McLAREN'S Lewis Hamilton got into a tangle with Ferrari's Kimi Raikkonen going into the first corner at yesterday's Japanese Grand Prix.

Hamilton - who had a poorer start from pole - outbraked himself and forced Raikkonen to go wide off the track.

Hamilton has admitted that his incident with Raikkonen was his fault and the penalty given was deserved but was, unhappy that his main rival for the drivers' championship received the same drive- through penalty for hitting him and forcing him to spin out, falling back to last position.

Hamilton has indeed brought up a good point here.

While watching the race I was expecting Massa to receive a 10-second stop/go penalty for hitting Hamilton as the drive through penalty alone wasn't enough for Hamilton to regain his lead from Massa which is at least how I feel it should have been.

Is Hamilton famously losing his cool again at the most crucial part of the season like he did last year?

Once again his aggressiveness could have cost him some points or maybe even the race win in Japan. Raikkonen managed to jump Hamilton at the start for the race lead and Hamilton retaliated immediately trying to take back the race lead.

A more experienced driver I'm sure would not have done what Hamilton did. Since Raikkonen is no longer challenging for this year's title, Hamilton should have just sat behind Raikkonen as more importantly, he was ahead of Massa and that is all he needs to do for the remaining races.

I'm sure McLaren team boss Ron Dennis will have a long talk with Hamilton about this.

What about Massa?

Did the incident in Singapore destroy Massa mentally?

Looking at yesterday's race, Massa has become a little more aggressive, which is not what I think he needs. He should make sure he finishes on the podium in the next two races and that's it, without worrying where Hamilton is.

If Massa continues to push hard just to beat Hamilton, the chances of him making mistakes like yesterday are high. I feel he should be the one pressuring Hamilton into making a mistake.

Meanwhile, BMW's Robert Kubica is now just 12 points behind championship leader Hamilton thanks to Hamilton not scoring any points.

Some people are starting to question whether Kubica can pull off a surprise upset and beat Hamilton and Massa to this year's title, especially since both are struggling for points at the moment.

Composure

Kubica is now in a position similar to Raikkonen last year when he beat Alonso and Hamilton to the title last year.

Kubica, I feel, has the class and composure to finish in the top four in the last two races but he is counting on luck here. There is a possibility it might happen but I would say it's extremely slim.

We'll have to see what happens in China and more importantly, to see where he stands after the Chinese Grand Prix.