Lewis Hamilton poised for historic F1 title win
 Hamilton aims to succeed Damon Hill as Britain's latest F1 champion 27 October 2008 Trackside’s Keith Collantine previews the final race of an epic season. One of these men will become F1 world champion on Sunday. Lewis Hamilton is returning to Sao Paulo in Brazil for the last F1 race of the year. It’s the scene of his heart-breaking defeat last year. Hamilton could become the youngest driver ever to win the championship – breaking the record arch-rival Fernando Alonso set in 2005. Britain has more world championship titles than any other country and Hamilton could become our ninth world champion. Mike Hawthorn was the first British driver to win the world championship, 50 years ago. Since then British racers have claimed 12 F1 titles. Jackie Stewart won three of them from 1969-1973. The next most successful country is Brazil, with three champions and eight championships. Felipe Massa is trying to become the first Brazilian since Ayrton Senna to win the F1 crown. Lewis Hamilton From: Tewin, Hertfordshire, United Kingdom Born: January 7th, 1985 2008 wins: Australia, Monaco, Britain, Germany, China 2008 highlights: Heroic home win at Silverstone and battling victory at Monte-Carlo – both in the wet. 2008 lowlights: Crashes with Fernando Alonso (Bahrain) and Kimi Raikkonen (Montreal), and being controversially disqualified from victory at Spa. What he needs to do to win the title: Finish in the top five. Says: “Obviously, my aim for Brazil is slightly different from the other Grands Prix: I don't need to win the race, but that won't stop me from going into the weekend looking to be as strong as possible. Shanghai was a good example of that: we hit the ground running on Friday morning and never looked back.” VIEW slide show of Lewis Hamilton’s last F1 win – the Chinese Grand Prix VOTE: will Lewis Hamilton win the title? Cast your vote Felipe Massa
Born: April 25th 1981 2008 wins: Bahrain, Turkey, France, Valencia, Belgium 2008 highlights: Turning the tables on world champion team mate Raikkonen after a poor start to the season. 2008 lowlights: Crashing in the first two races, spinning five times in the rain at Silverstone, losing victory at the Hungaroring in the dying laps with a blown engine, and leaving his pit box at Singapore with the refuelling hose still attched. What he needs to do to win the title: Win with Hamilton sixth or lower, or finish second with Hamilton eighth or lower. Says: “Yes it's true I have a tougher job than Lewis in terms of the points situation, but my own objective for the weekend is much more straightforward than his. I only have to focus on winning the race on Sunday afternoon, hopefully with my teammate second behind me. The only thing I am thinking about is winning. After that, the matter is not in my hands and we will have to wait and see exactly what and how much we have won.” VIEW slide show of Felipe Massa’s last F1 win – the Belgian Grand Prix |
From: Sao Paulo, BrazilPage 1
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