F1 and Moto GP Championships are coming down to the wire!

[G.Irish]

I can't remember when the last was that both Formula 1 and GP motorcycle racing championships have come down to the wire like they have this year. It has to have at least been a decade since we've had such a title chase in both series.

F O R M U L A 1

In Formula 1 Renault's Fernando Alonso and Ferrari's Michael Schumacher are separated by a mere 2 points with three races in the championship left to go. This weekend's China GP at Shanghai, next weekend's Japanese GP at Suzuka which Mikey and I will be attending, and the season finale at Brazil's Interlagos circuit.

A few weeks ago after his win at Monza, 7 time world champion Michael Schumacher announced his retirement from Formula 1. These are the last three races of his career and everyone is waiting with baited breath to see if he can unseat current champion Fernando Alonso for his 8th driver's title.

Of course, just about every time you talk about Ferrari there is some sort of controversy and here we are, talking 'bout some controversy. The first big issue was that the FIA outlawed Renault's mass damper system, ruling that it constituted a movable aerodynamic device. The mass damper was a suspended weight in the nose of the Renault that controlled the pitch of the nose and thus the angle of attack of the front wing. Renault had been using the system for quite some time when out of the blue the FIA decided to make it illegal.

The next major scandal was a qualifying penalty given to Fernando Alonso for "blocking" Felipe Massa's qualifying run. Here is a video of the incident:

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The penalty dropped Alonso from 5th to 10th on the grid. Many saw this as the FIA trying to hand Michael Schumacher some extra help in winning the championship and indeed the penalty did seem farcical. However the FIA metted out a similar penalty to Jacques Villeneuve for "blocking" Giancarlo Fisichella (Alonso's teammate) in qualifying. It was a questionable penalty then, but you didn't see anyone at Renault protesting the unfairness of the penalty at that time. My interpretation is that it was a BS penalty in both cases, it just so happens that it went against Renault instead of for Renault this time.

So here we are, its down to crunch time and the championship is close. Renault has sort of been on their back foot ever since losing the mass damper and I'm willing to bet that Ferrari will be very strong at Suzuka since Japan is where their tire supplier Bridgestone is based. One has to wonder if it comes down to the last race for the title and Schumacher is leading will he try to take out Alonso the way he deliberately took out Damon Hill back in 1994 (and Jacques Villeneuve in 1997)? Schumacher has proven on many occasions that he is not only among the best of all time (if not the best) but also among the most ruthless.

Whatever the outcome, these last few races are not to be missed. Will Schumacher retire as an 8 time champion or will Alonso be celebrating a back-to-back?