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 5 - 24 of 84

Sort comments by: Most recent

  1. After all the ups and downs of an outstanding season of­ racing (forgetting all the 'off track'­ manoeuvrings) Lewis is a worthy champion. He has been­ the class of the field for the last two seasons, and­ has put paid to the myth that overtaking is not­ possible in the modern high down-force F1 car (other­ drivers please take note)
    His driving deserves 9.5 out­ of 10, his car gets 9, but McLaren's poor tactical­ calls cost him the championship last year, and almost­ did the same again this year, they get a 4, with the­ comment 'significant improvement required, Ron must­ review his approach to this area of his work, it is not­ of the required standard, and could undermine future­ success.'

    From Bentley Boy, on Mon 3 Nov 3:26PM

  2. Question for the french dailys L'Equipe and­ Liberation - How many French F1 drivers are there?­ None? that must make you unbiased experts then.

    From Biggles, on Mon 3 Nov 3:20PM

  3. Question for the french dailys L'Equipe and­ Liberation - How many French F1 drivers are there?­ None? that must make you unbiased experts then.

    From Biggles, on Mon 3 Nov 3:20PM

  4. 'Selfish, egocentric, sometimes shifty, and willing­ to do anything to meet his objectives' Is­ Liberation writing about Lewis, or French foreign­ policy?

    From Bentley Boy, on Mon 3 Nov 3:09PM

  5. SIMPLY FANTASTIC LEWIS, YOUR WORLD CHAMPION NOW, YOU­ SHOULD HAVE BEEN LAST YEAR, SO NEAR SO FAR, BUT THIS­ YEAR ITS YOURS, CONGRATULATIONS, YOUR A CREDIT TO THE­ YOUTH OF TODAY, TO YOUR FAMILY, TO YOUR TEAM BUT MOST­ OF ALL TO YOURSELF, LONG MAY YOU REIGN !!

    From jacky, on Mon 3 Nov 2:57PM

  6. i hope all the disillutioned Alonso fans can see that­ God doesnt look at colour rather than your skill and­ gut to race,wake up this is 21st century .

    From george, on Mon 3 Nov 2:54PM

  7. Top job Mr Hamilton.

    Be seeing you. :-)

    From art_tidesco, on Mon 3 Nov 2:45PM

  8. no sorry 4 massa the title should have been won since.­ he will cry more so long as he accepts points from­ every where .however the next year title would be won­ b4 the last race in brazil. lh is wiser now and there­ are more good drivers now like vettel........he will­ reduce points from many next year...........WELLDONE­ LEWIS

    From clement l, on Mon 3 Nov 2:44PM

  9. billryans yes and he also said he'd been helping­ Massa when he could , at least he admits it.

    From Mike, on Mon 3 Nov 1:54PM

  10. Good point "Digits". It is the same with­ Obama. I reckon its because people think there are only­ levels of black and one untainted white.

    From brap999, on Mon 3 Nov 1:46PM

  11. If you noticed. ITV coverage, Martin Brundle grid walk.­ Bernie was asked on the grid how it has been a title­ decider at 28 season end races and how difficult had it­ been to do this. to which he replied very and getting­ more difficult every year.
    FIA Ferrari International­ Assistance.
    You know a man who can.

    well done LH and­ much praise for the italian press and people. shows­ they are proper motorsport fans unlike the spanish.

    From BILL, on Mon 3 Nov 1:36PM

  12. Massa - a "steady" racer, a perfect­ gentleman. BUT to be a racing champion, you need to­ have guts all season. If you don't have a pole­ position, can you still come back and win a race­ without the FIA intervention???? I doubt it.
    LH - a­ "risk-taking" racer. Have shown the hunger­ required all season to be racing champion. Have coped­ effectively well with criticisms from others. You­ don't need to prove anything to anybody (more­ especially people who dislike you simply because of the­ colour of your skin).
    Racing drivers of the year 2008 -­ LH, Massa, Vettel, Kubica and Alonso. Kimi also­ deserves some mention but with his experience and car,­ we expect better.
    F1 "true and real" fans all­ over the world.....enjoy the remaining days of 2008,­ looking forward to 2009 with more excitement....expect­ the best of vettel, glock, LH, alonso, kimi, kubica and­ heikki...
    Can someone translate this to spanish,­ please?

    From Jurby A, on Mon 3 Nov 1:33PM

  13. Well Done Mate.

    From walker.andy, on Mon 3 Nov 1:30PM

  14. Very true boxster

    From Mike, on Mon 3 Nov 1:23PM

  15. Good on the Italian press and the Italians... I'm­ not sure the British press would have been that­ gracious and, if Lewis hadn't won yesterday, the­ British media would have been scrutinising all of the­ FIA/Stewards' decision that went against Lewis over­ the course of the season.
    I would also like to add that­ Massa was brilliant both before, during and after the­ race and, even though I don't like Alonso, he was­ also a top bloke yesterday.
    Roll on next year!

    From boxster, on Mon 3 Nov 1:05PM

  16. Funny how all the backstabbing didn't work - now­ all those 2-faced drivers are lining up to pat LH on­ the back. I hope he remembers who his real friends­ were and does these a**holes no favours next year, when­ he wins it again.

    From Donald D, on Mon 3 Nov 1:03PM

  17. LEWIS HAMILTON WORLD CHAMPION has a certain ring to it­ don't you think?,we gonna hear that sentence a hell­ of a lot over next 10 years!,it should have ben his­ second title but for the fuel fixing fiasco of last­ season but the ferrari fools have forgotten all about­ how kimi won that title by a single point!,he has been­ shown the exhaust that many times by both massa and­ hamilton this season!.
    the title race this season only­ went to the last race because the FIA gifted massa one­ of lewis hamiltons victories to keep interest in the­ championship going right up to very last race thus­ putting masa in a false position and the poor bloke­ thought he was going to win title on home ground!.

    From freddybee, on Mon 3 Nov 1:02PM

  18. Great stuff Italy.

    From m.e.jenner, on Mon 3 Nov 12:58PM

  19. It all came right in the end. Well done Lewis and­ Mclaren I feel for
    Massa after he was told that he had­ won the championship,
    look forward to a rematch next­ season.

    IZZY F1

    From mike B, on Mon 3 Nov 12:49PM
  20. Comment hidden due to its low rating. Show

    The better driver did not win the Championship since­ Alonso last won it.

    From mihai1x4, on Mon 3 Nov 12:41PM
Sort comments by: Most recent

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