Team Great Britain's Robbie Kerr came first and second in today's final round of the A1GP season at Brands Hatch - but Switzerland claimed the glory as they eased to the title.
Kerr won the opening 20-minute sprint race at the Kent circuit in a race which saw Neel Jani clinch the crown for the Swiss with a fourth-placed finish.
In Sunday afternoon's feature, India's ex-Formula One driver Narain Karthikeyan took the win, beating the Briton by 1.078 seconds.
Kerr's performance helped GB leapfrog France into third in the final standings, a point behind second-placed New Zealand who finished with 127 points.
But the Swiss were in a class of their own as they took the title with a 41-point margin.
In the sprint, Kerr, starting from pole after a fine qualifying session yesterday, came home 1.126 seconds ahead of USA's Jonathan Summerton, with Ireland's Adam Carroll third.
Jani sealed the title for the Swiss by claiming fourth - comfortably exceeding the seventh-place finish required to take the crown.
New Zealand needed to come second to have any chance of overhauling Switzerland but they could manage no better than eighth.
As in the sprint, it was the pole-sitters who triumphed in the feature as Karthikeyan staved off Kerr to claim his country's second win of the season.
Jani cruised home third for the Swiss, 8.725secs behind India, with China fourth.
Jonny Reid's second eighth-placed finish of the day for New Zealand was just enough to keep GB in third in the final championship standings as France slipped to fourth.
Leading positions after Sprint Race A1GP: 1 Great Britain (Kerr) 19mins 19.143secs, 2 USA (Summerton) 19:20.269, 3 Ireland (Carroll) 19:21.329, 4 Switzerland (Jani) 19:23.268, 5 India (Karthikeyan) 19:23.610, 6 Portugal (Albuguergue) 19:24.540, 7 South Africa (Zaugg) 19:25.257, 8 New Zealand (Reid) 19:27.528, 9 Netherlands (Bleekemolen) 19:28.968, 10 France (Montagny) 19:30.021, 11 Germany (Ammermuller) 19:30.346, 12 Czech Republic (Salaquarda) 19:31.138, 13 Malaysia (Fauzy) 19:33.497, 14 Australia (Martin) 19:34.989, 15 Canada (Hinchcliffe) 19:36.460, 16 Brazil (Negrao) 19:37.250, 17 Italy (Piscopo) 19:37.744, 18 Pakistan (Khan) 19:43.030, 19 Indonesia (Hermanto) 19:49.097, 20 Mexico (Martinez) 19:49.465, 21 China (Congfu) 19:50.664, 22 Lebanon (Beschir) 19:55.381
Leading positions after A1GP Feature Race: 1 India (Karthikeyan) 1hr 07mins 24.691secs, 2 Great Britain (Kerr) 1:07:25.769, 3 Switzerland (Jani) 1:07:33.416, 4 China (Congfu) 1:07:33.823, 5 France (Montagny) 1:07:37.651, 6 Netherlands (Bleekemolen) 1:07:40.229, 7 Portugal (Albuguergue) 1:07:40.405, 8 New Zealand (Reid) 1:07:44.553, 9 Italy (Piscopo) 1:07:51.044, 10 Indonesia (Hemanto) 1:08:13.959, 11 South Africa (Zaugg) 1:08:14.352, 12 USA (Summerton) 1:08:14.723, 13 Ireland (Carroll) 1:08:14.938, 14 Brazil (Negrao) 1:08:25.353, 15 Czech Republic (Salaquarda) 1:06:53.173, 16 Mexico (Martinez) 1:07:47.078, 17 Canada (Hinchcliffe) 1:07:49.512, 18 Lebanon (Beschir) 1:08:06.465, 19 Germany (Ammermuller) 55:55.117 at 39 Laps, 20 Malaysia (Fauzy) 56:22.619 at 39 Laps, 21 Pakistan (Khan) 2:52.129 at 2 Laps, 22 Australia (Martin) 2:52.788 at 2 Laps
Championship Standings: 1 Switzerland 168pts, 2 New Zealand 127, 3 Great Britain 126, 4 France 118, 5 South Africa 96, 6 Ireland 94, 7 Netherlands 87, 8 Germany 83, 9 Canada 75, 10 India 61, 11 Portugal 59, 12 USA 56, 13 China 55, 14 Brazil 44, 15 Malaysia 25, 16 Mexico 22, 17 Australia 20, 18 Italy 12, 19 Czech Republic 10, 20 Indonesia 1, 20 Pakistan 1, 22 Lebanon 0
Kerr effectively lost the chance to record a first feature-race win for a home nation after a slow second mandatory pit stop.
"It was a fantastic weekend for GB, it was just a shame we couldn't pull the second win off," Kerr said.
"Narain and I were so equal and after the first pit stop we thought we had done enough.
"Then unfortunately the second pit stop didn't quite go our way, but it's a team sport and we all worked hard. It's just one of those things."
Switzerland team principal Max Welti was left to savour his team's title triumph as they succeeded Germany as champions.
"It's absolutely outstanding. It's such a great feeling - you just cannot believe it," he said.
"To represent Switzerland all over the globe and to actually do it is fantastic. We're writing a page in the history books.
"Neel came on the radio after he crossed the line to thank the team - he knows that to win the world championship is not only his achievement, but everybody in the team as well."
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