Lewis Hamilton did not know if he should laugh or cry after his dramatic world championship-clinching fifth place finish in Sunday's tense, dramatic and nerve jangling Brazilian Grand Prix.
The 23-year-old Englishman became the youngest drivers champion in Formula One history and the sport's first black champion, beating local hero Felipe Massa of Ferrari by one point over the season.
But he did it only after a nail-biting rain-hit finish in which, after appearing to be in control of his destiny in fourth place, he slipped back to sixth and had to recover at least one place to be sure of the title.
That recovery was completed at the final corner of the 71st and last lap of the race when he pulled clear of German Timo Glock's Toyota to cross the line in fifth, not knowing immediately if it was good enough for him to take the title.
In scenes of near-pandemonium in a crowded pit lane, and in front of a partisan crowd of 100,000 fans, mostly rooting for Massa, Hamilton had to choke back tears of emotion as he embraced his father and manager Anthony.
"I can't talk, I just can't speak," he said immediately. "It's pretty much impossible to put into words. I am still speechless.
"My whole family is here. And I am so proud for them. My dad's here and he is the man. For us all, it has been such a long journey and with a lot of support from people back home.
"My team did a fantastic job all year and all the sacrifices we made, I'm so thrilled to be able to do this for everyone."
Hamilton lost fifth place to young German Sebastien Vettel two laps from the end, but his McLaren team knew that Glock was running on heavily-worn dry-weather tyres in the rain.
They talked him through the final tense moments as he chased after Vettel, to try and regain the place he needed, and then realised that Glock was slowing and could not handle his car in the conditions.
In the end, Glock could not resist Hamilton who passed him so close to the finish that the celebrations had already started for Massa's family and team in the Ferrari garage.
It could not have been a more dramatic conclusion to a championship-deciding race.
"Before it started to rain I was quite comfortable," said Hamilton. "My tyres were a little bit shot, so I was struggling to keep the pace up, but I was able to stay ahead of them and that's all.
"Then it started to drizzle and I didn't want to take any risks. Then he (Vettel) got past me and I was told that I had to get in front of him.
"I couldn't believe it. Then, at the last corner I managed to get past Glock and, I'm telling you, it was just amazing. I can only thank God!
"Just before I got to him, they said you have to get past Glock! So I was trying my hardest to get to Vettel, but he was just as quick as me, if not a little bit quicker. It was one of the toughest races of my life, if not the toughest."
As he crossed the line, Hamilton, still did not know if his efforts were in vain.
"I was shouting 'do I have it? Do I have it?" and they came on when I was down at turn one and they told me and I just felt ecstatic. It's been a dream and now we've got it..."
Hamilton's father Anthony, also his manager, was also lost for words in the sea of emotion that overwhelmed them and the McLaren team at the finish.
He criticised the Brazilian fans for booing the result. "They should not do that, they should recognise a great sporting contest," he said, before adding his great feelings of respect for the Massa family.
"This is the culmination of 16 years of hard work and I hope it is an inspiration to other families and shows them that if we can do it, so can they."
Hamilton's girlfriend Nicole Scherzinger, lead singer with the Pussycat Dolls, said: "It is just amazing, so exciting and he did it - like I knew he would. I could just feel it was going to happen and it is fantastic."
His brother Nicolas said: "It was close and it was late, but he deserved it for all his work and all his sacrifices for so many years."
McLaren sporting director Dave Ryan reckoned this was only the tip of the iceberg for the boy from Stevenage.
"This is only the beginning. The kid is magic. He's going to go a long way," he suggested.
Source:
http://sport.id.msn.com
Source:
http://sport.id.msn.com