Lewis Hamilton is runner-up of the BBC sports personality of the year 2008!
Unlucky Lewis! I really thought sports personality of the year was on the cards! You’ll probably win in next year (2nd time lucky 
).
A behind the scenes and sneak peek video of Lewis Hamilton’s McLaren team getting the car ready for the Singapre Grand Prix night race.
Get your Lewis Hamilton Cap.
This video is incredible! It shows a driver’s perspective of the on-track battle between Lewis Hamilton and Kimi Raikkonen near the end of the Belgian Grand Prix.
It clearly shows that Lewis dropped behind Kimi after he cut the corner – personally I would have thought that this would be sufficient. Anyway, enjoy this video clip of the best and most exciting racing drivers in the world!
Get your Lewis Hamilton Cap.
Buy the Official Lewis Hamilton Cap by Vodafone McLaren Mercedes.
The Vodafone McLaren Mercedes Lewis Hamilton cap is the official design as worn by Lewis at Grand Prix races.
The cap is fully lined in rocket red and is adjustable with a metal buckle embossed with the Vodafone McLaren Mercedes logo.The cap is waterproof, breathable, lightweight and durable. Mesh sections on the sides and front along with the internal mesh headband enhance breathability.
Lewis Hamilton will start the Formula 1 Monaco Grand Prix from third position.
Hamilton looked strong since arriving in Monaco topping Thursday’s second practice session. Somehow Ferrari manage to grab the 1-2 starting position with Kimi starting behing Massa. The race tomorrow should be super interesting, as it always is in Monaco – I bet the fuel strategy’s going to be interesting as it can mix things up a bit and will play a big part tomorrow.
I can’t wait to see the race of the season! 
1. MASSA Ferrari 1m15.787s 2. RAIKKONEN Ferrari 1m15.815s 3. HAMILTON McLaren 1m15.839s 4. KOVALAINEN McLaren 1m16.165s 5. KUBICA BMW 1m16.171s 6. ROSBERG Williams 1m16.548s 7. ALONSO Renault 1m16.852s 8. TRULLI Toyota 1m17.203s 9. WEBBER Red Bull 1m17.343s 10. COULTHARD Red Bull no time 11. GLOCK Toyota 1m15.907s 12. BUTTON Honda 1m16.101s 13. HEIDFELD BMW 1m16.455s 14. NAKAJIMA Williams 1m16.479s 15. BARRICHELLO Honda 1m16.537s 16. BOURDAIS Toro Rosso 1m16.806s 17. PIQUET Renault 1m16.933s 18. VETTEL Toro Rosso 1m16.955s 19. SUTIL Force India 1m17.225s 20. FISICHELLA Force India 1m17.823s
Lewis Hamilton managed to start from third position at the Istanbul Circuit in Turkey despite his McLaren Formula 1 car not handling well in some corners where the back seemed to slide out a few times.
Kimi Raikkonen seemed to have a few problems with his Ferrari as well causing him to start from 4th position, next to Lewis.
It should be an interesting race which has been brought forward in the calendar from mid-summer. This is causing some difficulties for the teams as the tyre temperatures are not very high, causing less grip for the drivers.
1. MASSA Ferrari 2. KOVALAINEN McLaren 3. HAMILTON McLaren 4. RAIKKONEN Ferrari 5. KUBICA BMW 6. WEBBER Red Bull 7. ALONSO Renault 8. TRULLI Toyota 9. HEIDFELD BMW 10. COULTHARD Red Bull 11. ROSBERG Williams 12. BARRICHELLO Honda 13. BUTTON Honda 14. VETTEL Toro Rosso 15. GLOCK Toyota 16. NAKAJIMA Williams 17. PIQUET Renault 18. BOURDAIS Toro Rosso 19. SUTIL Force India 20. FISICHELLA Force India
Well done Lewis Hamilton, who managed to secure a predicted and well deserved podium position.
Hamilton who is second in the current F1 world championship has 20 points and is losing more points to Kimi Raikkonen who now has 29 points, leading the championship. The next races will be crucial for Lewis who can’t afford to loose touch with Kimi who’s leading by 9 points, that’s almost a race win for Hamilton and a DNF for Kimi away. Well, Formula 1 in 2008 is certainly looking to be an interesting one, I can’t wait for the next race
1. RAIKKONEN Ferrari 2. MASSA Ferrari +3.2s 3. HAMILTON McLaren +4.1s 4. KUBICA BMW +5.6s 5. WEBBER Red Bull +35.9s 6. BUTTON Honda +53.0s 7. NAKAJIMA Williams +58.2s 8. TRULLI Toyota +59.4s 9. HEIDFELD BMW +63.0s 10. FISICHELLA Force India +1 lap 11. GLOCK Toyota +1 lap 12. COULTHARD Red Bull +1 lap 13. SATO Super Aguri +1 lap R. ROSBERG Williams +25 laps R. ALONSO Renault +32 laps R. BARRICHELLO Honda +32 laps R. KOVALAINEN McLaren +45 laps R. DAVIDSON Super Aguri +58 laps R. BOURDAIS Toro Rosso +59 laps R. PIQUET Renault +60 laps R. SUTIL Force India +66 laps R. VETTEL Toro Rosso +66 laps
There’s a strong Lewis Hamilton fan community growing at the Lewis Hamilton Facebook Fan Page with thousands of fan members. Plenty of well-wishers for Lewis, forums and fans are posting pictures of themselves with Hamilton including some pictures of the early days – he had funny hair back then
Heikki Kovalainen is going to be Lewis Hamilton’s team-mate at the Vodafone McLaren Mercedes team for the 2008 Formula 1 World Championship.
Heikki Kovalainen who previously raced for Renault has done a seat swap with Fernando Alonso to join McLaren with a long term contract.
I think Heikki Kovalainen and Lewis Hamilton are going to be a great team for the coming seasons – best of luck to them!
Here’s what Heikki Kovalainen had to say:
I am so excited to join a team like Vodafone McLaren Mercedes. So far I have been blown away by the dedication and commitment to winning, which is clear through the entire organisation, and I am really excited about our joint future.
As a Finn it’s an honour for me to follow in Mika and Kimi’s footsteps. I haven’t really spent a lot of time with Lewis so far but from what I know I think we will work well together and do our best for the team. I am really looking forward to 2008 and working with Heikki as my team-mate. Together with the team we will do everything we can to ensure that our championship challenge is as strong and focused as possible.
My first year in Formula 1 was incredible and I was so fortunate to spend it with Vodafone McLaren Mercedes and I hope that Heikki will enjoy his first year with the team as much as I did mine.
I just came across in interesting Q&A with Lewis Hamilton – from autosport.com
Lewis Hamilton famously first attended the Autosport Awards in 1995 as a young karter to collect his first major trophy. That night has been etched into folklore, however, for the manner in which the then youngster approached Ron Dennis and told him that he wanted to race for McLaren in the future.
Hamilton returned to the Awards this year as the same polite, amusing and interesting person – but of course with slightly more interest surrounding him. And after becoming the first man in the history of the Awards to capture three trophies in one night, he spoke on stage to reflect on that night 12 years ago as well as his rookie season in Formula One.
What do you remember about your early years at the Autosport Awards?
Lewis Hamilton: As you know I have had an amazing season, but it is quite strange standing here. In 1995 when I came here to receive my first trophy, I went up to Ron and said I wanted to race his car and be world champion. I have come so far with the support of my family, and standing here after my first full season in F1 is just unreal. I am just as nervous as I was when I was 10 years old…
So what do you remember of that conversation. Did you have to grab him, was there a queue?
LH: There was no queue. My dad said, ‘There is Ron Dennis¦.” And as a young 10-year-old, all I can I remember is the McLarens were red and white and he was the boss. It was a good conversation. He gave me plenty of time and he is still the same guy.
Who were the personalities who impressed you back then?
LH: For this evening and the past couple of months the most difficult thing has been Colin McRae. I remember the first time I came here I was up in the bar and he was one of the first guys I met. I was into rallying and he was the man I wanted to be.
He was such a character. I was 10-years-old and he was trying to get me a drink! I always remember that night because he gave me so much time. I missed Ayrton Senna by a year, but I was fortunate to get around to see some other people.
You have had an extraordinary season. What was it like heading into Melbourne?
LH: Well, the first year, (after) working so hard to get there, I didn’t feel like a rookie. I was given such a great opportunity so I grabbed it with both hands.
My engineer and I at McLaren, we made sure we didn’t leave a stone unturned so we could go to the first race as well prepared as we could. So I got to the first race and, for sure, probably the other guys didn’t anticipate me being so quick – which is a good thing to catch them by surprise!
That was how I probably did so well at the first corner, but I think they caught on after that. I was given a lot of respect, but they quickly realised I wasn’t here to mess around.
For you what was the high-spot – the first win, the first pole?
LH: It is difficult to say if there was one particular high spot. To be honest it was an amazing rollercoaster. To get to the first grand prix and to get the first podium is something you can only dream of.
And then to continue that, and to finally get the first win and first pole – I really remember that. I had nearly put it in the wall but managed to get the lap. It really was just an amazing emotional ride throughout the year.
What would you say was your best overtaking move?
LH: Probably Monza. I really just wanted to do a 1-2 for the team, so I had to make sure I got past Kimi (Raikkonen). I had two laps to do it with brand new tyres and he was on old tyres as he had only done one pit stop. I didn’t actually realise until I saw the replay how far back I was.
It didn’t work out in the last few races of the season. What lessons do you take from that in 2008?
LH: To always keep your head up. I went into those last races and what was important was that I still had support from the team. And with all the problems we had to deal with, the atmosphere within the team to support me remained the same. It really showed that if you work, keep your head down and stay focused you can achieve it.
You can’t win all the time, but you have to lose to learn how to win. We didn’t get the championship, but perhaps it was a good thing. So we will be working twice as hard next year.
By Jonathan Noble - Source
Lewis Hamilton Blog