F1 : Massa victorious, Hamilton takes title in last lap drama.

Lewis Hamilton - 2008 F1 Champion

SAO PAULO, Brazil : November 2, 2008 - McLaren's Lewis Hamilton roared into the record books as Formula One's youngest champion on Sunday when he snatched the title in 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 tyres and saw Sebastian Vettel's Ferrari-powered Toro Rosso overtake the McLaren.

With the title disappearing as fast as Massa's Ferrari approached the chequered flag, Hamilton had Toyota's Timo Glock to thank after the German stayed out on dry tyres and was unable to hold on to his fifth place.

Hamilton powered past as the final corner approached.

"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.

Felipe Massa - 2008 Brazilian GP Champion

Home Winner

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 disappointed race winner. "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, Hamilton broke the age record set by former McLaren team mate 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.

Hamilton's title was the first for Mercedes-powered McLaren since Finland's Mika Hakkinen in 1999.

Massa, the first driver since Alain Prost in 1989 to miss out on the title after winning more races than anyone else, led from pole position after a start delayed for 10 minutes by a sudden downpour while the cars were waiting on the grid.

The safety car was then deployed for two laps after a collision that sent Britain's David Coulthard crashing into retirement after 15 seasons in Formula One.

The Scot's Red Bull tangled with the Williams of Kazuki Nakajima and Renault's Nelson Piquet, who was also eliminated from the race.

Alonso took second place in the race, with Raikkonen joining him on the podium to seize third place overall from BMW-Sauber's Robert Kubica on race wins.

Congratulation : The Youngest F-1 Champion - Lewis Hamilton





2008 Brazilian Grand Prix : Race result

Pos	No	Driver	Team	Time/Retired	Pts
1	2	Felipe Massa	Ferrari	34:11.4	10
2	5	Fernando Alonso	Renault	+13.2 secs	8
3	1	Kimi Räikkönen	Ferrari	+16.2 secs	6
4	15	Sebastian Vettel	STR-Ferrari	+38.0 secs	5
5	22	Lewis Hamilton	McLaren-Mercedes	+38.9 secs	4
6	12	Timo Glock	Toyota	+44.3 secs	3
7	23	Heikki Kovalainen	McLaren-Mercedes	+55.0 secs	2
8	11	Jarno Trulli	Toyota	+68.4 secs	1
9	10	Mark Webber	Red Bull-Renault	+79.6 secs
10	3	Nick Heidfeld	BMW Sauber	+1 Lap
11	4	Robert Kubica	BMW Sauber	+1 Lap
12	7	Nico Rosberg	Williams-Toyota	+1 Lap
13	16	Jenson Button	Honda	+1 Lap
14	14	Sebastien Bourdais	STR-Ferrari	+1 Lap
15	17	Rubens Barrichello	Honda	+1 Lap
16	20	Adrian Sutil	Force India-Ferrari	+2 Laps
17	8	Kazuki Nakajima	Williams-Toyota	+2 Laps
18	21	Giancarlo Fisichella	Force India-Ferrari	+2 Laps
Ret	6	Nelsinho Piquet	Renault	Accident
Ret	9	David Coulthard	Red Bull-Renault	Accident

Driver Championship Standings :

Pos	Driver	Nationality	Team	Points
1	Lewis Hamilton	British	McLaren-Mercedes	98
2	Felipe Massa	Brazilian	Ferrari	97
3	Kimi Räikkönen	Finnish	Ferrari	75
4	Robert Kubica	Polish	BMW Sauber	75
5	Fernando Alonso	Spanish	Renault	61
6	Nick Heidfeld	German	BMW Sauber	60
7	Heikki Kovalainen	Finnish	McLaren-Mercedes	53
8	Sebastian Vettel	German	STR-Ferrari	35
9	Jarno Trulli	Italian	Toyota	31
10	Timo Glock	German	Toyota	25
11	Mark Webber	Australian	Red Bull-Renault	21
12	Nelsinho Piquet	Brazilian	Renault	19
13	Nico Rosberg	German	Williams-Toyota	17
14	Rubens Barrichello	Brazilian	Honda	11
15	Kazuki Nakajima	Japanese	Williams-Toyota	9
16	David Coulthard	British	Red Bull-Renault	8
17	Sebastien Bourdais	French	STR-Ferrari	4
18	Jenson Button	British	Honda	3
19	Giancarlo Fisichella	Italian	Force India-Ferrari	0
20	Adrian Sutil	German	Force India-Ferrari	0
21	Takuma Sato	Japanese	Super Aguri-Honda	0
22	Anthony Davidson	British	Super Aguri-Honda	0

Constructor Championship Standings :

Pos	Team	Points
1	Ferrari	172
2	McLaren-Mercedes	151
3	BMW Sauber	135
4	Renault	80
5	Toyota	56
6	STR-Ferrari	39
7	Red Bull-Renault	29
8	Williams-Toyota	26
9	Honda	14
10	Force India-Ferrari	0

[Source : Super Wheel]