Ferrari's Felipe Massa gave it all he's got earlier today (Manila time) to win the race at Interlagos, his home circuit. Egged on by a partisan crowd, his teammates who could smell another upset in the Formula One Driver's Championship and family members who watched from the pit lane, Felipe Massa dominated the race. However, despite this searing win, it was not enough. Lewis Hamilton clinched the F1 Driver's World Championship, edging his Brazilian rival by a mere point.

Lewis Hamilton thus became the youngest champion in Formula One history at the age of just 23 years, 10 months and 26 days. He is the 12th man to win the drivers’ title with McLaren, who last took the crown with Mika Hakkinen back in 1999. And with this win, he also erased doubts in the minds of fans and detractors alike if he had it in him to capture Formula One's top prize. It was almost in similar circumstances that he lost the
driver's championship last year, at the same venue, to Massa's Ferrari teammate Kimi Raikkonen. This time though, he wouldn't be denied, and lady luck seemed to be on his side.

Lewis Hamilton was leading the championship race before Interlagos, and he merely needed a fifth place win to clinch the crown. However, he languished in sixth or lower during the race. And when Felipe Massa took the checkered flag with Hamilton still in sixth, his team and his family all thought he had done it. But jubilation rapidly turned to disbelief as, just seconds later, title rival Lewis Hamilton passed the Timo Glock of Toyota at the final corner to clinch the fifth place he needed to snatch the drivers’ crown from Massa’s grasp. It had started to rain a few laps earlier, and team Toyota's gamble of not changing Timo Glock's tires to suit the new race condition didn't pay off. Lewis Hamilton luckily benefited from the team's failed gamble.

If I sound disappointed by these developments, I'm sorry. I'm no Lewis Hamilton fan. Though I acknowledge his exemplary driving skills and potential to be one of the best F1 divers there is, I just don't like him. Never did. I don't exactly know the reason why but I guess some people just don't click with others. The same way that I am no fan of Fernando Alonso and was no fan of Michael Schumacher when he reigned as Formula One's king some years ago. My current driving idol is Kimi Raikkonen of Team Ferrari and I was ecstatic when he won over Hamilton by a point last year. Though Kimi was not in the running for the crown this year due to several non-finishes and mishaps in the season, I was hoping that his teammate Felipe Massa would do what Raikkonen did last year - come from behind and snatch the driver's championship in the last race of the season.

It was a heartbreaking loss for Felipe Massa and his fans. I thought he had done it. Massa’s only consolation was a magnificent home win, and the knowledge that he and teammate Kimi Raikkonen, who finished third, had done enough to give Ferrari the constructors’ championship. Moreover, he has proven that he has the talent and personality to be a major force in Formula One in the coming season, and not a second fiddle to Kimi in team Ferrari. See you next season, guys!

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Lewis Hamilton is 2008 F1 champion; heartbreak for Massa

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