Zoom The youngest champion in the history of the sport

Lewis Hamilton and the McLaren Mercedes team certainly cut it fine yesterday at Interlagos. Fifth position in the race was the key to championship success and with two laps remaining the British racer slipped down to sixth and it seemed the title had slipped away for a second straight season.

Italian Grand Prix winner Sebastian Vettel took advantage of a small Hamilton error and slipped through in the tricky conditions to take the position. Over ten seconds up the road Timo Glock seemed to be coping well with the rain despite running on dry tyres. Lap 71 would be the decider.

"I had a problem with my tyres," Hamilton explained. "They were beginning to grain, there was nothing I could do. I was just trying to keep my car on the track. My heart was in my mouth and I was trying to get back in front of him. Fortunately, there was the opportunity to get back in front of Glock and I did what I had to do. We came, we saw and we did what we needed to do."

The team were aware that fourth position Glock was off the pace of the front runners, but with a lap to go, it seemed a tall order to catch and pass the German racer to regain the critical fifth position.

"They did," Hamilton explained when asked if the team monitored not just Vettel, but Glock further up the road. "Just before I got to him, they said you have to get past Glock. I was trying my hardest to get to Vettel but he was just as quick as me – if not quicker. It was the toughest races of my life – if not the toughest."

Hamilton's fifth position gave him a total of 98 points, one more than the unfortunate Felipe Massa and of course the championship. "I don’t think it has hit home yet," Hamilton admitted.

Another member of the team who endured the Hamilton roller-coaster ride in Brazil was Sporting Director Dave Ryan. "I've never experienced anything like this," he said. "We had it, we lost it, then it all came back on the last corner or two. It was out of our control and when it was gone we were just gutted, we thought not again... But Lewis is a bit special, he just did a great job."

"You couldn't script this..."

Earl ALEXANDER
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