14/08/2007
NEWS STORY
That's right, Lewis Hamilton will win the 2007 World Championship at the Fuji Speedway in September, effectively the first rookie F1 champion since Giuseppe Farina, who won the inaugural World Championship in 1950.
The McLaren driver would also become the youngest World Champion in the history of the Formula One World Championship, beating the record, established by his McLaren teammate Fernando Alonso, by one year and five months.
So how do we know.... we read about it on Amazon.
According to the synopsis of a new book on the English racer, due to be released in November, Lewis crowns a stunning debut season by winning the title in Japan in October (sic).
The full Amazon synopsis of Frank Worrall's Lewis Hamilton: The Biography, reads as follows:
"This is the story of the boy who proves fairytales do come true. The boy who grew up on a council estate, who, at the tender age of 22, came through against all the odds to dominate and revolutionise the world of motor racing.
Thrown in at the deep end 'on a mighty whim' by F1 team owner Ron Dennis, Lewis Hamilton crowned his 2007 debut season by winning the title in Japan in October - and was in the running for the BBC's Sports Personality of the Year 2007.
It was an outcome no one seriously could have predicted: not only did he have to combat his own nerves and fears; he had to overcome a dissenter within his own camp.
With behind-the-scenes insight into the intense rivalry between Hamilton and his team mate Fernando Alonso which threatened to derail the young Briton's dream, bestselling sports author Frank Worrall describes how the rookie rose above his critics, keeping his dignity and emerging triumphant as he racked up sensational wins around the world.
But the boy-wonder's stellar rise through the motor racing ranks from karting to the hotly contested F3 Superprix and onto the F1 podium was by no means straightforward."
With just two races after Japan, it is mathematically quite possible for Lewis to win the title at Fuji, providing there are no further incidents such as that witnessed at the Hungaroring and that the forthcoming appeal relating to McLaren's role in the Ferrari spy saga goes according to plan.
Over the years, Autocourse has shown an uncanny knack of getting it right, as far as the World Championship winner is concerned, when issuing mock-ups of it season review. However, for Mr Worrall's synopsis to predict the exact race in which Lewis will take the title is something else entirely.
There are sure to be a large number of Hamilton inspired tomes on the market in time for Christmas, with the usual suspects all sure to have their own spin on the sensational rise of the Stevenage Rocket (Copyright - Mike Lawrence).
In addition to Mr Worral's effort - his previous biographies both featured Manchester United players (Roy Keane and Wayne Rooney) - another Hamilton opus coming your way - courtesy of (wait for it) ITV, is Lewis Hamilton: The People's Champion, written by Bruce Jones. Now, where have we heard that title before?
If nothing else, it might well be worth your time placing a small wager on Hamilton winning the title at Fuji, who knows, you might win enough money to buy all those wonderful biographies. Then again.