There was something wrong with today's Chinese grand prix. The atmosphere seemed too nice, too happy and too calm. Maybe that's why it's a contender for dullest race of the season. Lewis Hamilton gave a thumbs-up on the way to the grid, kept his psyche on the straight and narrow to cruise to victory and told the press conference he had "God on his side". Kimi Raikkonen didn't put a wheel wrong all race, neatly pegging back his pace and letting his team-mate nip past into second position.
Felipe Massa overcame the slight inconvenience of a car that suited different tyres to everyone else's to cross the line second, politely complimenting his title rival on the McLaren's superior speed and then assuring us that the "construction" championship - no, he's not referring to the inter-team Meccano challenge - was just as important as the drivers' battle. And, apart from the Ferrari boys looking mildly disgruntled on the podium, that's just about all that happened in two hours.
Please let this freak air of benignity dissipate in the next two weeks so that it all kicks off at Interlagos. On paper, the Brazilian grand prix should be a simple nut for Hamilton to crack - he only needs to finish in fifth place for the title to be his. Today's flawless performance was exactly what he needed at this stage in his title campaign and might prove to be the killer blow that knocks out Massa. I'm not bemoaning the fact that he's shrugged off some frankly ridiculous criticism and put the doubters in their place with a classy win, but there is no romance in a driver taking a title with the ease of a Bugatti Veyron slipping past a Renault Twingo in the blink of an eye.
We need arguments - without the help of the stewards. We need balls-ups. We need cruel thunderbolts of bad luck. We need Ferrari blackmailing their engine customers Toro Rosso to use their cars as battering rams. Well, maybe not that last one, but this season could well be the most thrilling of the decade if it sizzles in São Paulo.
It's what the sport deserves after such a gripping title battle. After Michael Schumacher's many perfunctory years, and Fernando Alonso's cocky superiority, we have an era of fallible stars. Raikkonen does not look like the champion he was last year, Massa is capable of some elementary bad driving (yep, let's bring up Silverstone again) and Hamilton can make the kind of mistakes that there is simply no explaining (the Canada pit lane scandal, for example).
Just as the balance of power has swung between these men, so has their worthiness to win the title. And that's a revelation. At different points in the season I've wanted all of them to win - and Robert Kubica, too - and I still can't say for sure who is most deserving of the crown. After such a roller-coaster of a championship it would be a genuine anti-climax for it to slide into a straightforward conclusion rather than hurtle towards a decade-defining showdown.
