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Hamilton Wins Dramatic F1 Title

Remember the saying 'It's not over till the fat lady sings'? Well, it was quite a finale in Brazil, but British Lewis Hamilton has finally become champion of the world. In a race that saw Felipe Massa control the action from beginning to end and Hamilton comfortably running into a safe point-margin position (5th, occasionally even 4th), all hell broke loose in the final 4 laps of the Brazilian Grand Prix.

Five laps to the finish line and the McLaren mechanics+Hamiltons+Nicole+Dennis were sitting comfortable ready to celebrate their first drivers' world title in the last 9 years. Then the rain came into play and everything changed. Everybody entered the pits to switch to intermediate tires, and they all returned to the track in the same exact order. All but Hamilton, who lost a place to Toyota's Timo Glock who took a chance in the race finale and stayed on dries.

With Massa leading the race and Hamilton in 5th, nothing really changed in the title race. The title was still Hamilton's and the Ferraris were still hoping. Until it finally happened, as Toro Rosso's Sebastien Vettel closed the gap on Hamilton and passed him with only 2 laps to go. Emotions changed across the pit lane and the Brazilian fans were simply ecstatic.

Vettel hung on in front of Hamilton and everything seemed to be going the right way for Massa. Final few kilometers and Hamilton was still struggling to pass Vettel. With the Brit chasing the Toro Rosso driver for his first ever F1 title, nobody was considering Glock in the final equation. Vettel crossed the finish line ahead of Hamilton and the Ferrari-ans went crazy. For those few moments (and only in the Ferrari pits) Massa was crowned new world champion.

It was Felipe's dad who first realized the disaster. As he took a look on the monitors, he saw the entire McLaren crew celebrating. And then everybody looked at the screens. They saw Glock finishing behind Vettel and Hamilton and realized it was all over. For the first time in 12 years, a British driver was crowned Formula 1 champion.

Massa parked his car after the race, took a few moments to wipe some tears off and presented himself to the crowd. A frustrating victory nonetheless, as it wasn't doubled by a maiden world title. In the meantime, Hamilton was celebrating with girlfriend Nicole Scherzinger and his entire family a well-deserved world title.
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