Lewis Hamilton Wins F1 Championship in Amazing Fashion

Last year's F1 Drivers' Championship ended with the top three drivers separated by 1 point, but this year's finale still surpassed it.


Lewis Hamilton entered the Brazilian Grand Prix with a 7 point lead and needing only a 5th place finish to secure his first championship. Felipe Massa needed to win the race and have Hamilton finish worse than 5th to win.

As the race entered the final few laps, Massa was leading the race and Hamilton was in 5th, leaving no margin for error. Then the rain started to fall. All of the drivers except Timo Glock stopped for wet-weather tires to handle the wet track.

With 2 laps to go, Hamilton was passed by Sebastian Vettel's Toro Rosso. Massa crossed the finish line in first with Hamilton in sixth place, appearing to win the championship. Instead, as the cars came around the final turn, Hamilton and Vettel both passed a slowing Glock, giving Hamilton 5th place. Glock's gamble to stay on dry tires almost paid off, but he came up 200m short.

Both Ferrari and McLaren were celebrating, each thinking that their driver had won the championship. Instead, the race ended with both Massa and Hamilton in tears, the former tears of sadness and the latter tears of joy.

I don't particularly care for either driver, but it's difficult to imagine a more dramatic end to the season. Hamilton is certainly a deserving champion, both the youngest in F1 history and the first driver of color to win the championship. Next year sets up a very interesting rematch between the two drivers.

Update: Check out the video of the final lap and aborted Massa family celebration before F1 Management takes it down.