Lewis Hamilton of McLaren became Formula One's youngest champion on Sunday, making a pass on the final turn of the last lap to finish fifth in the Brazilian Grand Prix and win the title by one point over Felipe Massa. Ferrari's Massa won the race in front of his home crowd, but it wasn't enough to erase the seven-point lead Hamilton held entering the season-ending race. Just one year after Hamilton lost the title by one point after starting the final race with a seven-point lead, the 23-year-old Briton passed Toyota's Timo Glock on the last lap to win the championship. Fernando Alonso was 24 when he won the title in 2005 for Renault. Hamilton fell to sixth place after being overtaken by Toro Rosso's Sebastian Vettel with two laps to go. After Vettel passed Glock, Hamilton also moved up one spot and finished the season with 98 points. “I am speechless,” Hamilton said. “It's been a long journey in which I had the support of many people. My team did a fantastic job during the entire year and we sacrificed ourselves a lot. .” Massa won the race in 1 hour, 34 minutes, 11.435 seconds at the 4.3-kilometer Interlagos track. Alonso was second for Renault 13.298 seconds behind, and defending Kimi Raikkonen of Ferrari took third 2.937 back from Alonso. Vettel was fourth. “Unfortunately we missed by one point, but that's racing,” Massa said. “We need to be proud. The race was just perfect, we did everything just fantastically.” Hamilton, the first British F1 champion since Damon Hill in 1996, was sixth until the final turn, but Glock's car was still on dry tires. That forced him to slow in the pouring rain, allowing Hamilton to make his move. “It was just impossible on the last lap,” Glock said. “I was fighting as hard as I could but it was so difficult to just keep the car on the track, and I lost positions right at the end of the lap.” For a few moments, it wasn't clear whether Hamilton or Massa had won the championship with both pit teams celebrating. Massa said he didn't know the final result until he was told on the team radio on the back-stretch. “They kept saying, ‘Wait a second,”' Massa said. “When I was getting to Turn Three they said (Hamilton) passed Glock.” Hamilton had a long embrace with his father, Anthony, and both were apparently crying. He then kissed girlfriend Nicole Scherzinger, a singer with The Pussycat Dolls pop band. He said he didn't know if he had won the championship when he crossed the finish line. “I was shouting, ‘Did I win? Did I win?”' Hamilton said. “Then they told me when I was on the corner and I was ecstatic. It's a dream.” Massa, who started from the pole position and was trying to become the first Brazilian champion to win the F1 title since Ayrton Senna in 1991, wept profusely on the podium. Cautious from the start, Hamilton avoided the problems that cost him the title in Brazil last year, putting together a consistent run that kept him in the top five during most of the race. No McLaren driver had won the title since Mika Hakkinen in 1999. The team still remains without a win at Interlagos since Juan Pablo Montoya's victory in 2005. Despite the drivers' title, McLaren finished second to Ferrari in the constructors' championship. The British team hasn't won the constructors' title since 1998. McLaren trailed Ferrari by 11 points coming into the race. Ferrari secured its second consecutive championship - and eighth in the past 10 years. Renault won consecutive titles in 2005 and ‘06. - AP __
