Opinion: McLaren snatch defeat from the jaws of victory

Kimi Raikkonen deservedly won the world formula one title in Brazil today. His performance throughout the season was consistent, and he ended up winning two more races than anybody else.

Over at McLaren, they must be wondering how they snatched defeat from the jaws of victory.

The answers, of course, are not hard to find. The bitter rivalry between the team's drivers and mistakes by the team itself cost the team precious points.

But then there is another question: could the team have done anything to cool that rivalry. Probably not.

This time last year, Lewis Hamilton was not even an F1 driver. That Ron Dennis opted to hire him was a bold and courageous step which did pay dividends. This rookie quickly revealed a huge talent, and race victories came with it.

Reigning champion Fernando Alonso suddenly found that his toughest competition was from the garage next door.And he did not like it.

McLaren were right not to designate a No1 and No2 driver. Not that they could, given their evenly matched skills on the track.

But then rivalry went over the red lines. Alonso appeared to have lost it in Hungary. He blocked Hamilton in a pitstop during the qualifying session. The stewards relegated him several grid positions, and he must now be ruing the points which could well have cost him the championship.

The tensions between the two did nothing to help the team, particularly during testing and data gathering before each race. Strict equality meant strategy might not always have been the best for the team. But after the team lost its constructors' points following the spying affair, that became less important.

Despite the tensions on and off the track, Hamilton had been on course for the ultimate prize. But then the inter-team rivalry became his undoing. In China in the penultimate race he stayed out longer than he should have, on worn tyres, in a bid to keep a charging Alonso behind him. The result was a skid into the gravel. It was as much his mistake as the team's, which did not order him in sooner. A precious 10 points were lost. As it turned out, that was almost the fatal blow.

The fatal blow came on Sunday. Alonso swept past Hamilton at the start of the Brazilian grand prix. The Briton tried to regain the position, went wide, and slipped down to eighth from fourth.

But did he have to try that? Fourth, even fifth, would have been just as good for his crown....

Of course, Hamilton was later to suffer a gearbox glitch which relegated him further.

But without his error at the start, he might be celebrating.

Still, it was a brilliant rookie year for him. He gave formula one fans far than they expected. This was the first season without Michael Schumacher. He put a new thrill into the season. And for that we should all be grateful.