|
SAO PAULO: An emotional Lewis Hamilton admitted he was virtually
lost for words and did not know he had succeeded Sunday when he
became the youngest man to win the Formula One drivers’ world
championship.
The 23-year-old Englishman, needing a top five
finish to be champion, only seized fifth place for McLaren Mercedes
again, after losing it, on the final lap of a tense, dramatic and
rain-hit Brazilian Grand Prix won by his title rival and local hero
Felipe Massa of Ferrari.
As Massa triumphed and then celebrated, briefly,
Hamilton caught and passed German Timo Glock of Toyota to turn his
day from despair to joy after earlier appearing to have controlled
his own race by cruising toward fourth or fifth place.
A late shower of rain then created chaos and saw
Hamilton change tires and fall back to sixth before he made his
final desperate charge to recover and claim fifth.
But as he said afterward, Hamilton was not even
sure that he had won the title when he finally crossed the line in
teeming rain and near-darkness in front of 100,000 spectators at
the Interlagos circuit.
“We did it, we did it,” he shrieked. “But
honestly I did not know if we had when I crossed the line. I was
thinking ‘shoot!’ I am just not sure—have I done enough? Did
we get it?
“And they told me and I felt just ecstatic. We
had made it. You can forget everything else that has happened before
now. This is the best and it was the toughest race of my life.
“I have to thank everyone, my Dad, my family,
my fans and supporters back home and the team. It would be great to
do it again in the future, but I am not sure if my heart can take
that final lap all over again.”
His father Anthony Hamilton who has guided his
career all the way from junior karting days when they were a poor
family from a council estate in Stevenage, England, to the top,
said: “This proves to everyone else, like us, that it can be done.
“It has come from 16 years of hard work and
dedication and respect.”
Massa, who finished the season in style with a
dazzling win in front of his home crowd, ended up in tears as he
stood atop the victors’ podium.
He had won six races this season to Hamilton’s
five but missed the championship, 97-98.
Driving with great control and judgment,
Hamilton avoided the early 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 final lap did Hamilton regain a
place when Glock lost 18 seconds in his Toyota and slipped behind
Hamilton.
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.
The race, run in unpredictable wet and dry
conditions, was won comprehensively by his nearest rival and local
hero, Massa.
Hamilton 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 champion
Fernando Alonso of Renault and third-placed Ferrari teammate and
outgoing champion Kimi Raikkonen.
German youngster Sebastien Vettel was fourth for
Toro Rosso after passing Hamilton in the final laps and Hamilton
fifth, just after his late recovery when Glock slowed down and
finished sixth. Hamilton’s McLaren teammate Heikki Kovalainen of
Finland came home seventh.
Hamilton’s triumph made him the first Briton
to take the world title since Damon Hill in 1996 and the first
McLaren champion since Finn Mika Hakkinen in 1999. He is Britain’s
ninth champion.
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 Sunday.
-- AFP
|
