Okay, so I'm among the kazillions of fans/viewers who were, dare I use the term (my editor always hated it), TOTALLY GOBSMACKED by the Race Director's ill-considered decision to essentially gift this year's brilliantly contested, cliff-hanger after cliff-hanger Formula One Drivers' Championship to Max Verstappen on the last lap of the season. Mind you, Max is a worthy and deserving champion (even though I confess to being a longtime Hamilton fan) and his ability to manufacture pure speed and, mostly, sustain it is second to none. But it was truly a raw deal for Hamilton (and the Mercedes team), as they performed both brilliantly and perfectly under unimaginable pressure and Lewis had the race totally under control until a late crash caused a yellow flag and the Race Director decided, at the last possible instant, to wave the green for one final lap so they could "race for it." Understandable, perhaps, but not really fair after Verstappen stopped for fresh, soft tires, the lapped cars between Lewis and Max were waved by (although not the ones behind) and Lewis' secure, 15-second lead evaporated to only a few feet.

Do I think the Fix Was In?

I do not.

Do I think the Race Director's decision showed a complete lack of both appreciation for and understanding of the realities and ramifications of what he'd done?

I most assuredly do.

In the end, the fair thing, if you wanted to give the two drivers in question a fresh and final opportunity "to race for it," would have been to show the red flag immediately after the wreck, let EVERYBODY stop for fresh tires and turn them loose again with maybe three laps yet to run.

Max still might have won. But at least it would have been a fair fight.

A note about Lewis: I know he has his detractors and many fans have their allegiances elsewhere, but when it comes to not only driving like a champion, but conducting oneself as a champion as well, I give Lewis top marks. Some don't like his highly and purposely visible commitment to social issues, but even they have to admit he conducts himself with grace, acceptance and humility, and always thanks his team and the fans on which the success of the sport depends.

So he missed out on a record-breaking 8th World Championship this year (admittedly usually in the best car), but at least he earned a recently announced knighthood from the lady with the crown on her head. And I believe he's still good for that eighth World Championship if he decides to stick with it...

I sure hope he does.

Second-to-last, I give you the Volkswagen ID.4 electric. I'm not a huge fan of electric cars because of the weight and the fact that I love the burble, rasp, torque curve and pop of internal combustion motors. Not defending it, but that's how I roll. But this thing blew me away with its serene silence, clean, handsome styling, perfect inmterior and quality feel. Was not prepared to like it as much as I did. Amazing.

But if that's the wave of the future, I have to admit that against the backdrop of the overweening onslaught of Artificial Intelligence and ever more "you're too dumb and insensitive to do this" Driver Aids, my two overall favorites of the entire experience were arguably the two most old-fashioned and analog cars on the premises: the Mazda MX5 (to me it'll always be "a Miata") and the quirky but loveable Mini Cooper. Both cars follow the Kung-Fu-like ideals of (comparative) light weight in a small, handy package, a low C.G., a genuine manual transmission and an involving experience from the drivers' seat. Call me old-fashioned (or just "old," for that matter), but I think the joy of DRIVING and the sensations and satisfactions of staying alert and doing it well are slipping away from us. And that's a shame. Part of it is cultural and part of it is environmental and a lot of it stems from up-and-coming generations for whom driving is a hassle rather than an activity or an escape hatch from "real" life.

I'm reminded of a racetrack test drive I had--in the company of a manufacturers' representative--in Alfa's then-new "4C" sports model. Which, I have to point out, was only available with paddle shifters.

"Why don't you offer a floor-mounted stick shift?" I had to ask.

He went into a long, bullet-point spiel about how paddle shifters were the wave of the future and how they were I-can't-remember-how-many milliseconds quicker than a manual stick shift when it came to actually getting the gears stirred. Up or down. And every shift would be seamless and perfect.

I thought about that for a moment. And then I told him: "Y'know, I don't really care about those milliseconds on every upshift or downshift." I think I shook my head at that point. "It's like I'm a drummer, and you took a big piece of my drum set away..."