Lewis Hamilton Is Crowned Champion in Best F1 Finale of All Time

This F1 title finale summed up the 2008 season perfectly. It’s been a season when many unexpected things have happened, and the script hasn’t been followed. The Brazilian GP was most certainly the biggest example of this.

It looked fairly straightforward for Lewis Hamilton. He just had to finish in the top five. However, Lewis Hamilton has made life for himself difficult at times this season. A lot of people sensed it wasn’t going be that simple. As soon as a heavy rain shower aborted the start 10 minutes, there were signs that there was going to be a few twists in this race.

In the end, we were treated to probably the best F1 finale ever. Lewis Hamilton looked out of it for two laps, but as the rain got heavier on the last lap, Timo Glock (who stayed on dry tyres) slowed down enough for Hamilton to get him at the last corner.

For 30 seconds Felipe Massa thought that he was the 2008 World Champion, as did everybody in the Ferrari garage. We had the bizarre scenes of both teams celebrating the driver’s championship thinking they had won it.

This race showed what a cruel sport this can be, the beautiful feeling of being the champion, and how everything can change so suddenly. It demonstrated how fierce a competition F1 is when it’s at it’s very best.

Hamilton’s Titanic Battle for Fifth Place

With Alonso not far behind and the two Ferraris ahead, there was the sense Hamilton would have to work extremely hard for this championship. The heavy rain shower before the race started complicating matters. He got a clean start and a good run down to the first corner. Alonso had a bad start so wasn’t a factor at this point. Hamilton was in forth place with Heikki behind him. It couldn’t have started much better.

The decision of when to come in for dry tyres would be the first major hurdle for Lewis in this race. Force India gambled with Fisichella and he came in on lap two. Alonso and Vettel came in on lap nine.

This turned out to be exactly the right lap to make the change. Hamilton pitted two laps later than he should have done on lap 11. The front runners didn’t take any risks and were conservative. The net result was that Hamilton was down to seventh place as Vettel and Alonso got the jump, as did Fisichella in the Force India. Hamilton had to overtake two drivers to get back into the golden fifth place.

He got past Trulli as the Toyota went a bit wide at Turn one on lap 12, and Hamilton slipped by on the inside. Fisichella was harder to overtake. Hamilton tried for a few laps but couldn’t quite get close enough.

It was becoming more and more important to make the move, as he was being backed into other cars. He had to take the risk and he got a better slipstream out of turn 13 along the rise up the hill. He went for it at turn one and just made it stick on lap 18. It was a great move as the track was still very damp offline.

The excitement than calmed down for a while. Hamilton was now back where he needed to be and the track was now dry. At this moment there no more forecasts for rain. As long as he held the position, and the car was reliable there would be no problem.

Glock did stay in fairly close company to Lewis in the middle phase of the race, but a longer pit stop removed him from the picture for the time being. The top three, consisting of Raikkonen, Alonso, and Massa, were driving into the distance so Mclaren thought they would be no point in trying to catch up.

There were no faster cars than Lewis behind, so keeping at a steady pace in fourth shouldn’t have been a problem. He was being as cautious as he dared to be. Maybe at times a bit too cautious.

The big twist, which threatened to turn the Championship, came around 13 to 14 laps away from the chequered flag. Rain was predicted within ten minutes, and indeed it came. It was drizzling at first before coming a bit heavier on lap 63 out of 71.

None of the front runners gambled and all came in straight away to put inters on. Glock stayed out on dries, and therefore was ahead of Hamilton on the track. Hamilton was in fifth with Vettel dangerously close behind him. He was also quicker, and Lewis couldn’t keep him back.

Hamilton went wide at turn 13 and Vettel was through on lap 69 out of 71. Massa was now in World Champion position.

Glock’s lap times were OK as it wasn’t raining hard enough. On the final lap the rain came down heavier so Glock on dry tyres was in big trouble. Vettel was simply quicker than Hamilton so Hamilton wasn’t going to get back past him. He had to rely on rain slowing Glock down.

He was 13 seconds slower in the first and second sectors. Hamilton reeled him and in and passed him at turn 13, just in the nick of time. Timo Glock’s last lap time was 1m44.731s. His lap before was 1m28.041s which shows how bad the conditions had become in the last lap. This saved Lewis Hamilton

Hamilton then just had to go up the hill, and he crossed the line in the crucial fifth position, eight seconds ahead of Glock, and nearly 40 seconds behind Massa. He becomes the youngest Champion ever in the history of F1, and the first British World Champion since Damon Hill in 1996.

Here is Hamilton’s take on the race.

“The most dramatic race of my whole life. It's pretty much impossible to put this into words: I'm still speechless. It's been such a long journey, but I've always had the support of my family, the team, our partners and the fans. We did a fantastic job throughout the whole year and, with all the sacrifices we made, I'm so thrilled to be able to win this for everyone."

"Before it started to rain I was quite comfortable, and I was just focused on having a clean race. Then it started to drizzle and I didn't want to take any risks - but Sebastian got past me and I was told that I had to get back in front of him. I couldn't believe it.

"Then at the very last corner I managed to get past Timo—it was just amazing. This was one of the toughest races of my life, if not the toughest. I was shouting, ‘Do I have it? Do I have it?' on the radio. It was only when I took the chequered flag and got to Turn One that the team told me I was world champion. I was ecstatic.”

There Couldn’t Have Been a More Cruel Way to Lose

You have to take your hats off to Felipe Massa this weekend. He approached this weekend with a brilliant attitude, and didn’t give up on this championship. Instead of feeling under pressure in front of the home crowd, he used all of his fans as inspiration and thrived all weekend.

His pole position lap was stunning. He was also only a couple of laps lighter than those behind him so it was World class driving, as opposed to being on fumes as many predicted (or rather hoped).

In the race he was the fastest out there as well. He was much quicker than Lewis Hamilton and team mate Kimi Raikkonen throughout the entire afternoon. His main challenge was Fernando Alonso who benefited by pitting at the right time for dry tyres.

He pushed Felipe Massa hard but in the middle of the second stint Massa put the hammer down, and Alonso fell back to over 10 seconds.

We practically had all four season in this race, but Massa was on top in every weather condition that was thrown at him. This was without a doubt, his finest ever F1 win.

When he crossed the line to win he was told that Hamilton was in sixth, and that he was world champion. For 30 seconds he and Ferrari were celebrating. However Ferrari weren’t expecting Hamilton to pass Glock and the celebrations ended and spread to the other garage.

It must have been a horrible feeling for Massa. He was the World Champion briefly, and then it was taken away from him at the last possible point.

This has to be the cruelest way to lose a championship ever in the history of the sport.

Despite how cruel this afternoon was for Massa he lost with great dignity. Despite just missing out he should be very proud at how he has proved the critics wrong this season, and how much he has improved and matured as a driver. He can leave Interlagos with his head held up high.

This season, it just wasn’t to be for Felipe Massa. He would have deserved the Championship had Glock just hung on to fifth.

Here are Felipe Massa’s thoughts on the race.

“It was an exciting day. We did everything to perfection and we almost managed to pull it off. Then, as I crossed the line, Rob told me that Hamilton had finished fifth and therefore he took the title by one point."

"Sport is like this and one has to accept that. Congratulations to Lewis: whoever gets the most points deserves the title. I am very proud of the whole team and how much support they have given me during this fantastic season.

"Now we must be happy with what have done, namely bringing home the Constructors' title which I know is so important for the team. It was a season of highs and lows and we have learned a lot, from the good moments and from our mistakes.

"I can leave Interlagos with my head held high because once again I have won in front of my home crowd and because this is an unforgettable day. Now I want to celebrate with my family, my friends and my team. We deserve it!"

Where Does Hamilton Go from Here?

Lewis Hamilton definitely fully deserves this championship. It hasn’t been a perfect season, but when he has been at his best, he has been unstoppable! Races like Monaco, Silverstone, China and Germany are examples of that. He is one of the best talents ever to come into the sport, along with the likes of Michael Schumacher and Aryton Senna.

His main issues are that he needs to cut out silly errors and not crack under pressure. He also needs to learn when it is the right time to push, and when to hang back and take the points.

Once he removes these weaknesses from his game, he is going to become an extremely hard driver to beat over the next five years. Winning his first title will give Lewis Hamilton a lot of confidence. Next season he will be a brand new man. The first title is by far the hardest to win, but it is the most special achievement and it creates a hunger to win even more.

Alonso, I think, is the driver who has the best chance of beating him next season but he needs a quick car. Ferrari need to hope that Kimi Raikkonen comes back to life on slick tyres next season to make their challenge stronger. If drivers like Kubica and Vettel get fast machines next season then they could be strong outside bets.

The sky is the limit for Lewis Hamilton now. I think he will end up being a multiple World Champion. However I can’t see him reaching the heights of Michael Schumacher.

The big difference for Lewis is that there is a lot of bright young talent coming through at the moment, and making names for themselves. They could all challenge Hamilton in the future, and could limit the number of titles that he can win in his career.

Verdict on 2008 and Looking Ahead to 2009

2008 has been an incredible season of F1 racing. We have seen everything. There has been some classic races, some brilliant driving, quite a few high profile errors, and the Championship race changing all the time.

We have seen seven race winners, three of those have been new winners in F1 (Kovalainen, Kubica and Vettel). It has been very unpredictable which is great, and something we haven’t always had in Formula One.

There has also been a lot of controversy with all the penalties we have seen given this season. That has probably been the only downside of 2008. In the end it didn’t affect the outcome of the Championship too much. In the end those penalties probably ended up engineering the greatest final race of the season of all time. I am sure Bernie Ecclestone much be absolutely delighted.

Being unsure of who the champion was on the last lap was an incredible feeling and tense to watch. It was more dramatic than some of the world’s greatest films. This is the great thing about big sports events. They are like the world’s finest stories but it’s all real and happening live, and it involves real people. This sort of drama only happen in sport.

Seeing the reactions from both sides during those last laps, and after the event finished was extraordinary and very memorable.

The 2009 season promises to be another great year in F1. We will be seeing a return to slick tyres, aero being reduced to help overtaking. We could see some changes in the order. It will be fascinating to see how everyone adapts in what will practically feel like a brand new formula.

If McLaren builds another good car then Hamilton will start as favourite, but there will be other drivers capable of challenging. 2009 will feature three World Champions on the grid (Alonso, Raikkonen and now, Hamilton). Wouldn’t it be great to see all three battling for the title along with someone else like Kubica or Vettel? It’s certainly possible.

It’s just 145 days to go till the 2009 season starts.