Like so many of us, Paul watched was glued to the television screen watching the tortuous final few laps of the Brazilian Grand Prix as Lewis Hamilton strove to become the Formula One World Champion.
“It was probably the most dramatic motorport coverage on television I’ve ever seen,” Paul explained. “The only thing which came close was watching my cousin Dario (Franchitti) win the IndyCar Championship last year when Scott Dixon ran out of fuel on the last corner, of the last lap of the last race.
“I honestly thought Lewis had lost the championship again when Sebastian (Vettel) got past him and relegated him to sixth. I thought ‘here we go again’. And when (Felipe) Massa crossed the line, as far as I was concerned, the championship was gone.
“But in motorsport you never, ever give up and that’s exactly what Lewis did; he battled right to the very end of the race and luck smiled on him. I haven’t spoken with him yet, but I know I’ll get all the details when I see him in Germany on Thursday. He’s going to be so happy.
“I know there are people who have questioned whether Timo (Glock) slowed to allow Lewis to pass, but on the final corner, but really those people have no idea just how difficult it is to race in damp, wet and slippery conditions on slick tyres. Believe me, it’s like driving on ice; and ice which completely covers the track. There’s no respite.
“Everything depends on the temperature in the tyres and, of course, as the tyres begin to lose grip you go slower, which in turn generates less heat and thus less grip, so it becomes a downward spiral. That’s the position Timo found himself in.
“While his times were ok for the previous couple of laps, they dropped significantly as the speed of the loss of his tyres’ grip increased. Suddenly he was a sitting duck and thankfully Lewis was able to catch him and get passed. It was terrific.
“Of course, what I want to do now is be on the Formula One grid in 2009 to race head-to-head against Lewis. I know we’re mates, and we’ve raced against each other in numerous formulae in the past, but this would be the big one; racing against each other in Formula One.
“Lewis has made it, and so too has Vettel, who I beat comfortably to the Euro F3 championship in 2006. If they can do it, I certainly know I can too and the recent tests I’ve had in the McLaren-Mercedes have certainly shown everyone what I’m capable of in an F1 car. Now we just have to see what happens for next season.”
JM