Lewis Hamilton won the Formula One Grand Prix Championship by a single point on Sunday in Sao Paulo, Brazil, exactly one year after losing the championship by the same margin - a single point.
Hamilton also roared into the record books as Formula One's youngest champion when he snatched the title in a last-lap drama at the Brazilian Grand Prix. The 23-year-old, needing only a fifth-place finish in the season-ending race to become Britain's first champion since Damon Hill in 1996, was seconds from failure for the second year in a row as Ferrari rival Felipe Massa swept to victory.
Hamilton entered the last lap in sixth place after a late shower forced a change to wet weather tires and saw Sebastian Vettel's Ferrari-powered Toro Rosso overtake the McLaren. With the title disappearing as fast as Massa's Ferrari approached the checkered flag, Hamilton had Toyota's Timo Glock to thank after the German stayed out on dry tires and was unable to hold on to his fifth place.
Hamilton powered past as the final corner approached.
Massa, Hamilton's sole title rival, won his home race for the second time in three years to chalk up a record 16th constructors' title for the Italian team. Hamilton, who missed out by a single point to Ferrari's Kimi Raikkonen in Brazil last season, ended the 18-race season one point clear of Massa.
"He scored more points than me, he deserves to win the title," said the classy, introspective race winner Kimi Raikkonen: "I know how to win, I know how to lose. This is another day of my life that I'm going to learn a lot from."
At 23 years and 301 days old, Lewis Hamilton broke the age record set by former McLaren teammate Fernando Alonso, the Spaniard who won the first of his two titles with Renault in Brazil at the age of 24, one month and 27 days.
"Amazing, I can't even get my breath back," said the astonished Briton, who embraced his father and brother before being mobbed by the team.
2 comments:
MASSA IS THE TRUE CHAMPION 2008
Massa is a great driver, and he had an amazing year. But he is most certainly not the champion in 2008. Hamilton is. Aside from winning the championship this year, he lost it by one point last year. Those two facts combined lead me to truly believe that Hamilton is the best F1 driver in the sport right now - and many of the others drivers, maybe even Massa himself, would agree.
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