Media reaction: Italy accepts victory

Eurosport - Tue, 04 Nov 09:29:00 2008

Italy's media has paid a gracious tribute to McLaren's new world champion Lewis Hamilton after the Briton beat Ferrari's Felipe Massa to the title on the final bend at the Brazilian Grand Prix.

FORMULA 1 2008 Scherzinger Hamilton - 0

Massa won his home race and for a moment looked to have snatched the title before Hamilton overtook Toyota's Timo Glock to seize the fifth place he needed to become Formula One's youngest champion at the age of 23.

Italian television did not realise Massa had been denied the title for almost a minute.

Italy's main sports daily, Gazzetta dello Sport, was unsure how to react after Italian team Ferrari wrapped up the constructors' title.

"Honour to Ferrari. Felipe Massa did not deserve to lose like that, with a cruelty that a wizard in a thriller could not even have imagined," read the front page.

However, the paper praised Hamilton inside and absolved German Glock given that his Toyota slowed down considerably because he was on dry tyres in the wet.

"He stole nothing and Glock gave him nothing. We honour his skill," it said.

Reports said Glock had been insulted by Brazilian fans at the end but he protested his innocence amid accusations he had done Hamilton a favour.

"What? Are you taking the mickey? I had dry tyres, what could I do?" he was quoted as saying.

"When it started to rain it was always difficult to find the right line with dry tyres. At the end the track was totally wet.

"For five laps we asked if it was better to come in but I stayed out."

Italian daily Corriere della Sera also put aside its love of Ferrari to congratulate the sport's first black champion, who won the title by one point just as he lost by a single point to Ferrari's Kimi Raikkonen last season.

"We bow to Lewis Hamilton, who deservedly won the first title of his career. Other World Championships will follow for this 23-year-old blessed with talent," read its main story.

Corriere, which said it was wrong to blame Glock, also called on Ferrari to sign Renault's former double world champion Fernando Alonso to replace the struggling Raikkonen.

Back in Britain, the Daily Star led with Hamilton's assertion that he did not know he'd won the title when he crossed the finish line, while both the Daily Mail and The Times ran the headline 'Lap of the gods' to describe Hamilton's last-gasp comeback.

The Mail described Hamilton on its front page as a '£100m British hero'.

The Guardian likes its headlines long and informative and did not let the readers down on this momentous occasion: 'This is first of many says Hamilton as he becomes youngest champion'.

'Phew, Lew: Lewis makes history.. but boy was it close!' said the back page of the Mirror, while The Sun also liked 'Phew, Lew' - but the lead-in read 'He wins title in final lap drama'.

The Mirror's front page, showing his pop star girlfriend Nicole Scherzinger (pictured above) whooping up his triumph, led with 'Lew Beauty!'

The Independent said 'Champion... on the final corner' - with a picture of the McLaren star holding aloft a union jack and smiling.

But the boos of the Interlagos crowd, devastated by local driver Massa's narrow defeat, was summed up by Brazil's media.

The Folha de Sao Paulo newspaper dismissed Hamilton's achievement as 'a title of 700 metres', also pointing out that the Briton is 'champion with fewer victories than Massa'.

The French daily Liberation labelled the McLaren driver as 'selfish, egocentric, sometimes shifty and willing to do anything to meet his objectives'.

L'Equipe added: 'He has conquered F1 with the spirit of a rookie and the driving skills of a veteran, with intelligence and talent, but, with an obvious taste for celebrity and an evident need to win at whatever price, in total contempt of his opponents.'

F1-Live.com / Reuters

Comment 65 - 84 of 84

Sort comments by: Most recent

  1. touronroute i don't get your point about PRINODA15 getting it wrong re: LH's mom- she IS white and she IS european (well the last time i checked the united kingdom is in a continent called europe init?)

    From mpumedanisa, on Thu 6 Nov 7:31PM

  2. zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz!!!!!
    Enough is enough!
    It's all over!

    From marko, on Tue 4 Nov 5:39PM

  3. Hey Cyrano!Have you graciously accepted Lewis as CHAMPION! I doubt it,you seem strangely quiet,no more bile to spew?

    From John F, on Tue 4 Nov 5:12PM

  4. PRINODA15 YOU GOT IT WRONG MATE, LEWIS MUM IS CARMEN LOCKHART

    From touronroute, on Tue 4 Nov 4:36PM

  5. Massa lost not because of his driving but because of Ferrari mechanics over the entire season. If the Glock suspicion hurts Ferrari fans then you have to live with it as McLaren fans had to live with and overcome all the points and the win gifted to Ferrari and Massa this year.

    To be honest we have had to put up with the inane and at times brainwashed Ferrari fist pumping glory hunters all year. I cannot even begin to imagine how much damage this must have done to their collective ego's. I'm sure many will not touch this forum again. Whatever, they lost.

    For me Hamilton steps up and takes his place among the other great British champions. We now have the most world champions and we also have the youngest ever, a record he has also taken from Alonso, just as an added bonus, since most Ferrari fans also inexplicably support Alonso, this must be a double whammy!

    And the best thing is, none of this can ever be changed or taken away from Lewis by the FIA.

    For me like david slaying Goliath, Lewis' biggest achievement has been to single handedly and over an entire season defeat 'both' Ferrari drivers, the Ferrari administration, and the FIA as well as all the low life haters. So for all those rabid motorsport illiterates who were prone to blindly pronounce 'Hamilton who' well it's now the record breaking, youngest ever 'No 1' F1 champion. You have to live with that, you created it and it will be a longtime before the record he took from Alonso is broken. And there is 'nothing' you can do about it.

    From mark, on Tue 4 Nov 12:53PM

  6. Massa lost not because of his driving but because of Ferrari mechanics over the entire season. If the Glock suspicion hurts Ferrari fans then you have to live with it as McLaren fans had to live with and overcome all the points and the win gifted to Ferrari and Massa this year.

    To be honest we have had to put up with the inane and at times brainwashed Ferrari fist pumping glory hunters all year. I cannot even begin to imagine how much damage this must have done to their collective ego's. I'm sure many will not touch this forum again. Whatever, they lost.

    For me Hamilton steps up and takes his place among the other great British champions. We now have the most world champions and we also have the youngest ever, a record he has also taken from Alonso, just as an added bonus, since most Ferrari fans also inexplicably support Alonso, this must be a double whammy!

    And the best thing is, none of this can ever be changed or taken away from Lewis by the FIA.

    For me like david slaying Goliath, Lewis' biggest achievement has been to single handedly and over an entire season defeat 'both' Ferrari drivers, the Ferrari administration, and the FIA as well as all the low life haters. So for all those rabid motorsport illiterates who were prone to blindly pronounce 'Hamilton who' well it's now the record breaking, youngest ever 'No 1' F1 champion. You have to live with that, you created it and it will be a longtime before the record he took from Alonso is broken. And there is 'nothing' you can do about it.

    From mark, on Tue 4 Nov 12:52PM

  7. I am italian and a Ferrari fan, but I have no strong suspicion about this year's title.

    But LAST year was definitely a farce. Lewis HAD to lose the title because of the spy story. The F1 bosses did not cancel his points (only for the constructor championship), but for "some" reason Lewis managedd to lose the title by ONE miserable point making 0 in the forelast and as many points as possible (to lose the title) in the last grand prix. The same did Alonso, who was just happy not to have to give way to Lewis in the last grand prix last year.

    About this year. My impression is that Hamilton could have won the title much earlier, despite a good season by Massa. To see him managing EXACTLY the place he needed to secure the title, makes me think. Not that Glock made him a present. Quite the opposite: as if Lewis had some instructions to leave the battle open till the very end. I do not know. Maybe it is part of last year's deal. Although I do NOT think that Massa would lose on purpose. Given the chance, he would have grabbed it (and almost did it).

    From Giovanni T, on Tue 4 Nov 12:00PM

  8. well thanks 1969 for remembering & commenting on double world champ ***ALONSO**

    we feel sure he will be highly flattered & amused by your intense interest

    From simioni44, on Tue 4 Nov 11:44AM

  9. item 71 dates back to1969
    it is such a stale old juvenile comment

    From simioni44, on Tue 4 Nov 11:38AM

  10. hi bezzi 1969
    thanks but we have seen your sore tired remark repeated too many times now
    how about a nice new original comment to entertain us
    shall we send you a new kids dictionary to improve your vocabulary sweetie

    From simioni44, on Tue 4 Nov 11:34AM

  11. Alonso fans its not about who scored the most points in the last 8 events. its about a whole season and this year it was Hamilton. and probably for many years to come too.

    From G, on Tue 4 Nov 11:30AM

  12. Ha Ha there can be ONLY ONE title holder

    SO ALL OTHER DRIVERS {17 of them?}}} are losers -- great juvenile joke HA HA

    From simioni44, on Tue 4 Nov 11:29AM

  13. congratulations to ***ALONSO*** for being a LOSER in 2008.

    From G, on Tue 4 Nov 11:23AM

  14. CONGRATULATIONS TO DOUBLE WORLD CHAMP ***ALONSO****

    He has NEVER needed to visit pits for a new nose cone

    should the car available towards end of season.,. been there from beginning

    it would now be superstar ***ALONSO** as triple WORLD CHAMP

    From simioni44, on Tue 4 Nov 11:19AM

  15. Alonso got the hump and threw his toys out of the pram when he was at mcclaren coz Lewis proved (in his 1st season) to be a better driver in the same car. Alonso does have talent but when pushed by a better driver he goes to his trailer and sulks until flavio gives him his old job back.

    From G, on Tue 4 Nov 11:17AM

  16. ALL TEAMS & DRIVERS HAVE BENEFITTED FROM OTHERS MISTAKES LIKE FUEL RIG MISHAP

    double world champ **ALONSO** has NOT benefitted more than any others

    with superior skill & talent he gained MOST POINTS from las 8 {EIGHT} events---- BRAVO

    From simioni44, on Tue 4 Nov 11:15AM

  17. Lewis haters seem forget that their hero Micheal Schumacer was arrogant when he was being interviewed. But they didnt hate him even though he was german. I bet if he was driving a ferrari most of the hatred would disappear.

    From G, on Tue 4 Nov 11:14AM

  18. 60 - Off you go then Robert - Bye !

    From m.e.jenner@..., on Tue 4 Nov 10:46AM

  19. ....................................................... .........................................

    From arshad_iceman2, on Tue 4 Nov 9:45AM

  20. Hey Steve, it may be right to say that Alonso won and scored good position because Mclaren and Ferrari screwed up. You failed to give Alonso the credit to put himself in that position to take the benefit when Mclaren and Ferrari screwed themselves up. After all, Alonso had a more inferior car. So, what he has achieved is a demonstration of his talent. I can't see Piquet do the same and most certainly not Fisi when he was with Renault.

    From ferraribeng, on Tue 4 Nov 9:18AM
Sort comments by: Most recent

Not already a Yahoo! user ? to get a free Yahoo! Account