Asif Khan Inc.

Winning and Losing

One of the most spellbinding F1 race finishes I would have seen in my lifetime.

Winning a F1 race, and championship on hometurf – this had all the ingredients which would have made the Brazilian F1 GP a memory of lifetime for Felipe Massa, but made itself into a lesson which would remain a memory in the lifetime of F1. It turns out that Sport, like any other form of enterprise which allows for manipulation of results deemed ‘unethical’ in the general parlance, has lost out its meaning once again. As if crashing economies wasn’t good enough, we have an instance which though isn’t a first of its kind in the world of sport, just shatters your faith in the fairness of sport. Massa did everything which could possibly be done, which did result in him winning the race today, and would have won him the F1 championship as well – which is what it seemed like for those fleeting few seconds till the realization dawned on everybody that Lewis Hamilton wasn’t in 6th position like he seemed on the final turn before the chequered flag. Mr. Timothy Glock, in a gesture of magnamity which would possibly put the greatest philanthropists to shame, slowed down from 4th position to allow Hamilton to take the 5th position and the F1 title subsequently.

Does Hamilton’s F1 victory actually deserve to call itself a ‘victory’? And should Massa feel ‘defeated’? And why do people who lose under such circumstances deserve to be called winners, with a greater sense of righteousness? I think I do have answers to these somewhere, and even though I might not ariculate them here, most of us would know. What I would want an answer to is why Mr. Glock slowed down before the finish line, and I hope he has a bloody good reason for that!