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 45 - 64 of 84

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  1. @ luvablelucie

    Sorry Lucie, but Alonso only got the most points in the 2nd half of the season because he lucked out quite a few times in the final races, thanks to Ferrari and Mclaren managing to screw things up.

    Valencia is a prime example, as was one of the next races which escapes me. He only won when Ferrari and Mclaren screwed up.

    That said, he had to be quick to get there, it was refreshing to see him back in the top 5.

    From Steve, on Tue 4 Nov 9:09AM

  2. i notice that the majority of the spanish media are convinced that Glock "gifted" Hamiltona precious title winning point,whilst choosing to ignore Kimi,s "gift" to Massa in Chins.

    From Ribbso, on Tue 4 Nov 8:06AM

  3. hey every one lets all laugh and point at jbolan/marnio more crud from muppet have you everdriven a f1 car? and if f1 is so coruupt it stinks you would have your nose deeper in to it than any else if massa had won go back and have a sleep until the first race of 2009

    From piers, on Tue 4 Nov 7:25AM

  4. 2 men...

    ... Both born in 1985
    ... Both born to European (white) mothers
    ... Both born to black fathers
    ... Both sportsmen
    will forever remember 2 Nov 2008

    Hamilton wins the F1 championship
    Tsonga wins the tennis Paris Masters

    Its a declaration.....
    .... No matter what you think of us, we are here to stay....

    From Mpume, on Tue 4 Nov 2:25AM

  5. Hi fellow F1 groupies, your friend Emerson from Brazil here to say hello to all fans of Mr. Hamilton's son. What an inteligent race by mr.hamilton's son and his Fun Team McLaren. They kept us waiting to the very end but the honest mr. ron dennis knew that mr.glock's son couldn't race round a wet track on dry tyres so that baby massa would not be able to steal the Title from mr. hamilton's son. Of course there are lots of very stupid people who know nothing about F1 who are saying that mr.glock was paid lots of money to slow down but the truth is that the Inept Team Toyota have never won a race due to their rubbish car and tactics even though they spend more money than all the other teams put together. Even the whole of Switzerland don't spend that much money! Wasn't it wonderful to see all the Ferrari mechanics and everybody in Brazil cheering and crying with joy when they realised that mr.Hamilton's son had become the World Champion!.

    From Biggles, on Tue 4 Nov 1:17AM

  6. I hear Bruno Senna has a test drive for Honda shortly. If he has anysense he should hot foot it to Toyota there will be seat going next year when Glock moves to Mclaren. Roll on 2009 season Im going back to watch some real racers MOTO GP. GET A LIFE LEWIS SUPPORTERS

    From robertternent, on Tue 4 Nov 1:13AM

  7. Timo Glock - I think it's exactly what the fans want to see ...(im sure ;)
    .
    Many tnks Glock for leting LH pass you,we in britain f1 fans are very happy for you!

    From mary, on Tue 4 Nov 1:05AM

  8. I'm an Alonso fan but I would have to say that Kimi is a smoother and much more pure driver than Fernando Alonso. Alonso is also great but in adifferent way. He just knows how to set up his car for the different tracks and his race strategy is almost always flawless.I'd say Kimi is the better driver between the two but Alonso is the more savvy driver with better racing IQ.

    From Gio, on Tue 4 Nov 12:56AM

  9. Lewis Hamilton

    Car Number #1

    Race Stewards in your pocket £300

    Expensive Red Ferrari £600,000

    Max Mosley giving you the championship on a plate £250,000,000

    Getting beaten by Lewis Hamilton at the last corner of the last race of the season and seeing your families reaction in the garage

    @#$% PRICELESS!!!

    love it

    From Marti, on Mon 3 Nov 11:57PM

  10. massa still the number one!

    From derek e, on Mon 3 Nov 11:54PM

  11. They wont replace Kimi with Alonso. Kimi's a much better driver only had a bad season

    From martin.mitevski26, on Mon 3 Nov 11:09PM

  12. I noticed the Alonso fans are pointing out he won more points than anyone else in the second half of 2008 with a slightly inferior car. Does this mean he is a better driver? If so then I can name on driver who by that logic alone is better than Alonso and Schumacher. Anyone care to guess who? Look at the second half of 2006 when Alonso became a double World Champion and see which British driver in a massively inferior Honda outscored both the Spaniard and the boys from Maranello.

    From ginger_gitt, on Mon 3 Nov 10:57PM

  13. Well it's time for the drivers and crews to take their well earned break. Testing starts imminently. I hope the tail end of this season is a sign of things to come for next. The raw driving skills of Hamilton. The tactical genius of Renault. The emerging talents of Vettel and Kubica. The passion of Massa. The big ? over the quality of the forthcoming Honda!!! Well it couldn't be any worse could it? Even Button had had enough of it and decided to set light to it at the end of the season!!!! Nice one JB. next season is sure to be a stormer. I look forward to more friendly banter too! BCNU

    From R, on Mon 3 Nov 10:42PM

  14. DOUBLE WORLD CHAMP ** ALONSO *** GAINED MORE POINTS THAN ANY OTHERS
    FROM LAST 6 EVENTS
    BY TALENTED SKILFULL DRIVING WITH PERFECT PIT LANE TACTICS

    From Lucie D, on Mon 3 Nov 10:40PM

  15. Blue giant post 39, That just shows how consistant Hamilton was through out the season, It's not who wins the most races, it's who get the most points. Massa failed to score in 5 races compared to Hamiltons 4 failures.
    I think the points system is fair as it is, otherwise you'll just reduce the number of people who can challange for the title.

    Some of the other teams may not be able to win a lot of races, but if they design a fairly quick reliable car, they can still challenge for the title. BMW and Renault for example.

    Kubica only finish 23 points Behind Hamilton in 4th and only won 1 race. Increasing Winners points tally would just make it that more difficult for the others to keep the tilte interesting.

    From redimaster, on Mon 3 Nov 10:39PM

  16. If Italian media can act with great sportsman like behaviour, why can't the anti-Lewis brigade follow their example?

    The anti-Lewis brigade only show how narrow minded and blinkered they are when they can't accept Lewis winning the drivers title fairly.

    If the positions of Lewis and Felipe had been reversed (Felipe needing 5th to win the drivers title) and what happened in the last two corners happened, would the anti-Lewis brigade be commenting that Felipe shouldn't have been drivers champion ?

    Somehow I think they would've kept quiet.

    From Alien, on Mon 3 Nov 10:17PM

  17. j bolan your a idiot hamilton won fair and square i told you this about 3 months ago now go and sulk in the corner of peru somewhere maybe if one of your people from your country pulled there fingers out of there arses you might get a f1 driver one day massa had loads of help off the officials to win the championship he still couldnt do it so shut your mouth you idiot imberseal!

    From chris, on Mon 3 Nov 10:06PM

  18. Oh, and Forza - check out 'Ferrari Boss Pays Tribute to Hamilton' It's great and should make some of these so-called F1 fans feel ashamed.

    From m.e.jenner@..., on Mon 3 Nov 9:33PM

  19. ..And me because I think Lewis will approach next season in a more measured way and find his true potential. They will have earned respect for each other and will give us some great races in the future, I'm sure.

    From m.e.jenner@..., on Mon 3 Nov 9:24PM

  20. ...Am glad for both of us. You because Felipe drove a fabulous race and coped with the dreadful disappointment after the elation with grace and humility...

    From m.e.jenner@..., on Mon 3 Nov 9:21PM
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