The Brazilian Grand Prix 2008 was an epic finale to a sensational season. Both the title contenders, Felipe Massa of Ferrari and Lewis Hamilton of McLaren came here with a chance to capture the title. This being the little Massa’s home grand prix, he had an outside advantage. Although, Lewis was leading by a good number of points already and was on the brink of becoming the first black F1 World Champion, the undisputed leader of the racing world.

The weather was all set to play spoil sport, for the umpteenth time this season and Lewis knew that he’s very very good at driving in the rain. Advantage Lewis! Massa, on the other hand, had just secured the pole position for this race and was all set to run away with the race. If there’s anybody who knows this track upside down, it has to be Massa. Advantage Massa, again! The race started after a minor delay and everyone was ready for a grand stand finish.

Lewis needed only a 5th position to clinch the title, regardless of what Massa does. Two drivers well capable of disturbing all permutations and combinations, Kimi Raikkonen and Fernando Alonso, were right in the thick of the action. Both had already declared that their loyalty, if any, is towards Massa and that’s bad news for Lewis. Massa made a great start and lead the race throughout to win it without any major issues.

Now it was all upto Lewis to make it count. Lewis got into numerous battles with other drivers on his way to the chequered flag and never really made any attempt to score anything more than a 5th place. The rain, this time, seemed to make his task a bit more difficult than usual. The most noticeable of Lewis’s battle was against the STR rising star, Vettel, who passed Lewis in the final stages of the race and demoted Lewis to 6th place.

It was a heart-in-mouth moment for Lewis as he approached the final lap, knowing he’s about to let the title slip by for the second time in 2 years. However, as if it was all destined to be, Timo Glock struggled to make it to the finishing line with dry weather tires on a wet track. Lewis passed him at the very final corner of the last lap to clinch the 5th place and his first ever championship crown. For Massa and his crew, it was heartbreak for they almost had it. 

The full results from the race are as below -

1 – Felipe Massa – Ferrari – 71 – 1:34:11.435
2 – Fernando Alonso – Renault – 71 – +13.2 secs
3 – Kimi Räikkönen – Ferrari – 71 – +16.2 secs
4 – Sebastian Vettel – STR-Ferrari – 71 – +38.0 secs
5 – Lewis Hamilton – McLaren-Mercedes – 71 – +38.9 secs
6 – Timo Glock – Toyota – 71 – +44.3 secs
7 – Heikki Kovalainen – McLaren-Mercedes – 71 – +55.0 secs
8 – Jarno Trulli – Toyota – 71 – +68.4 secs

9 – Mark Webber – Red Bull-Renault – 71 – +79.6 secs
10 – Nick Heidfeld – BMW Sauber – 70 – +1 Lap
11 – Robert Kubica – BMW Sauber – 70 – +1 Lap
12 – Nico Rosberg – Williams-Toyota – 70 – +1 Lap
13 – Jenson Button – Honda – 70 – +1 Lap
14 – Sebastien Bourdais – STR-Ferrari – 70 – +1 Lap
15 – Rubens Barrichello – Honda – 70 – +1 Lap
16 – Adrian Sutil – Force India-Ferrari – 69 – +2 Laps
17 – Kazuki Nakajima – Williams-Toyota – 69 – +2 Laps
18 – Giancarlo Fisichella – Force India-Ferrari – 69 – +2 Laps

Ret – Nelsinho Piquet – Renault – 0 – Accident
Ret – David Coulthard – Red Bull-Renault – 0 – Accident