Hamilton Relives His Chinese Grand Prix Nightmare

Lewis Hamilton has admitted logging on to YouTube and watching the moment when his world title dreams were dealt a crushing blow a year ago. The incident came in last season's Chinese grand prix when Hamilton appeared poised to clinch the championship in his rookie year.

Leading the standings by 12 points ahead of then McLaren team-mate Fernando Alonso going into the race in Shanghai, Hamilton started from pole and comfortably led throughout the opening stages. But with the team unsure whether a damp track would dry out or if the rain would return, Hamilton stayed out on rapidly deteriorating tyres. When he was eventually called in shortly after Kimi Raikkonen had passed the 23-year-old to take the lead, Hamilton slid off the pit lane entry and into the gravel where he beached his car.

It proved a critical moment in the championship as Raikkonen went on to win the race and the title-decider in Brazil that followed to beat Hamilton to the crown by a point. Hamilton insists he is not haunted by the incident, but has occasionally viewed it on the internet.

"Sometimes I've been on YouTube and seen a video clip or a picture of me in the gravel last year and thought, 'Damn! That shouldn't have happened,"' reflected Hamilton. "But it was a learning mistake and I can still move forwards from it because things like that happen for a reason and it taught me a lot. Last year the last couple of races taught me a lot about my personality and my life, and I'm stronger for it."

Mercedes boss Norbert Haug has insisted it is the team, and not Hamilton, who were ultimately to blame for what transpired in Shanghai a year ago. "Last year's race was indeed one of the worst for all in the team," reviewed Haug. "Lewis had been dominant in the opening stages, but we made a wrong call bringing him in for a tyre change. It was a race we should have won but didn't, and that was our mistake, not Lewis's, but that's history."

As Haug points out, the title is again Hamilton's to lose given his five-point cushion over Ferrari's Felipe Massa, and the team are determined not to let lightning strike twice. "After a difficult race at Fuji, Lewis is still five points ahead in the championship," said Haug. "So the team and him have it in their hands to get the job done in the final two races."

Not for the first time this season ahead of a grand prix weekend, rain has been forecast which could play into Hamilton's hands given his ability in the wet. But Hamilton is unconcerned about what the heavens might bring, just as long as it is not the mixed conditions that played their part in his downfall last year.

"I've said before that I don't mind racing in the wet or the dry," said Hamilton. "Of course, it's safer in the dry and I guess those are the conditions that racing drivers prefer. But having said that, I would just prefer it if the weather wasn't too changeable during the weekend. When the track starts drying out, or it starts raining during the race, that is when things become a real lottery. At this stage in the season you need things to be as reliable as possible for you."

Raikkonen has accused Hamilton and Heikki Kovalainen of costing him victory in Sunday's Japanese grand prix. Raikkonen believes he could have ended his winless run but for the first corner incident at Fuji that forced him off the track.

Starting from second on the grid, Raikkonen comfortably passed pole-sitter Hamilton on the run down to turn one, only for the Brit to attempt an audacious move to reclaim top spot. But Hamilton braked too late, and with Kovalainen also in the mix directly behind him, Raikkonen had to take evasive action.

"The start went well, and I was ahead of the rest, just like we had planned," said Raikkonen. "But when you turn into the first corner in front of everybody else, you should be there when you come out of it. I have no idea what the drivers behind me were thinking. They braked so late it was impossible to avoid the following chaos. It was an inexplicable mistake by the two cars from McLaren who actually expelled me from the fight for victory at the Japanese GP.

"If I had managed to get unharmed through the first corner, I could have won. But instead of leading I was again stuck behind slower cars, and although we gave it our best, we didn't have the possibility to race with a free track."

Raikkonen eventually finished third, ending a run of four successive races without a point. But the Finn, who turns 29 tomorrow, is now 21 points behind Hamilton and out of the world championship picture, leaving Ferrari team-mate Massa and BMW Sauber's Robert Kubica as the Briton's main rivals.

Although Raikkonen's season is effectively over, he has already set his sights on a crack at next year's championship. "It's true Sunday's result was a 'sayonara' to the drivers' title," added Raikkonen. "I knew after Spa there wasn't much hope left. I should have won then, and I could still have decided my own destiny, but after the retirement it was just a question of time. From January I can tell you I have given it my best to win the title again. Now I'll try it again next year. I know how to become a world champion."