Mercedes at war

By Simon Wright – Follow me on Twitter @Siwri88

The 2014 Formula One World Championship took another dramatic twist as the two title contenders from the same team collided at Sunday’s Belgian Grand Prix at Spa-Francorchamps.

Championship leader Nico Rosberg tried to overtake Britain’s Lewis Hamilton on the second circuit of the 44-lap race, but touched the back of his teammate (pictured below), puncturing a tyre on Hamilton’s car and forcing him to retire. Rosberg went on to finish second and extend his championship lead to a healthy 29 points, with seven races remaining.

The damage is done and Lewis Hamilton thinks this was done on purpose by Nico Rosberg

What followed was even more gobsmacking. Hamilton has since told the media that Rosberg admitted to deliberately crashing into him on purpose. So, with this story set to rumble on for the next fortnight, here is my take on the dire situation that has pushed the Mercedes team to war.

The build-up to the incident

Tension has been bubbling underneath the surface between Hamilton and Rosberg this season, with some barbed comments in the media and a few tense, but thrilling battles on-track. Hamilton often prevailed in these, leaving Rosberg behind in the wheel-to-wheel racing. His lead has been built on strong consistency, whilst Hamilton hasn’t had huge amounts of luck with car failures at the Australian and Canadian Grand Prix, along with two qualifying nightmares recently that have seen him at the back of the field on raceday.

In Hungary last time out, Hamilton ignored a team order to allow Rosberg through. It was an unnecessary instruction given out by the team, as they were on different strategies at the time. Rosberg was unimpressed by the handling of it and Hamilton’s refusal to work with the team. You sensed something was brewing before the summer break. As they arrived back in Spa, it became clear that body language was becoming strained and the previous friendship had all but been shattered.

Rosberg grabbed pole position in qualifying, but bogged down at the start on Sunday, handing the lead to his championship rival. What happened next was inevitable. On the second lap, Rosberg got into Hamilton’s slipstream and tried to pass around the outside of the Les Combes chicane. Hamilton gave him space, but was clearly ahead on turn-in. Rosberg had a chance to back out of the move, but didn’t. He left his front wing in the danger zone and clipped Hamilton, puncturing a tyre immediately on his rival. Despite needing a new nosecone at his first stop, Rosberg benefited hugely from it by still finishing second, but it has opened up the biggest story of the 2014 season.

Did he do it on purpose?

Looking at the onboard footage and the live action at the time and I don’t think you can say that Rosberg did what he did on purpose. If he did, then he did it extremely cleverly, so no-one would know. It wasn’t as clear-cut as when Nelson Piquet binned his car deliberately into the wall at the 2008 Singapore Grand Prix. You would expect Rosberg to be precise and not make things obvious.

If it is true that he did admit to crashing into Hamilton to prove a point, then it is unprofessional and totally unsporting. Effectively, he is cheating his way to the championship and if he wants it so badly, he can have it. However, we can only go from Hamilton’s version of what was said. It came in a post-race debrief when obviously tensions were high and emotions still pretty raw on the surface.

It is the kind of behaviour that we don’t want to see. Ayrton Senna and Michael Schumacher have both deliberately tried to take opposition out of an event to try and win championships. In Schumacher’s case (1997), he failed and his creditability took a battering for it.

I would say looking at the various angles and agree with many observers that it was a clumsy and unnecessary overtaking attempt, especially so early on by the championship leader but would put it down as a racing incident. If he did it on purpose, the book should be thrown at him, meaning severe penalties or even removal of his FIA super license because you can’t do that. Unfortunately, only Rosberg knows what he did and I don’t think he will be telling us in a hurry.

Hamilton is no saint

Hamilton is no saint either though. He hasn’t forgiven Rosberg for screwing him up in qualifying in Monaco, when Rosberg went down the escape road and caused yellow flags in the dying stages of Q3, preventing Hamilton from taking pole position. It is time he got over that and he admitted to the BBC yesterday that “Monaco was worse than this.”

He drove back to the pits like an absolute lunatic. I don’t know what speed he was trying to do through the flat-out Blanchimont corner on three wheels but it wrecked the bodywork and cause more damage to his aerodynamics. That made the car even more difficult to drive and led to inevitable retirement in the closing stages. If he had taken greater care in getting back to the pits, less damage would have been caused and he might have recovered to rescue some points.

From lap 20 onwards though, he was constantly moaning on the team radio about the need to save engine mileage and they should stop the car. Mercedes showed no leadership in this situation and should have told him to be quiet and just drive. For Hamilton to mentally show no heart in racing before half-distance and basically give up though lacks class. We want British sportsman to go down fighting, even if they come up short. He failed that test and you don’t see Fernando Alonso and Sebastian Vettel say or do that, when you consider the limited machinery they have been given this season for all their talent.

Hamilton should take stock of the situation. Of course, he was unlucky in this scenario but react better to it all. By provoking reactions with what he said afterwards, he should have kept things in-house. Still, at least he hasn’t attacked his teammate on social media yet…free telemetry anyone!

He has a supporting family, a gorgeous girlfriend, a championship-winning racing car and earns millions of pounds through driving and various sponsorship endorsements, yet he still at times acts like a spoilt kid. Lewis turns 30 next year, and these tantrums should be long out of his system.

What happens now?

With seven races left, it will take a miracle for a Mercedes driver not to win the championship, although if they keep fighting amongst themselves, Daniel Ricciardo has the ability to sneak in and shock them, just like Kimi Raikkonen did to Hamilton and Alonso when they fell out as McLaren teammates in 2007.

It is important for racing to be the focus, and therefore, Mercedes need to try and regain some form of control. Getting their drivers to say absolutely nothing in the next nine days before the paddock reconvenes in Monza for the Italian Grand Prix would help for starters.

Then, they need to get their warring drivers to call an uneasy truce in the short-term, because if they carry on like they are and throw away this championship, you can be sure that someone will pay the price from the racing team. The board in Stuttgart should be concerned with what they witnessed.

After that, one of the drivers has to move on and with Rosberg tied down to a multi-year contract; Hamilton will probably have to leave. It is clear that he can’t work together with Rosberg. The relationship has broken down past repair on a long-term basis. With a new partnership about to start with Honda and Ron Dennis back at the helm, could a return back home to McLaren be looming? Do not rule that thought out...

Formula One in 2014 has been a quiet season in all forms. As only a casual viewer nowadays, what happened in Belgium yesterday though makes it box office material between now and the unpopular Abu Dhabi double points finale in November. 

Categories: 2014, Accidents, Belgium, Consistency, Formula One, Lewis Hamilton, Mercedes, Nico Rosberg, Puncture, Tyres

F1 2013 - Sebastian crushes the opposition

By Simon Wright - Follow me on Twitter @Siwri88

One man and one team completely dominated the 2013 Formula One World Championship as the invincible Sebastian Vettel (pictured) stormed to a fourth successive title, breaking more records in the process. His 13 wins in the season equalled Michael Schumacher’s mark from 2004 and he strung together nine successive victories, matching the record set by Alberto Ascari all the way back in 1952/1953. He simply crushed the opposition and proved why he is the best – his points total would have won the constructors’ championship on its own.

Sadly while Vettel and his Red Bull Racing team deserve all the plaudits for their almost unbeatable campaign, the spectacle disappointed. Races failed to live up to their potential, with tyres often dictating pace and putting safety at high risk. TV viewing figures dropped considerably as the season progressed and off-track politics took centre stage with team orders, illegal tyre tests, unpaid drivers and tyres blowing up left, right and centre often taking the headlines over quality driving and wheel-to-wheel combat racing. F1 2013 won’t be remembered as a classic season after the epics of recent years, especially 2007, 2008 and 2012.

Multi-21 madness in Malaysia

2013 would be the driest F1 season since 1987 but it started with a downpour in Australia that delayed the majority of qualifying until race morning. Vettel started the season with pole position but he was beaten into third place in the race itself as the Australian Grand Prix became an intriguing battle of tactics and playing the waiting game. It was the Lotus of Kimi Raikkonen who eventually prevailed, with his two-stop strategy outsmarting the three-stop efforts from Vettel and Ferrari’s Fernando Alonso who chased Raikkonen home in second. Lewis Hamilton finished fifth on his Mercedes bow and Adrian Sutil had a strong return after a year out of the sport, leading a portion of the race on his way to seventh. It was round one to Raikkonen and Lotus but that was as good as it was going to get for this relationship.

A week later in Malaysia, the word Multi-21 became the talking point in the F1 paddock. After a wet start, Mark Webber had gained the upper hand on team-mate Vettel as he had pitted earlier for slick tyres. Vettel wasn’t happy with this and despite being issued instructions to hold station behind the Aussie; he ignored team orders and proceeded to race Webber in a ferocious battle with 10 laps to go. Vettel eventually got past around the outside of turn four and went on to controversially win the race. His actions though were disapproved by his team and angered many fans and F1 journalists. A more ruthless character had emerged and his relationship with Webber all but broke down after this incident. The Mercedes duo of Hamilton and Nico Rosberg finished third and fourth, although Lewis made an embarrassing pitstop in the box of his old team McLaren during the race! Alonso crashed out on lap two after his front wing failed following damage on the opening circuit.

The Red Bull team orders row rumbled on into China, with Vettel defending his actions in a highly charged press conference pre-event, accusing Webber of not helping his title bid at the end of the previous season in Brazil and indicating: “Bottom line was, I was faster, I was racing, I passed him, I won.” For once, Red Bull didn’t have the ultimate pace with Sebastian having a quiet weekend to finish fourth from a lowly ninth on the grid. Webber had a miserable time as he was disqualified from qualifying as he couldn’t provide a fuel sample, then he collided with Jean-Eric Vergne in the race and later lost a right-rear wheel, finishing his afternoon prematurely. Alonso won comfortably from Raikkonen and pole-sitter Hamilton. Jenson Button was an encouraging fifth for McLaren but already, their season looked doomed with an uncompetitive car that left them scrapping for a distant fifth in the constructors’ championship.

The final event of the early season flyaways occurred in Bahrain and it was a case of déjà vu to the 2012 race. The podium was exactly the same as Vettel became the first repeat winner of the campaign. The Lotus pair of Raikkonen and Romain Grosjean completed the rostrum. There were more team squabbles in the desert and this time it was at McLaren. After being accused of lacking aggression by team principal Martin Whitmarsh in his first three races for his new team, Sergio Perez responded with some robust driving which led to contact with team-mate Button and Jenson to shout on the radio: “He’s hit me up the back, calm him down.” Perez finished a strong sixth, while Button faded to tenth. Paul di Resta had a fabulous weekend, qualifying fifth and matching his best ever career result with fourth for Force India.

After a DRS failure wrecked his race chances in Sakhir, Alonso was slightly on the backfoot as the Grand Prix circus returned to Europe. His response was magnificent on his home turf in Barcelona. Despite lining up fifth, the Spaniard produced a breathtaking double pass on Raikkonen and Hamilton around the outside of turn three on the first lap and managed the high degradation Pirelli tyres perfectly to win in Spain for the third time in his career. Raikkonen split the Ferrari’s, as Felipe Massa finished a fine third from ninth on the grid. Pirelli were left under the microscope with tyre delaminations for di Resta in practice and Vergne in the race, following three previous incidents in Bahrain. Mercedes had a nightmare on Sunday afternoon with a lack of tyre grip. Despite locking out the front row, Rosberg and Hamilton slipped horribly back to sixth and twelfth. The next storm was about to brew.

It emerged on race morning in Monte Carlo that Mercedes had done a three-day tyre test after the race at the Circuit de Catalunya with Pirelli, using their race drivers and in its 2013 car. Both Red Bull and Ferrari made an official protest against the team which would lead to a hearing before the British Grand Prix at the FIA Court of Appeal. In Monaco, Mercedes managed their tyre wear life and Rosberg drove exceptionally to win around the streets from his third straight pole position. He achieved the victory on the 30^th anniversary of his father’s victory for Williams at the same event. It would have been a 1-2 but for a misjudgement behind the Safety Car from Hamilton which dropped him behind the Red Bull cars and ruing his error as he finished fourth. There was a red flag during the race after Pastor Maldonado crashed heavily at Tabac following contact with Max Chilton which moved the trackside barriers onto the racing line. Maldonado was unhurt and so was Massa, who had two almost identical accidents in two days at Ste Devote, the second in the race.

Tragedy in Canada

The Canadian Grand Prix often delivers excitement but that wasn’t the case in 2013 with the race turning into a dour affair. Vettel took pole and won at a canter, with Alonso making up for his lacklustre seventh place finish in Monaco to finish second holding off Hamilton in a late tussle. Rookie Valtteri Bottas made the F1 fraternity sit up and take notice in qualifying as he made the most of mixed conditions to start a fabulous third in an uncompetitive Williams. The event was overshadowed though by a tragic accident after the race that claimed the life of track marshal Mark Robinson. He was run over by a moving crane as Esteban Gutierrez’s Sauber was being recovered from turn two. His death was the first at an event since the 2001 Australian Grand Prix.

Regular tyre blowouts ruined the British Grand Prix at Silverstone

After the tragic events of Montreal, Formula One was lucky to have no more injuries at Silverstone. Tyres had controlled the season and the whole issue about their reliability blew up dramatically as the British Grand Prix turned into an farce. Six drivers including early race leader Hamilton, Vergne (pictured) and Massa had tyre blowouts, whilst the most terrifying incident was a failure for Perez that had Alonso cheating serious injury as he ducked out of the McLaren’s slipstream at 180mph. It marred another great drive from Rosberg who held off a charging Webber to claim his second victory in three events. Webber had taken the opportunity earlier in the weekend to announce his retirement from the sport at the end of the season. Vettel chalked up a rare DNF when his gearbox broke with 11 laps to go; to the delight of many of the British fans while Hamilton recovered brilliantly from his early tyre failure to finish fourth.

In the aftermath of the Silverstone debacle, the blame game began with Pirelli accusing the Northamptonshire circuit of ‘high kerbs’ and the teams for ignoring their tyre pressure recommendations. Ultimately the Young Drivers Test became a three-day tyre test at the home of British motorsport with race drivers included and the 2012 structure returned in a mix with the 2013 compounds. It would have a major impact on the destiny of where the championship would go from this point onwards. Mercedes weren’t at this test as they had been banned by the WMSC following the Barcelona tyre test against regulations in May.

Vettel started his march to the title again with a hard-fought win at his home event at the Nurburgring, his first win on home soil. The Lotus drivers of Raikkonen and Grosjean pushed him hard as they completed the podium picture after three difficult events for Lotus that had seen them pick up just 13 points. There was another scary incident when a wheel detached itself from Webber’s car in the pits and struck an FOM cameraman in the back; knocking him to the ground and sending him to hospital with severe bruising. Webber fought back to seventh after a mid-race Safety Car for Jules Bianchi’s Marussia that caught fire, then rolled back across the track, almost taking out race leader Vettel in another bizarre incident.

Hamilton’s emotional dedication

Lewis Hamilton's only 2013 win came at Budapest in a tough year

The final race before the summer break was the Hungarian Grand Prix at Budapest and it is becoming Hamilton’s happy hunting ground. The Brit (pictured) recorded his fourth victory at the Hungaroring from pole position, his first for Mercedes. It was an emotional success for the 2008 world champion who had to deal with yet another painful breakup in his relationship with X-Factor judge Nicole Scherzinger in the summer. Hamilton dedicated the win to his former girlfriend but it seems like this separation is for good. Raikkonen came second, while Vettel had to settle for third, delayed in traffic behind Jenson Button after the first round of pitstops. After finishing an uncompetitive fifth, Alonso received a rebuke from Ferrari president Luca di Montezemolo when he suggested he would like “someone else’s car” for his birthday. It suggested things weren’t rosy in the Ferrari camp anymore; with noises being made of a possible move to Red Bull for 2014.

The Austrian team based in Milton Keynes though would eventually choose Daniel Ricciardo to be Webber’s successor for next season after negotiations with Raikkonen’s management broke down. Four weeks after Budapest, F1 returned with a belting qualifying session at the daunting Spa-Francorchamps circuit in Belgium. A gamble on slick tyres in Q1 saw both Marussia cars and Giedo van der Garde’s Caterham escape the session, whilst di Resta almost got pole after a well-timed lap in the dry part of Q3. Unfortunately for the Scot he was bumped down to fifth as the weather changed again in the dying stages and Hamilton achieved his fourth successive pole. However that was as good as it got for the Brit’s season. Vettel overwhelmed him into Les Combes on the first circuit of the race and drove into the distance, with Alonso second and the Mercedes man third. Raikkonen’s run of 27 consecutive points finishes ended with a brake problem on his Lotus just after half-distance.

By now, Alonso was the only driver who looked remotely close to challenging Vettel should his form suddenly capitulate. That hope ended at the final European event of the season at Monza. On a track that has normally exposed Red Bull’s weaknesses, Vettel was fastest in every single session and won the race at a stroll. Alonso did manage to spilt the Red Bulls, helped by a demon overtake on Webber in the early laps. Nico Hulkenberg reminded everyone of his quality after he qualified third for Sauber then finished a strong fifth in the race. Raikkonen missed out on points again following contact with his Perez on the first lap, while Hamilton rescued ninth place from a dire weekend that included elimination in Q2.

Flaming Webber

Formula One’s worst kept secret was revealed to the public between Italy and Singapore, as Ferrari confirmed Raikkonen was returning to the team for 2014 alongside Alonso. Kimi stated it was to do with money, suggesting there were severe financial issues at Lotus. The news meant Felipe Massa’s eight-year stay at Maranello was drawing to a conclusion but he would be announced as a Williams driver for 2014 before the season’s end. Under the lights at the Marina Bay, Vettel made it three wins in a row at the event, with Raikkonen defying the aggravation of an old back injury in qualifying to finish a fine third from 13^th on the grid. Webber retired on the last lap with a gearbox problem and then copped a 10-place grid penalty for getting a lift back to the pits on the back of Alonso’s car on the slowing down lap.

Mark Webber can only watch as his Red Bull burns in Korea

It was now a question of when, rather than if Vettel would become champion once again. He reigned supreme as ever in Korea which arguably was a contender for race of the season. While he dominated, team-mate Webber went up in flames – quite literally (pictured). He was clobbered by Adrian Sutil after a mid-race Safety Car period. The connection with the Force India cracked an oil line and it wasn’t long before the back of the car went up in flames pretty spectacularly. The appearance of a fire truck before the Safety Car returned to the circuit saw the organisers get a hefty slap on the wrist afterwards. The Lotus pair of Raikkonen and Grosjean finished second and third, while Hulkenberg produced the drive of the season to come home fourth, keeping both Hamilton and Alonso at bay for the majority of the race due to his car’s strong straight-line speed.

The only time Vettel looked like he might be beaten in the run-in was at the Japanese Grand Prix. Romain Grosjean and Lotus asked a serious question which was responded in confident style by Red Bull. Webber had edged into pole position after a KERS problem for Vettel in qualifying but both were beaten off the line by a lightning Grosjean. Slight contact with Vettel’s car punctured a tyre on Hamilton’s Mercedes and ended his day early. The Lotus man kept Vettel behind for nearly 40 laps but eventually had to give best to both RBR machines. His third place though was richly deserved. Alonso came fourth followed by Raikkonen and Hulkenberg. The paddock was stunned though at Suzuka by the tragic death of ex-Marussia test driver Maria de Vilota who had been found dead in a Seville hotel as her injuries from the dreadful testing accident suffered last summer ultimately proved fatal.

Vettel does it in style

Fourth place in Japan for Alonso had kept the championship mathematically alive but all Vettel needed on the sport’s last visit to India for a year was a top five finish. This he achieved in style with a sixth straight victory and sealing both a fourth successive drivers title for himself and constructors championship for the team. Webber was nailed on for a certain second place until an alternator issue grounded his car on lap 40. That allowed Nico Rosberg to finish a strong second but some half a minute behind and Grosjean charged through from 17^th to take third again. That was only after a near altercation with team-mate Raikkonen in the closing laps that forced Lotus chief race engineer Alan Permane to leave some brutal words in Kimi’s radio – shouting: “Kimi, get out of the f####ng’ way.” Afterwards, Vettel treated the Indian fans to some doughnuts in his car, before bowing down to his monster of a chassis and leaving it on the start-finish straight. Rather than accept the reasoning for this, the FIA fined the team and driver to the chagrin of many paddock insiders.

Following the stiff row that broke out at Lotus after India, Raikkonen almost didn’t turn up in Abu Dhabi and only arrived at the last minute to drive. He expressed his dissatisfaction to the media and claimed that he hadn’t been paid a single euro for the season. He threatened to go on strike but an agreement was eventually reached for his rightful salary to be paid. In the UAE, Kimi was thrown out of qualifying for a technical infringement then hit van der Garde on the first corner, retired, left for the airport and wasn’t to be seen for the rest of the year as he underwent a back operation shortly afterwards. For the record in a forgettable race, Vettel won by nearly half a minute from Webber, Rosberg, Grosjean and Alonso.

If Abu Dhabi had been a tedious race, the spectacle in Austin, Texas was one of the most boring events of the past 20 years in the sport. Overtaking was limited, Pirelli brought tyres that were way too conservative and action on-track was non-existent. Vettel became the first man to win eight races in a row in a season, while a fast start from Grosjean saw him beat Webber to second and continue his rise in reputation. Valtteri Bottas scored the first championship points of his career with a fine eighth place in a desperate year for Williams.

So it came to an end in Brazil and it was a predictable end to the championship. Vettel won the race again to ensure he remained unbeaten at any event since late July. However the day wasn’t about him equalling records. It was about Webber, who bowed out of the sport by taking off his crash helmet on the slowing down lap and a pirouette on the rostrum as he finished his career with second place in the race and third in the championship. Massa might have made the podium in his final Ferrari race until he collected a drive-through penalty that left him screaming on the radio: “Unbelievable, unbelievable decision FIA!” With Hamilton also receiving a similar sanction for needless contact with Bottas on lap 47, Alonso took the final podium of the season. Jenson Button offered McLaren a crumb of comfort with fourth place and Perez came through from 19^th to sixth but had already been fired for next season.

The racing quality in 2013 was uninspiring and the results fairly predictable but no-one can take away Sebastian Vettel’s amazing achievements. He now has to be ranked alongside the likes of Fangio, Schumacher and Senna with his record-breaking campaign.

2014 brings a whole new raft of changes. We say goodbye to Mark Webber, Ross Brawn, probably Paul di Resta, the Indian Grand Prix and V8 engines and say hello to the V6 turbo engine, bigger KERS units, Dane rookie Kevin Magnussen at McLaren, Daniel Kvyat at Toro Rosso and a new race in Russia as well as a welcome return to the calendar for the Austrian Grand Prix. Let’s hope this mixture will shake up the competition and make 2014 a more memorable championship than the one served up in 2013. This year will be known as the year where Vettel crushed the opposition. Enjoy next season and for the last time writing for Formula One on Viewing Perspectives, thank you for reading and goodbye.

FINAL STANDINGS

Drivers’ Championship: 1. Sebastian Vettel 397, 2. Fernando Alonso 242, 3. Mark Webber 199, 4. Lewis Hamilton 189, 5. Kimi Raikkonen 183, 6. Nico Rosberg 171, 7. Romain Grosjean 132, 8. Felipe Massa 112, 9. Jenson Button 73, 10. Nico Hulkenberg 51, 11. Sergio Perez 49, 12. Paul di Resta 48, 13. Adrian Sutil 29, 14. Daniel Ricciardo 20, 15. Jean-Eric Vergne 13, 16. Esteban Gutierrez 6, 17. Valtteri Bottas 4, 18. Pastor Maldonado 1

Constructors’ Championship: 1. Red Bull Racing 596, 2. Mercedes GP 360, 3. Ferrari 354, 4. Lotus 315, 5. McLaren 122, 6. Force India 77, 7. Sauber 57, 8. Scuderia Toro Rosso 33, 9. Williams 5

Categories: 2013, Canada, Fernando Alonso, Fire, Formula One, India, Lewis Hamilton, Lotus, Malaysia, Mark Webber, Nico Rosberg, Pirelli, Red Bull, Sebastian Vettel, Silverstone

Great British sporting moments

By Simon Wright

At 5.24pm on Sunday evening, the longest drought in British sport was finally consigned to the history books.

After 77 years of hurt, pain and close calls, Britain has a men’s singles champion at Wimbledon.  Andy Murray battled through hot temperatures on a scorching day at SW19 and the persistence of his opponent, the world number one Novak Djokovic to beat the Serbian in straight sets 6-4, 7-5, 6-4.

The reaction of Murray afterwards was one of finally achieving his dream, and he has turned it around in the last 12 months.  He had a lot of people, me included who struggled to accept him as a great tennis player.  Last year’s agonising four-set final defeat on Centre Court to Swiss master Roger Federer was the turning point.

Murray’s emotional speech after the match showed the pain he felt at losing the biggest match of his career, but since then, the man from a small town in Scotland called Dunblane has turned his career around.

He dismantled Federer just under a month later on the same court to win Olympic Gold for Team GB, before seeing off Djokovic in a five-set marathon to claim his first Grand Slam at the US Open last September. 

Despite missing the French Open through injury in May, Murray has reached the Australian Open final, won three ATP titles including the AEGON Championships at Queen’s Club, and now the biggest prize in tennis.

It is a feat that I never thought I would ever see – and over 17 million viewers tuned onto the BBC on Sunday to see history being made in London.

Sporting fans are going through a golden generation of British success.  Last year was simply unbelievable.  We had Bradley Wiggins becoming the first Brit to ever win the Tour de France, cycling’s ultimate race.  Manchester City won their first league title in over 40 years with a finish we will never see again in the Premier League, there was Chelsea finally becoming Champions of Europe in Munich and of course, the unforgettable fortnight of London 2012 – an event that truly brought sport and the nation together as we witnessed some remarkable feats.

Along with Murray, I've picked out five sporting feats that are among my favourites of all-time.

There are some that have just missed out, including Virginia Wade winning Wimbledon in 1977, Sir Steve Redgrave’s fifth Olympic Gold medal in Sydney in 2000, Liverpool’s breathtaking comeback to win the Champions League in Istanbul in 2005, and the famous Bolero dance in 1984 by Jayne Torvill & Christopher Dean that won gold in Sarajevo.

England win the FIFA World Cup, 1966

This memory is way too early for me, but it is something that we will probably never see again – well unless we live in fantasy land.  That is England being football world champions.

It happened on home soil in 1966 and to make it better, West Germany were the opponents in the final.

Bobby Moore lifts the Jules Rimet trophy, England's finest football moment

Sir Geoff Hurst was the hero on the day, as he became the first player in World Cup final history to score a hat-trick.  England did lead 2-1, but were taken to extra-time before a linesman from the country of Azerbaijan declared that Hurst’s second goal did cross the line.

With the Germans pushing forward to score, gaps opened up in the defence and Hurst broke clear to complete his hat-trick, with the famous words from commentator Kenneth Wolstenholme; “And here comes Hurst, there’s some fans on the pitch, they think it’s all over.”

Alf Ramsay’s men won the game 4-2, and it was left for iconic captain Bobby Moore (pictured) to collect the Jules Rimet trophy to declare England as world champions. 

Since then, there were close calls in Italia 90 and Euro 96 for major prizes, before those darn penalties got in the way, and no-one will forget Germany 1-5 England in September 2001, but the drought of no success is set to continue for some time to come.

Rugby World Cup Glory Down Under, 2003

Getting up on a Saturday morning was never more anticipated than on Saturday, 22 November 2003.  Telstra Stadium in Sydney was the venue for the Rugby World Cup final between holders and hosts Australia and Sir Clive Woodward’s England.

England went to the finals as favourites and ranked as the number one side according to the IRB rankings.  However, they hadn’t found their best form in the tournament yet, lucky to beat Samoa in the pool stages and being outplayed but somehow winning the quarter-final with Wales.  Australia meanwhile had stunned the All Blacks to reach the final against the odds.

It was Australia who started the quickest, as Loite Tuqiri went over for the opening try inside five minutes.  Penalty goals on a blustery evening dominated a tense and nail-biting encounter, but Jason Robinson’s late try towards the end of the first half, coupled with three penalties from Jonny Wilkinson had England going in 14-5 at the interval.

Mistakes allowed the Aussies back into the game and with one minute left of normal time, Elton Flatley converted his third penalty in a row to level the scores at 14-14 and take the game into extra time.

Not much had changed after the extra 20 minutes, with sudden death approaching and the game on a knife-edge at 17-17, when Wilkinson, who had missed three earlier drop goal attempts, got his fourth attempt spot on.  With 25 seconds to go, England were back infront and held on to claim a 20-17 win and be crowned 2003 Rugby World Cup winners.

It was a momentous day, a superb feat and made English rugby the prime sport for a while in this country.  Another final has followed since, although more inconsistent form has been the story of the past decade.  However, rugby union never felt so good than it did on that November morning a decade ago.

England regain the Ashes, 2005

After 17 years of constant defeats from Australia’s legendary cricket side, England finally had a chance with a decent team of taking on the Australians in the 2005 Ashes series.  It turned out to be a momentous seven weeks for the game of cricket, as it became the most talked about sport during this period.

Australia waltzed to a convincing victory in the first test at Lord’s, with legendary bowler Glenn McGrath doing the damage, taking five wickets in his opening spell.  England fought back at Edgbaston where McGrath was ruled out through injury.  Despite the best efforts of Shane Warne, Brett Lee and Michael Kasprowicz, England won the second test by just two runs in Birmingham in one of the most thrilling games of cricket that was ever seen.

The captains took their turn to control proceedings at Old Trafford a few days later.  Michael Vaughan became the first player in the series to hit a century, before Ricky Ponting defied England’s strong bowling attack of Andrew Flintoff, Steve Harmison, Matthew Hoggard and Ashley Giles on the final day to ensure the series remained at 1-1.

At Trent Bridge, England dominated, but almost threw the match away with some sloppy shots, and tremendous bowling from Warne and Lee.  Chasing 127 to win, it was the eighth wicket partnership from Giles and Hoggard that got the home side home by three wickets to take a 2-1 series lead.

So it came to The Oval, where England only needed to avoid defeat to regain the Ashes.  Australia had to win and showed early intent, reducing England to a below-par 373, before Matthew Hayden and Justin Langer started eroding the advantage significantly.  Flintoff, who had an unbelievable series, tore through the Australian middle order on the Sunday morning to leave England six runs ahead.

Michael Vaughan lifts the urn aloft after England's 2005 triumph

Then, on 57-3 on the final day, Kevin Pietersen survived two dropped catches and a couple of run out calls to hit a maiden test century, and take the game away from Australia.  The match was drawn and England could celebrate.  There were scenes (pictured) that hadn’t been seen since the dramatic home series of 1981, but were repeated four years later with victory in the 2009 series.

England start as overwhelming favourites to win the Ashes again this summer.  The first test starts tomorrow at Trent Bridge in Nottinghamshire.

Lewis Hamilton wins the Formula One title on the last corner, 2008

The 2008 FIA Formula One World Championship was one full of action, intrigue, stunning drives and some glaring mistakes.  It came down to a final race showdown in Brazil, with Britain’s Lewis Hamilton holding a seven-point lead over the local lad Felipe Massa.

Hamilton only needed a fifth place finish in Sao Paulo to become the youngest ever champion in the sport’s history and was untroubled for much of the day, looking secure in fourth place behind Massa, Fernando Alonso’s Renault and the second Ferrari of reigning world champion Kimi Raikkonen.

Then the rainclouds arrived and with five laps to go, all the top runners had to pit for intermediate tyres.  Toyota made a brave gamble and kept Timo Glock out on dry tyres, and Hamilton was now in a vulnerable position as the German slipped past whilst he was being serviced.

With three laps to go Hamilton allowed the lapped Robert Kubica to pass him, but slid wide and the Toro Rosso of Sebastian Vettel dived past into fifth place, meaning Hamilton was now out of the world championship position he needed to be in.

Massa did everything he needed to do, cruising across the line to take his sixth win of the season, and for 30 seconds or so, the Brazilian had done it.  However, the rain intensified and Glock on his dry tyres was a sitting target.  Into the final corner, both Vettel and Hamilton passed the limping Toyota, with the McLaren powering up the hill to become the 2008 Formula One World Champion.

Ferrari didn’t notice this and started celebrating, but they had got it wrong.  It was Hamilton’s ex-girlfriend Nicole Scherzinger and the McLaren mechanics who had got their calculations right.  Hamilton was champion and in the most unbelievable manner possible.  He made history on the final corner of a truly remarkable season, all of this on ITV’s final afternoon of broadcasting the sport after 12 years.

Super Saturday, 2012

There are so many memories from last summer’s Olympics and we all have our own personal favourites.  Among mine was Sir Chris Hoy’s sixth gold medal in cycling, Jade Jones winning the Taekwondo and Katie Taylor taking Ireland’s first gold for 16 years in women’s boxing.

However, none of that can topple the amazing events on Super Saturday.  Not even a predictable Team GB penalty shootout defeat in football could turn the night into a sour one.

The team had already won three gold medals in the day, two more in rowing and one in the Velodrome, but it was the events in the Olympic Stadium that were simply awe-inspiring.

First, Jessica Ennis completed her domination of the women’s heptathlon event.  Ennis took victory in the final event, the 800m to stamp her authority on the two-day competition.  The Sheffield athlete broke her own British heptathlon record for points, and finished over 300 points clear of her nearest rival.  After the injury pain of missing out on Beijing in 2008, Ennis had shown to the world that she was the best all-round athlete.

Moments later, Greg Rutherford from Bletchley in Milton Keynes leapt 8.31m to extend his lead in the men’s long jump final.  No-one else got close and after his own injury nightmares of previous years, Rutherford had pulled off an unexpected but no less deserved gold medal.  He became the first Brit to win the long jump competition since Lyn Jarvis in Oslo in 1964.

Then, it was the turn of Mo Farah to take the limelight.  Against a top field of Ethiopian and Kenyan athletes, Farah showed them up with a brilliant tactical run, before kicking twice on the final lap to pull clear of the field and win the men’s 10,000m.  The stadium went crazy and Team GB had just won three gold medals in the space of half an hour.  It was undoubtedly the best night in British athletics history, and quite possibly, the greatest moment in British sporting history.

Those five moments, together now with Andy Murray’s glory at Wimbledon are my personal favourites.  I’m sure we will see many more great British sporting moments in the coming years, but for now, let’s enjoy and bask in recent glories and accept that at the moment, Great British sport is in a happy and very successful place.

Categories: Andy Murray, Ashes, Australia, Britain, England, Jessica Ennis, Jonny Wilkinson, Lewis Hamilton, Rugby World Cup, Scotland, Sir Geoff Hurst, Sport, Team GB, Wimbledon, World Cup

Megan, John and Lewis - A week in the headlines

Most news bulletins are dominated nowadays by political anger, conflict in the Middle East and our brave soldiers who continue to fight a battle in Afghanistan that gets grimmer with every passing week.

That changed this week as the stories were lead by the disappearance of 15-year-old schoolgirl Megan Stammers from Eastbourne.

She had been reported missing after eloping away from the country with one of her schoolteachers, Jeremy Forrest.

Sussex police worked very hard with counterparts across Europe to find the pair, while her devastated family members made heart-warming appeals for Megan to come home.

CCTV pictures were released of the couple boarding a ferry hand-in-hand and it ended in relief on Friday afternoon, when French police found them in Bordeaux.

Maths teacher Forrest has been arrested by police in France on suspicion of child abduction and made a brief court appearance in the country.  He is due back in court on Tuesday and is likely to be extradited to the UK shortly after that. 

If he is found guilty of not only that but having an indecent sexual relationship with a student then the law book is likely to be thrown at him and rightly so.

Yesterday, Megan boarded a plane to head home and will be reunited with her family soon. 

Although it will be difficult, I would hope the media allow her and the family to return to a normal life as they possibly can, fully away from the public spotlight.

Where’s the consistency?

Sport made the news on Thursday when the Football Association found former England skipper John Terry guilty of racially abusing QPR’s Anton Ferdinand.

Terry was charged by the FA earlier this summer, despite having been cleared by a court of law in July.

He has been handed a four game ban and a £220,000 fine.  A written statement is likely to be released this week and after that, Terry will have 14 days to appeal against the decision.

It is difficult to have much of a view on this case but what I will say is that the lack of consistency from the FA is startling.

Last season, Luis Suarez was banned for eight games after the Liverpool striker was found guilty of racially abusing Patrice Evra in a match against Manchester United.

The FA then banned Joey Barton for 12 games in the summer, after his disgraceful behaviour on the final day of last season as a QPR player.  Barton elbowed Carlos Tevez, and then head butted both Sergio Aguero and Vincent Kompany.

So why does Barton get 12, Suarez get 8 and Terry get 4?  Where’s the consistency?  It can’t be right!  For once, I agree with Barton’s reaction about the FA being clueless.

Also, it took 11 months to sort out – as the Terry/Ferdinand incident happened on October 23 last year.  While it is difficult to talk about the legalities without knowing the process, surely this could have been dealt with quicker.

A chequered career

Lastly on Friday morning, the Formula One world was stunned as Lewis Hamilton announced his decision to leave behind the McLaren team that has nurtured him since he was a young child.

Hamilton will move to Mercedes GP on a three-year deal for 2013 to partner Nico Rosberg.  This means that seven-time world champion Michael Schumacher has been booted out to make way for the Brit.

McLaren have reacted quickly and brought in the talented Mexican Sergio Perez as Jenson Button’s team-mate for next year.

Lewis Hamilton is taking a big gamble in moving to Mercedes

Hamilton has had a chequered career, which has brought him one world championship but that was back in 2008.  Since then, he has come close but not quite close enough.

Pitstop blunders, a lack of reliability and some costly accidents mean chances of winning the title in 2012 are now slim to nil.

Add in his feud with Felipe Massa last season, a management company that only is interested in money, his high maintenance relationship with X-Factor judge Nicole Scherzinger and ‘Twittergate’ when he published telemetry at Spa of secret McLaren data information and a move was on the cards.

While change is needed for all parties, McLaren have got one of the best young racers on the grid in Perez and as for Hamilton, I hope he enjoys midfield mediocrity because that is all Mercedes will provide him in the short-term.

Categories: Afghanistan, Bordeaux, CCTV, FA, John Terry, Lewis Hamilton, Mercedes, Middle East, Nicole Scherzinger, Politics, Sport, Sussex, Twitter