Sao Paulo, Brazil (Sports Network) - Felipe Massa did everything in his power to claim the Formula One World Championship by winning Sunday's season-ending Brazilian Grand Prix, but with a twist of luck and the slightest bit of margin, McLaren's Lewis Hamilton earned the 2008 Formula One World Championship with a fifth-place finish at Autodromo Jose Carlos Pace at Interlagos.
Hamilton was on the verge of losing the title to Massa as he was running sixth on the final lap, but the McLaren driver passed Toyota's Timo Glock and grabbed the coveted fifth spot as he entered the last corner.
Hamilton, 23, becomes the youngest driver to win a World Championship in F1 history and the first Briton to take the title since Damon Hill in 1996. He also becomes the 30th different driver to win a title on the racing circuit.
Massa wins Brazilian GP, while Hamilton clinches F1 title....
SHANGHAI (AFP) — Britain's Lewis Hamilton won the Chinese Grand Prix on Sunday but was denied the world championship by title rival Felipe Massa, who finished second.
McLaren's Hamilton led throughout for a straightforward win but he remains just seven points ahead of Massa, taking the championship to a dramatic final race in Brazil next month.
Ferrari's outgoing champion Kimi Raikkonen was third after conceding second place to Massa late on. Two-time world champion Fernando Alonso of Renault was fourth.
Hamilton wins Chinese Grand Prix....
Lewis Hamilton has had his Belgian Grand Prix victory overturned by the stewards, handing the win to title rival Felipe Massa, who finished second on the road.
Hamilton was given a 25-second penalty for cutting the Bus Stop chicane during his wheel-to-wheel battle for the lead with Kimi Raikkonen during the closing laps.
Although the McLaren driver appeared to lift off and was repassed by Raikkonen on the exit of the corner, the stewards ruled that he had gained an advantage by short-cutting the circuit.
"The stewards, having received a report from the race director and having met with the drivers and team managers involved, have...determine a breach of the regulations has been committed by the competitor and impose the penalty referred to," said an FIA statement.
Stewards strip Hamilton of Spa victory....
SPA-FRANCORCHAMPS, Belgium (AP) — Lewis Hamilton has won the Belgian Grand Prix in a rain-splashed finish to extend his lead in the championship standings.
Hamilton again proved he was the top wet-weather driver, keeping his cool in the last few laps Sunday when a sudden shower hit the course and race leader Kimi Raikkonen spun off during the penultimate lap. Hamilton beat Ferrari's Felipe Massa by 14.4 seconds. BMW Sauber's Nick Heidfeld was third.
Hamilton leads Massa 80 to 72 going into the last five races.
Lewis Hamilton wins rain-splashed Belgian GP....
Ferrari team boss Stefano Domenicali has played down wild rumours suggesting that the Scuderia was about to swoop for a disgruntled Lewis Hamilton by claiming that current drivers Felipe Massa and Kimi Raikkonen both have 'long-term' deals at Maranello.
Domenicali was asked about the possibility of a revised line-up at Ferrari next season after reports surfaced claiming that Hamilton's father, Anthony, had been seen in deep - and evidently secret - discussions with the new Ferrari team chief at Hockenheim. Respected British newspaper The Times published a picture which it suggested was a clandestine conversation between the pair outside a Mercedes-Benz party at Hockenheim on the eve of this weekend's German Grand Prix, but Domenicali dismissed that it was anything more than a passing greeting.
"What was the story in the English newspaper? I do not know it," he questioned, "I was walking away from Norbert [Haug]'s party because I had other things to do with our sponsor. Anthony just came up behind me and said 'hello' and that's it, very easy. It's nice to see how these things can grow. Everyone has seen it, I think...."
Ferrari F1 boss denies secret Hamilton talks....
HOCKENHEIM, Germany (AFP) — Briton Lewis Hamilton delivered another massive endorsement of his great potential Sunday when he opened a clear lead in this year's drivers' championship by winning the German Grand Prix in thrilling style.
The 23-year-old Englishman, in his McLaren Mercedes-Benz, dominated the early stages and then, after being upset by two Safety Car interventions and some cautious team strategy, proved he could overtake anyone with a dazzling display of passing moves in the final laps.
"Sorry about that," said his McLaren team chief Ron Dennis over the radio system later. "We made it much more difficult for you and we made you drive like that in such a great car."
Hamilton, smiling afterwards, said: "That's ok, Ron. Don't worry about it. We did good in the end, so it is ok."
Hamilton in charge of title race after German F1 win....
The Associated Press
SILVERSTONE, England: Lewis Hamilton said the racing conditions were so bad at the rainsoaked British Grand Prix he couldn't see through his visor.
Thankfully for the winner of the Formula One race, he was so far ahead his rivals couldn't see him at all.
The McLaren driver who wasted a 12-point drivers championship lead with only two races to go in his rookie season last year restored faith in his ability to win it this time with a nearly flawless race Sunday in conditions that had his rivals slithering around the Silverstone circuit.
Hamilton wins in awful conditions at British GP....
LONDON, England (CNN) -- Kimi Raikkonen has lambasted McLaren's Lewis Hamilton for the pit-lane accident that ended both of their races at the Canadian Grand Prix.
Hamilton's McLaren rammed into the back of world champion Raikkonen's Ferrari as the Finn and Robert Kubica, the race's eventual winner, were waiting at a red light after the safety car was forced into action on lap 17.
Raikkonen, while claiming not to be angry, was clearly far from impressed.
"There's not much I can say. My race was ruined by Hamilton's mistake.
FULL ARTICLE....
(CNN) -- World championship leader Lewis Hamilton dominated qualifying for the Canadian Grand Prix in Montreal to claim pole position for Sunday's race.
But the McLaren man had to produce a dramatic last lap to pip Robert Kubica in the BMW who had surprisingly posted the quickest time moments before in Saturday's session.
Hamilton, who had been on pole prior to Kubica's late charge, certainly reserved his best for last with a stunning one minute 17.886 seconds to be over a half a second clear of the field.
"At the end I had two laps," Hamilton told the Associated Press.
MORE....
When Ferrari wrapped up the front row of the grid for the Monaco Grand Prix, Lewis Hamilton’s only real hope of victory seemed to lie in the hands of the weather gods. It duly rained before the start, but after six laps the Englishman walloped the wall hard on the exit to the Swimming Pool, while trailing poleman Felipe Massa’s Ferrari. Into the pits he came, and at that stage the race seemed to belong to the Brazilian.
McLaren, however, brimmed the MP4-23 with fuel, and Hamilton caught his first break when the safety car was deployed on the eighth lap after Red Bull’s David Coulthard and Toro Rosso’s Sebastien Bourdais went off at Massenet.
The racing resumed on the 11th lap, and two laps later Kimi Raikkonen dropped out of second place when he had to serve a drive-through penalty for having his tyres fitted too late in the grid. Now BMW Sauber’s Robert Kubica moved up to push Massa, and was able to snatch the lead when the latter slid momentarily up the escape road at Ste Devote on the 16th lap. Hamilton was chasing hard after them, with Raikkonen now trailing in fourth place.
Kubica stayed ahead until he refuelled on the 26th lap, whereupon Massa went back into the lead until his stop on the 33rd lap. By then Hamilton was up to second, and after moving into the lead… he just kept going.
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