November 03, 2008

LEWIS Hamilton became the youngest Formula One drivers' world champion when he finished fifth in a dramatic rain-hit Brazilian Grand Prix, clinching the title on the final lap.

Hamilton, driving with great control and judgement, and aided by luck, avoided the problems that wrecked his bid to become the first rookie champion last year as he steered his McLaren-Mercedes to glory after a tense contest and an extraordinary final lap.

Only on that amazing final lap did Hamilton regain the place he needed when Timo Glock lost 18 seconds in his Toyota and slipped behind him.

The title had seemed until that moment to be going to hometown hero Felipe Massa, who won the race run in unpredictable wet and dry conditions, but Hamilton's all important fifth place pushed him up to 98 points with Massa on 97.

"I'm speechless," Hamilton said on ITV television after the race.

"That was so pretty close. You guys (his McLaren team) have done an amazing job all season. This is for you and my family. It's pretty much impossible to put into words.

"It's been such a long journey - all the sacrifices we've made, I'm so thrilled to do this for everyone. It was one of the toughest races of my life."

Asked how he felt as he crossed the line, Hamilton said: "I thought 'Do I have it?'. They told me and I was ecstatic. I must thank God.'"

Hamilton's triumph made him first Briton to take the world title since Damon Hill in 1996 and the first McLaren champion since Mika Hakkinen in 1999. He is Britain's ninth champion.

As well as being the youngest champion, Hamilton also became the first black Formula One title holder on a stirring afternoon in front of an impassioned 100,000 crowd at the Interlagos circuit.

Hamilton, 23, drove a measured and calculated race to try to avoid trouble in his McLaren-Mercedes as he claimed the title at the end of only his second season.

He allowed Massa in his Ferrari to run away at the front and claim his sixth win this year and the 11th victory of his career.

Massa was followed home by two-time world champion Fernando Alonso in a Renault and third-placed Ferrari teammate Kimi Raikkonen, who denied Hamilton the world championship in Sao Paulo last year.

German youngster Sebastien Vettel was fourth for Toro Rosso, after passing Hamilton in the final laps, with Hamilton fifth, just, after his late recovery when Glock slowed down and finished sixth.

Hamilton's McLaren teammate, Heikki Kovalainen, finished seventh.

The start was delayed by 10 minutes after a heavy rainfall as the cars assembled on the grid. This enabled all the teams to switch from dry tyres to intermediate wet weather tyres.

Further rain was forecast for midway through the race.

After a further flurry of activity and amid great excitement and anticipation, with the noisy 100,000 crowd showing passionate sport for Massa, the race finally began.

As the lights went out, the cars at the front made a clean departure in order, Kovalainen protecting Hamilton's position.

But there was a minor multiple accident at the rear, which saw David Coulthard, in his final race before retiring from Formula One, and Nelson Piquet jnr, eliminated after crashing.

Coulthard, in his Red Bull, was caught in an Williams sandwich, German Nico Rosberg hitting him and then Japanese Kazuki Nakajima collecting him as he flew off the track.
Piquet in his Renault went off in a separate accident.

This accident brought out the safety car for three laps before the racing began in earnest, Massa streaking clear at the front and Hamilton biding his time in fourth place.

Vettel and Alonso were the first of the leading men to dive into the pits to switch from wet to dry tyres as the circuit conditions improved, veteran Italian Giancarlo Fisichella having shown the way in his Force India.

Fisichella was soon swiftly carving through the field as the rest followed his example, and he rose from 19th on the grid to fifth.

Massa went in for fresh tyres after 10 laps, with Kovalainen, and Jarno Trulli in his Toyota, Raikkonen and Hamilton entered a lap later.

Their stops were swift and clean but, by delaying two laps after their rivals, they were all at a disadvantage.

Hamilton rejoined in seventh place and he struggled at first to regain his rhythm before he passed Trulli and chased after Fisichella. At this stage, Raikkonen was holding up the field behind him to allow Massa to pull clear at the front.

On lap 18, however, Hamilton surged past Fisichella with a bold move at the end of the straight into the downhill turn one. This put him back in fifth, the position that was enough for him to take the title.

Massa enjoyed a dominant spell at the front before he pitted for the second time after 38 laps, handing the lead to Alonso who, in turn, pitted after two more laps, giving Raikkonen the leading position. Hamilton also pitted after lap 40.

By the time the leading group had completed their stops, and the order had settled again, Hamilton was back in fifth behind Massa, Vettel, Raikkonen and Alonso, with Mark Webber sixth.

When Vettel pitted again, after 50 laps, Hamilton moved up to fourth - leaving McLaren to cross their fingers that their car and engine could complete the distance without mishap.

Vettel chased him hard before a rain shower with six laps remaining threw the final laps into chaos, leaving the teams and crowd in suspense as the leaders dived into the pits to change their tyres again.

Glock, on dry tyres that were worn, stayed out and moved up the field ahead of Hamilton pushing him down to fifth in a fight with Vettel, who passed the Briton with two laps to go.

This left the Englishman chasing hard, and he regained the place he needed only when Glock's tyres slowed him so much that he could not withstand his rivals - and Hamilton passed him in the second half of the final lap to finish fifth.

But this move came so late that most spectators and the Ferrari team believed that Massa was champion when he crossed the line their man - but their party ended when someone pointed at the monitor screens.

Hamilton could hardly believe it, and there were tears in both families and both camps just half a minute later.

The previous youngest champion was Alonso, who was 24 years, one month and 27 days old when he won the title in 2005.

Hamilton was 23 years, nine months and 26 days old as he drove to glory on Monday (EDT).

Massa had been hoping to be the first Brazilian champion since Ayrton Senna in 1991.

F1GP - Brazilian Grand Prix
Pos No Driver Team Time/Retired
1 2 Felipe Massa Ferrari 1:34:11.435
2 5 Fernando Alonso Renault +13.2 secs
3 1 Kimi Raikkonen Ferrari +16.2 secs
4 15 Sebastian Vettel Toro Rosso +38.0 secs
5 22 Lewis Hamilton McLaren +38.9 secs
6 12 Timo Glock Toyota +44.3 secs
7 23 Heikki Kovalainen McLaren +55.0 secs
8 11 Jarno Trulli Toyota +68.4 secs
9 10 Mark Webber Red Bull +79.6 secs
10 3 Nick Heidfeld BMW Sauber +1 Lap
11 4 Robert Kubica BMW Sauber +1 Lap
12 7 Nico Rosberg Williams +1 Lap
13 16 Jenson Button Honda +1 Lap
14 14 Sebastien Bourdais Toro Rosso +1 Lap
15 17 Rubens Barrichello Honda +1 Lap
16 20 Adrian Sutil Force India +2 Laps
17 8 Kazuki Nakajima Williams +2 Laps
18 21 Giancarlo Fisichella Force India +2 Laps
19 6 Nelson Piquet Jr. Renault DNF
20 9 David Coulthard Red Bull DNF