have found it a little bit more in qualifying but the car went in another direction, plus going in the traffic but it’s gonna be a good start with Fernando next to me so it’s a good chance to show the team how strong I can be.” Windsor, apparently grasping what Nelson was saying this time: “Good luck Nelson”…In chimes the commentators: “Poor old Nelson Piquet, this is supposed to be fun kid!”

(Above: Sutil, Hamilton, Rosberg) Massa, Hamilton, Raikkonen…a single championship point separates Felipe Massa and Hamilton (Hamilton owns that point)…. starting 11th is my Jarno Trulli in row six…Fernando Alonso starting back in row 8…and they’re off…61 laps in total…Trulli moves up two positions…Massa holding strong in first with Hamilton about 1.2 seconds behind…Raikkonen about 5 seconds behind…three laps in and Massa/Hamilton are running way ahead of the pack…Nico needs to get by Trulli to maintain his dignity…debris on the track, yellow flag….Massa and Hamilton still fighting for first…Trulli falls to 11 because his fuel load is heavy…Raikkonen is routinely setting fastest lap…putting the pressure on Hamilton who is 3.227 seconds ahead of him….oh-another fastest lap just clocked by Raikkonen…

Speed then cuts to a voice over of an interview Windsor did with Sebastian Bourdais about the passing of Paul Newman. Bourdais: “Obviously, we keep a lot of very good memories from him and spent a lot of times to do a lot of good things around him, especially for kids, and ah, just a great character, a guy who enjoyed his life…I know he will be dearly missed. It’s just a sad day.” And suddenly, in the midst of my tears welling up at Bourdias words-we cut to Nelson Piquet’s car smashed against the wall of the track. “A very sad day and we see Nelson Piquet into the wall, heavily.” Can we get a safety car? Here she comes…14 laps into the race…pit lanes closed when safety car is out…guys need to refuel…Piquet can’t get off the track…so he runs across it…Barrichello is stopped on the track now, he just pulled to a stop…Kubica refuels and gets a ten-second penalty…but if you’re gonna run outta fuel you’ve got no choice. Barrichellos car being pushed off the track…crane on the track hoisting the remains of Piquets car…pit lanes now reopen…

Massa leads the parade into the pit lane and pulls out with the fuel hose still attached. The mechanics rush to him in efforts to remove the hose…they cant seem to get it off…Massa has the engine running very hot…and it looks like it’s over for Massa-oh, they got it off and he’s off after losing close to 30-seconds…major, major f*ck up by team Ferrari…there’s the safety car again…Hamilton pitted after Massa…the cluster f*ck bottle neck opening of the pit lanes has now given us a new line up of Rosberg in first and Trulli in second…Hamilton is way down in 8th…and we’re less than 20 laps into the race… and just like that things can change in the blink of an eye…and now I’m told that due to time restraints, they may not be able to televise then entire race-I’m gonna go insane if they cut me off here…

Hamilton in sixth behind Couthard…making his way back up to the front…33 laps remaining…Massa way back in sixteenth place…Mark Webber seems to be done as they push his car into the garage…Trulli now leading the race…just about at the halfway point in the race but he has yet to make a pit stop…Alonso inching up on Trulli…Trulli remains the fastest man on the track right now but he’s about to pit…Hamilton in fifth…Alonso up to second…Trulli pits in 9.9 and reenters at eighth, his fuel is gonna weigh him down a bit…28 laps to go…Alonso now back out front….Hamilton back to fourth…Raikkonen passes Trulli….Alonso pits in 7.6…20 laps remaining…Coulthard blocking Hamilton from second…he’s gotta get around and passes beautifully while fighting for a podium finish….Hamilton pits in 7.7, Coulthard pits at the same time…7.0 but has a problem with the fuel hose and losses time before he takes to the track again…Alonso enjoying his first place run…Rosberg moves up to third…18 laps remaining…Hamilton in fifth working his way up…Trulli in sixth…Alonso, Glock, Rosberg leading in the one, two, three positions…13 laps…Rosberg now in second… 11 laps to go, Sutil rams into the water-wall after Massa cuts him off…car on fire…safety car…Trulli is out of it-game over for my Italian racer after he had a meeting with the water-wall as well….

The final ten laps host Alonso in first, Rosberg in second and Hamilton in third…it’s do or die time…Safety car keeping ‘em slow until debris is removed…its all come down to the brakes-according to Windsor…nine laps remaining…safety car gone…restart underway…if Hamilton can pass Rosberg he’ll pick up two (championship) points….Alonso holds a secure lead with his “soft, prime tires”….nose to tail, Hamilton challenges Rosberg…Alonso is at about at a 6 second lead….yeah, we see you Alonso…Raikkonen hits the curb with four laps remaining…and yet another casualty…

Gotta give mad props to Alonso for blowing em all away (his 20th career win)….final lap…and AGHHHHH, my DVR says “enough” and the Speed Channel cuts my Sunday morning fetish short. Fortunately, nothing happened in the last lap, and in Formula One’s first night race, Fernando Alonso captured the Singapore Grand Prix after starting 15, Lewis Hamilton extended his championship lead by seven points and finished third, while Nico Rosberg took second. With 15 of 18 races completed, Hamilton has 84 points in the driver standings, followed by Massa (77) and Robert Kubica of BMW Sauber (64).

Once again, thanks to Peter Windsor for the wonderful early morning wake up call…and thanks to the drivers for making this very special night race a success. If there’s one thing I’ve learned from watching these guys-is that if you’re ever in a car with them, let them drive but dear god don’t let them pump the gas. Seriously, I’ve never seen so many ‘refueling mishaps’ as I have in Formula One.

RIP PAUL NEWMAN: YOU WERE THE MAN AND WILL FOREVER BE MY COOL HAND LUKE.

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Delinda Lombardo
delinda@athlebrities.com

WET TRACK A TREAT FOR SOME
Monza. It’s the fastest track on the circuit…and moisture on the track can cause problems for some, such as Lewis Hamilton who chose the wrong tires in qualifying-or the moisture can work magic for others such as Sebastian Vettel, who became the youngest driver ever in the history of Formula One to qualify first…according to my dreamboat-gridboy- extraordinaire - Peter Windsor-it’s because Vettel “Love’s it when its wet.”

NO!! Off to a bad start as rain caused problems with Peter Windsor’s ‘camera’ and we weren’t able to follow him as he worked the grid for the pregame show…they tried to appease me by running an interview my grid-beast did with Lewis Hamilton…Lewis talked about being really grateful for his opportunities and how close he is now with his family, faith, and religion…all fine and dandy but I wanna see Windsor on the grid already…audio only with Mark Webber: “The grip level is reasonable…” he says as I curse the camera men who can’t get my Windsor on screen…cut to some lame stock footage explaining the mechanics of a Red Bull car-would have cared if Windsor were talking but he wasn’t…I can’t even see him…microphone works…not fun…missing a priceless moment as we hear Windsor approach 1997 Italian GP winner David Couthard from the Red Bull Team, “David can I join you as you walk back to the car…I know you’re not a great man for emotion and all that stuff but this is your last ever European Grand Prix, your thoughts?” Couthard wished it were a dry track…blah, blah, blah…we then get a shot of Bernie Ecclestone walking around with an umbrella…technical difficulties with Windsor’s camera have crushed my Sunday morning fantasy…the race starts with a safety car…Hamilton way down at 15th…giving Massa an edge to overtake Hamilton in championship points…safety car gone and we are green at Monza…the spray from the rain soaked track giving the drivers a intense visual impermanent in most spots…cant see anything…

Sebastian Vettel maintains the lead…Jarno Trulli is 6th and catching up-apparently my new Italian crush is very good at “wet driving”…Hamilton at 13…5 laps in and nothing too exciting yet…Vettel is about 9-mph quicker per lap than the other drivers, putting the others to shame but then again he doesn’t have a driver in front of him spraying the track….Timo Glock skids off for a second…all are using extreme wet tires….Windsor tells us the rain has backed off a bit…and is clearing up but of course there’s still on ton of water on the track…oops, Vettel just lost 6-seconds by running over a ‘sleeping policeman’….hear comes Hamilton trying to overtake but doesn’t quite make it, “Its still very, very wet”…Hamilton takes over Kovalainen for 11th… Massa overtakes Nico Rosberg…Hamilton edges passed Glock…he passes another…more rain expected in about five minutes…Vettel still leading…amazing…Hamilton up to 7th place…round and round they go…Hamilton up to second now, amazing considering he started fifteenth…Vettel in lead…lap 23…Hamilton now 2.6 seconds faster than Vettel on last lap…can Hamilton win this after starting so far back in the pack? Hamilton clocked fastest lap at 34.3…Vettel with 36.3 seconds…Hamilton only needs a 7-second fuel stop to complete the race…hasn’t pitted yet…Massa stuck behind Heidfeld…Jarno pits in 9.4…less than one second separates Hamilton and Vettel with 27 laps to go…Hamilton pits…it has to be a perfect pit stop…damn 9.7 seconds…too long…enters back in tenth…no traffic…technically leads the way because everyone ahead of him has yet to pit…Kovalainen in second chasing Vettel…24 laps to go…the sexy voice of Peter Windsor chimes in with a weather report…Alonso pits in 9.8…Hamilton in sixth now…apparently, rain is a concern for everyone except Hamilton…up to fifth now with 22 to go…Jarno back in tenth…Webber spins into a 360, regains control beautifully…18 laps to go…Jarno pits…Vettel hasn’t pitted yet…Hamilton has now moved into second…Vettel pits in 6.7…Hamilton pitted again, this time in 5.2…17 laps to go…Hamilton must close the gap of about 34-seconds in order to win this race…Massa at sixth…Hamilton inching up on him…15 laps remaining…Hamilton lays fastest lap at 32.869…gap between Massa and Alonso was 8 seconds and is now 5.5…Hamilton is desperately attempting to pass Massa…Vettel lays down a personal best of 33.569…Hamilton closes the Massa gap to 2.4…but still at seventh…Hamilton hasn’t been able to pick up any speed…his pace is dropping off…could be the tires…4 laps remaining…if Massa places ahead of Hamilton, our baby will lose his first place standing in championships points…

Vettel is amazing as he dominates first…Kovalainen in second…final lap, on Vettels radio “few drops pozzeeble, few drops pozzeeble.” And just like that, Sebastian Vettel becomes the youngest driver ever in Formula One history to win a race. His first win, and the first win for his team. Second: Kovalainen, Kubica third….Massa sixth, Hamilton seventh. So, despite a Peter Windsor-less visual, and a lousy place by Hamilton, it was still worth it to get up early and watch our speed demons accumulate their championship points.

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Delinda Lombardo
delinda@athlebrities.com

LEWIS HAMILTON: RAIN MAN
Generally, I wake up on Formula One race days at 4:30 for Peter Windsor, today, I thought it appropriate to change my wake-up call to 4:20 because after all, it is my favorite time and these races, for me, are events. Call me crazy, but I could easily ditch my Athlebrity posts in exchange for a full time Formula One blogging job. I know there are pa-lenty of local bars that air the event, but its way too early to make a public appearance, plus, my sofa is much more comfortable than a bar stool at 4:30AM.

Good thing I did wake up early…like an adrenaline shot, the news hit me that chances are ‘very, very good’ that US Grand Prix will return in the 2010 season!!! If this does happen, I’m officially representing all the cougars who wanna be pit girls. I promise to just hold the sign and not molest Windsor or any drivers if given the job. Now…on the grid…we join my favorite pit boy, Peter Windsor. The damp and dry conditions are discussed…the ‘spray’ and ‘lottery element’ to the race…oh, the unpredictability of these conditions.

Windsor attempted a few words with Nick Heidfeld who was busy with the German TV crew…so he wandered up to Mark Webber who “is always good for a comment in these conditions”…Webber was mid conversation with someone as Windsor worked his magic proclaiming ‘Live on Speed” before sticking his microphone in Webbers face to ensure he did in fact comment. Priceless. They chatted about the track being part wet and part dry…then Windsor moved down the grid and spotted Robert Kubica. “Robert Kubica over here, I’m dying to ask Robert why he’s not as quick as Nick but I’m not quite sure how to phrase that.” Again, priceless words from the mouth of the grid-side beast. No holds barred…commercial break…Windsor back on the grid.. Windsor: “Yes, let’s go and have a chat now to Nick Heidfeld who’s bounced back beautifully from that performance in Valencia, Nick outta the car now, um, you know what, Robert Kubica didn’t want to talk so I think that’s kinda a good story.” Again, the master busts into a conversation Heidfeld was having with someone else, sticks the microphone right up there and says “Live on Speed”…seriously, who could say no to this man? Heidfeld said he was ‘happy with conditions’…Windsor says hi to a Timo Glock rushing by…”But lets have a look at the Raikkonen situation and Massa”….continues “to Rob Smedley here, Rob can we have a quick word”…Rob was mid interview when Peter noticed and gracefully bowed out “Oh, oh, sorry, “ he said to the other reporter, “far be it for me to intrude on the gorgeous Austrian television crew”…Peter sends it back to the booth.

Right back down to the grid with Peter Windsor and Bernie Ecclestone (owner, F1 Management). Peter asks about the rumored US Grand Prix for 2010. “2010, I don’t know about that,” said Ecclestone, “we’re trying our best.” Venue? Location? “We have two or three ideas” Windsor asks: “Indianapolis one of them?” Ecclestone smiles: “We have several ideas”. Tight lipped but definitely seemed optimistic to me….

The dark clouds looming over the 4.25 mile “epic” track added to the excitement of the starting grid. Lewis Hamilton got first pole with Felipe Massa chillen in the front row next to him. Behind them in the second (row) were Heikki Kovalainen and Kimi Raikkonen. Row three: Nick Heidfeld and Fernando Alonso. Next row Mark Webber and Robert Kubica. And we need not worry about the other rows…except for sexy Jarno Trulli in sixth, this is the first time he’s qualified outta the top ten since 2001 and apparently is “very slow through this track.”

Lots of tire smoke at the start, cars off the track, Hamilton first, a bit of chaos…Hamilton holds position, Massa and Raikkonen on his heels…the curves wetter than the race track…Jarno Trulli skids off on the first turn but quickly regains control of his car in a miraculous save…Raikkonen makes a move to overtake Hamilton as he rides on his ass…and he actually passes Hamilton to take first due to a minor error by Hamilton (not to mention some sick driving skills)…Raikkonen holds the lead ahead of Hamilton. Hamilton pit stop at lap 33 and rejoins at 7th place…Raikkonen holding strong…pit stop lap 32….pulls out without a mechanic attached to his car this time…he rejoins ahead of Hamilton…how, I don’t know, but he lands in third…leaving Massa in first (but without a pit stop)…Massa pits…now it’s a battle for first and we’re only on lap 13. …Was happy to hear the announcers informing us that Rubens Barrichello racing suit is being auctioned off on Ebay for charity…but there are a couple on there and I cant confirm it is for charity….Nelson Piquet then gives us the first crash as he skids and hits the safety wall. “Im okay,” he says,” But I’m out.”

Hamilton is inching his way back up…now in 4th…Raikkonen keeps setting ‘fastest lap’ times…Hamilton gets back into second…Massa back in third…Alonso in fourth…the sun is shining but the dark clouds are still looming…chatter about the Ferrari engines…Raikkonen-the defending champion-is predicted to win, putting “his stamp of authority” on the track…Even if he wins, Hamilton is still 8 points ahead in the overall championship race ‘points’…gloomy clouds loom lap after lap…Hamilton closing in on Raikkonen…fifteen laps to go…chit chat about the Ferrari tires….Hamilton starts to lose a bit of time on Raikkonen…gap now 1.916 seconds between them…Hamilton must be kicking himself for his guffaw outta the gate…G force in his car 4.4-insane…9 laps to go…Raikkonen 2.1 seconds ahead of Hamilton…still no rain-how odd the weather men were wrong-5 laps to go…1.2 second gap….not looking like an easy task to get in front although he closed the gap by .6 tenths of a second off his last lap…go Lewis, go…4 laps to go…oh…raindrops? Hamilton drawing closer…YES he passes him….lap 2…raindrops make it slippery…I can’t believe what I just saw…OMG….2 laps left and Raikkonen WIPES OUT! Cars are skidding everywhere…its down to car control…Hamilton in first…where is Massa….oh, in second…Alonso in third…slippery corner…take your time Hamilton you got it….Unbelievable!!!!

Seriously, this was without a doubt the BEST final three laps I’ve ever seen. Final podium: First: Hamilton, Second: Felipe Massa, Third: Nick Heidfeld. Congratulations to Lewis Hamilton for winning the Belgian Grand Prix…but did he really win? According to the bozo’s in charge, Hamilton was stripped of his victory because: “ Stewards deemed Hamilton did not properly allow Kimi Raikkonen to re-pass after overtaking the Ferrari driver by cutting the Bus Stop chicane with 3 laps to go.” Straight up bullshit in my book, but then again, I’m a bit biased due to my massive crush on Hamilton.

According the Speed: McLaren has informed the stewards at Spa-Francorchamps of its intention to appeal the decision to strip Lewis Hamilton of victory at the Belgian Grand Prix, the FIA confirmed on Sunday evening. The news means the result will now remain provisional until a hearing of the International Court of Appeal. Ferrari’s Felipe Massa was declared the official winner of the race after stewards issued championship leader Hamilton with a retrospective 25-second penalty (click here for story).

And yet another great start to my Sunday.

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Delinda Lombardo
delinda@athlebrities.com

GRID-SIDE MAGIC WITH PETER WINDSOR AS LEWIS HAMILTON TAKES SECOND

There are very few things that will get me outta bed at 4:30 AM, and Peter Windsor is one of them. My fearless grid-boy once again proved worthy of a early wake up call, as he worked the Formula One European Grand Prix from Valencia Spain like a true champ. Sticking his microphone where others only dare to go, interrupting racers without trepidation and asking whatever comes to mind…as always, Peter Windsor was flawless.

He began with one of my new favorites-Italian Jarno Trulli…one word for this on-the grid-interview: priceless…Windsor approaches Trulli who is in the midst of ‘doing some sort of warm-up.’ Windsor opens the conversation: “Jarno, it’s going to be a long hot day, it looks like?” Jarno laughs-with an accent: “Yesss, it look liiiikkkkke, it feel liiiiikkkkke…its going to be a tough race because anyway, its lonngggggg…its hotttttt, its harddddd…the circuittttt.” The long, hard, hot circuit Jarno refers to is the 3.4-mile path that runs through the streets of Valencia.

Windsor then tried to bust in on Nico Rosberg who wanted nothing to do with him cuz he was busy listening to ‘Three Doors Down’ on his iPod….Nick Heidfeld was happy to speak with Peter…there was a lot going on on the grid….Kazuki Nakajima was going off for a bathroom break and P-dogg let him be….Sebastian Bourdais (yawn)…Kazuki Nakajima comes outta the bathroom with an ice pack down the back of his shirt to ‘stay cool’…Windsor keeps yapping as he walks the grid and approaches…Nelson Piquet. Piquet is adorable, but even Peter couldn’t decipher what the hell he was trying to say: “Yeah, obviously I wanna qualify better and my goal is to be as close to the front as possible but ah, also close to Fernando is good if we’re in the back that means the cars no good, Fernando’s close to me and I think that’s a good reason, its not good when Fernando is qualifying in top five and I’m not even in Q2, tough weekend for us, but its a street race, lot of things happen around here so we have to have a bit of luck.” Huh? What? Windsor: “Thanks a lot Nelson, I think I got the gist of what he was trying to say anyway.”

The new track is very smooth, not a lot of grip, 25 crazy turns, narrow in parts, just under 3.4 miles, 122-mph average speed, hairpins, quick corners…all in all, according the experts, a ‘fantastic track.’

Lewis Hamilton and Felipe Massa started in row one. Massa held off Hamilton from the gate, while the drama that is Formula One unfolded harshly when Kimi Raikkonen sped outta his pit stop with the fuel hose still connected to his car, injuring several mechanics as he did so. A few minutes later, with only ten laps to go, his Ferrari engine blew up and he was smoked outta the race. But, the off-track story only adds to the drama…Felipe Massa’s engine failed during the race at Budapest, raising concerns over the Ferrari engines…

Kimi Raikkonen: “Not much to say after a day like this. It was definitely not the weekend I was hoping for but I do not believe that, despite this negative result, I am now out of the running for the title. There are still six races to go and sixty points up for grabs. We have seen that the situation change really quickly, even if I realize things are now more complicated. Today, I lost a place at the start and I was stuck in traffic for all of the first stint. Then, when I had a clear track ahead of me, I was able to push and was doing good lap times. At the second pit stop, I made a mistake and left before I should have done. Fortunately, Pietro (Timpini) is not too badly hurt. I wish him all the best and hope he gets better soon. In any case, it would not have changed anything as then the engine broke. Now we must concentrate on preparing for the next rounds and on improving our qualifying performance.”

Felipe Massa after winning: “It’s fantastic having won this race, especially after the disappointment of Budapest. The team did an amazing job in preparing for this Grand Prix and the benefits of that could be seen right from the very first day. Yesterday, I got pole and today the win, with the race fastest lap as the icing on the cake. You cannot ask for more especially at my one hundredth grand prix with every single one of them powered by a Ferrari engine.”

And Lewis Hamilton after placing second: “I can’t complain with second place today. This was a strong weekend for us despite my having a few problems health-wise, but we pulled through. The track was pretty difficult to overtake on, but I maintained the gap - our lap times showed that our overall pace was good, which was encouraging. Heikki and I scored 13 points today, which is very positive for the team, so I’d describe it as a satisfactory weekend for us.”

Adding to the satisfactory weekend was the appearance of ‘Grid Boys” as opposed to ‘Grid Girls”. The Grid Boys were added back in March in response to either the increase in female fans or in efforts to reach more female fans-depending on who you ask. In any case, I’d say the powers-in-charge have definitely gotten on the right track.

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Delinda Lombardo
delinda@athlebrities.com

SAY WHAT?

The thing that bothers me is that Lewis Hamilton was less than 100 miles from my house and I didn’t know about it. (Where are all the good PR people these days?). The Formula One sensation has been ‘dating’ Pussycat Doll Nicole Scherziner for a few months, and I gotta say, they’ve had some incredible dates. They attended Nelson Mandela’s 90th birthday bash in June, where they rubbed elbows with Bill Clinton, Oprah, Sir Elton John and many other A-listers.

And last Thursday, Hamilton and his lady were in Los Angeles for the launch of EA Sports’ Madden NFL 09 at the STK nightclub in West Hollywood. Yes, it pains me to even write about it…but regardless of Lewis evading his inevitable Delinda encounter, the British beast enjoyed the company of Britney Spears’ former husband Kevin Federline. Yes, Lewis Hamilton threw out a few hand signs as he enjoyed hanging with K-Fed and his crew…the gamut of celebs at the event included the likes of ‘Austin Powers’ star Verne ‘Mini-Me’ Troyer to Playboy boss Hugh Hefner.

Wanna get closer to Lewis Hamilton? Well, the closest I can get you is in his baseball cap. Hamilton has donated an autographed cap for a celebrity auction being held in London on September 21 to benefit the NSPCC (National Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Children.) It may not sound like much, but with Lewis’s fame, this simple donation could yield a windfall for the cause. You can check it out here.

Also, please check my Celebrity Athletes Charity Events Page for an event near you. Its updated almost daily. The latest not-to-be-missed-event is a three day Elton Brand Friends and Celebrity weekend.

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As always, thanks for reading.
Delinda Lombardo
delinda@athlebrities.com