Current points standings:

Lewis Hamilton 84
Felipe Massa 79
Robert Kubica 72

Not who you WANT to win, but who you THINK will win.

I still think Hamilton will do it, even if the Ferrari bias from the FIA/stewards is obvious. Weather predictions are very early - but notice that Shanghai could be wet again! This would play into Hamilton and McLaren's hands...

You can't fight the EMPIRE.

The result was pre-ordained in a nice ornate building in Paris a few weeks back.

Ferrari

Seriously do you have to start two threads? one with several options would have done.

Too close to call, but Lewis still has the upper hand.

One is WDC and the other is WCC. I don't think the board software allows two polls per thread, sadly.

Thinking Hamilton, hoping Massa.

a wet race in china, what could go wrong for mclaren? hmm lol

i would love to see kubica getting the title, but that is highly unlikely. Between Hamilton and Massa they both would be good champions. i voted Massa, cause the last races played out nicely for Ferrari last year, but Hamilton is of course in a much better position to win. It's just a feeling i have that Massa can actually deliver.

I thought of doing a poll with 9 options (Massa/Ferrari, Massa/McLaren, Massa/BMW, Hamilton/Ferrari, .... you get the point) but it'd be a bit confusing.

Í´ll tell you after China. If Lewis still leads with 5 or more points after China, he has it. If it´s 4 or less, Massa and Raikkonen will secure the brazilians title in Interlagos

I want Hamilton to win it but looking at the FIA progress, I doubt that Hamilton will win it, at least not without any further penalties.

I wish a Ferrari 1-2 in China. Then we can have a great race in Brazil, whoever wins it is the WDC.

Who do I want to win it? Massa

Who will win it? Hamilton, he is an idiot but Massa is a tool.

i think massa will

For me, Alonso has already won it. Points can't be used to decide the championship, especially not when the drivers in contention seems completely inept to take matter in their own hands as Massa and Hamilton are. Kubica second on my list and if he would win it on points I wouldn't be dissapointed - it would only serve to show the lack of quality in todays field (it will improve with time though as Hamilton will grow into a great one, I'm sure).

Exactly what I think. Hammy will win WDCs anyway (if he learns to control himself and not throw away titles), but for Massa it's the only chance he'll ever get, I think. Like Irvine in '99 or Hill in '96 (well, he also had chances in '94, but only because he ran 4 more races than Schumacher).

So I'll cross my fingers for Massa, but Hamilton won't lose it this time.

If Alonso was in a Ferrari, he would have wrapped it up ages ago.

But as it is, we have two young, fast drivers, who are both known to crack under pressure.

Sooo, It can go any way, we saw that last season. Hell, kuby may even come through and nip it.

Hamilton is ahead, but Massa is not at all in a hopeless situation. All he has to do to win twice and hope somebody will get between him and Hamilton at least once. With the car he has he can win twice. With the car Ferrari has Kimi can come between him and Hamilton once. Or maybe Alonso or Kubica will do that. But he and Ferrari need to stop making mistakes now.

Kubica with these sort of drivings.

This

Massa will win it. I fear a mixture of bizarre penalties and cracking under pressure will lose it for Hamilton.

amen.

Don't rule out Kimi just yet... Max may deduct points from Lewis.



Kubica, long shot... but given the way the front 2 idiots are driving I wouldn't rule him out. Mario, fuel the Pole light in China and roll the dice.

I voted Lewis, but I hope he'll do "it" again (like in Fuji or China 2007). Kubica needs miracle, because theoretically six cars are faster than him.

Hear hear.

Neither Hamilton's nor Massa's driving was World Champion-like, at Fuji. The former tried to win the race in the first quarter mile, as if it were a drag race, the latter tried to do the same a few corners later. Very unprofessional.

Lewis still has another barnstorming win in him before the end of the season. That would clinch it for him.

Hammy hasn't made the same mistake twice, and he must be close to the full gamut of them by now , so I think he'll be error-free in Shanghai and Brazil. Anthony will have had some things to say about Fuji Turn 1 and Lewis won't do that again.

The Macs looked very fast in Fuji and I don't see Felipe taking 5 points off him, especially since Mac have a Brazil upgrade coming and he has a fesh engine for both races.

Kubi is slower than 5 cars so I don't see how he can get 12 points even if Lewis and Felipe take each other out in both races.

to be honest I reckon hamilton will grab it, but not for self merits but for massa-ferrari ineptitude, hamilton will choke again this weekend as well as massa so he'll keep the advantage. I predict third in a row of alonso or alonso giving the victory away to robert after massa and hamilton collapse and thus contributing to his recent statement but in favour of kubica

I think Lewis will win.

Not my prefferred choice but the odds are on him.

CC

The FIA has already won it for ferari. You can't fight three cars with red paint on the track with one driven by FIA carrying the referee to clear the path or as bordais put it well " Unrolling the carpet". What is the point?

Hamilton if he engages his brain.

1. Hamilton
2. Massa
3. Raikkonen
4. Kubica

Not sure if Alonso could do in this year Ferrari (1 of two best cars) what he could not do last year (in 1 of two best cars).

I think Lewis but I wish Massa.

Hamilton won't. It is not allowed to use the joker engine in the last race. Hamilton will have his new engine in China, Massa in Brazil.

That will be interesting, as the Mercedes engine seems not bullet proof anymore (two problems/failures at the race weekend now and problems at the engine test bench according to print AMuS).
So far, those problems only hit Heikki but you never know...

Interesting indeed. As Hamiltons new engine for china is probably shipped already, and if they only found out recently a problem, the engine is probably of the same bunch as Heikki's one...

A question for those stating with great authority how everything is fixed anyway:

So whoever finally wins it, it's a fix... what if Lewis takes the crown? In that case, didn't they use a supremely clever script to fool the audience and keep the suspense up right till the end, revealing their Lewis favouritism only at the last second?

So that's actually my prediction: the FIA fixed the 2008 championship for Lewis right after Brazil last year.

Remember you read it here first!

It's McLaren, they'll buy a Gulfstream overnight to get another engine to Shanghai.

Well it's basically a reliable motor, if they've changed something, they can just change it back.

If I could legally market what you are smoking I would be richer than Bernie in one calendar year without question.

Bernie.
(Spell checked)

For Hamiltion, Alonso could be the fly in the ointment...

http://www.autosport.com/news/report.php/id/71379

The FIA don't want that schwartza winning their championship.

There...I said it.
Jp

Its do or die for either of them now

But the odds are still in Hamiltons favour. He did seem faster than Raikkonen in the Japanese Grand Prix but that bad start of his cost him dearly.

No doubt Massa and Raikkonen will be good in Brazil. Only problem is I think people are Overestimating Raikkonen abit though. Hamilton was faster in Qualifying in Brazil 2007 and Japan 2008 than Raikkonen was.

Hate to say this but if Hamilton does decide to use his brain there isn't really much Ferrari can do to stop him since its clearly obvious Hamilton is faster in Qualifying than Raikkonen so McLaren have to go for that.

Hamilton has a good chance for pole position and the race win in Shanghai with the cool temperatures and the good chance of rain there but then again Ferrari are going to be faster than him in Brazil.

So to sum it up Hamilton since he still does have a 5 point advantage and Hamilton does have faster pace than Raikkonen and he only has to finish 2nd to Massa in both races to get the title so the odds are clearly in Hamiltons favour but after watching that race on Sunday my verdict might be completely wrong.

I would love to see Kubica take the title though I wouldn't be able to contain my laughter at Hamilton and Massa xD

I'm always torn between whose extreme fans are capable of more hilarious posts, Alonsos or Hamiltons. You just tipped the balance heavily in Lewis' direction, this one will be really hard to top.

It's WorldWar III !!!!!

Hamilton wil grab WDC imho.

Kubica will seruptitiously slip through into the lead whilst the FIA are busy trying to orchestrate a Massa and Hamilton showdown!

Both Massa and Hamilton are driving under the most difficult psychological conditions. They mustn't fail. That is a whole different deal than Kubica´s. He has nothing to lose and can focus completely on positive thinking, not letting any negative thoughts enter his mind as I'm sure is the case with both Massa and Hamilton, they have both showed signs of cracking up under pressure.