Last-gasp Lewis shows drive of a true champion

As two fathers simultaneously celebrated their son’s coronation as Formula One world champion, for a brief moment it seemed we had the result perhaps both men deserved.

When Luiz Antonio Massa and Anthony Hamilton saw their boys take the checked flag at Interlagos yesterday, each man thought he was witnessing his son claim the most prestigious prize in motor sport.

Of course, it soon emerged that Massa sr and the Ferrari team had jumped the gun as Hamilton stole back the title on the final bend of a quite thrilling race.

This last gasp drama was the climax to a race that ebbed and flowed as in a reflection of the season itself and it is moments like that which remind us just how enthralling sport can be.

While Hamilton walked away as deserved world champion, it was hard not to feel sorry for Felipe Massa.

The likeable Brazilian had driven an almost perfect race at his home circuit and had done everything in his power to claim the overall championship when under the most intense pressure.

But somehow Hamilton did just enough as Timo Glock's Toyota crawled round the last lap and the 23-year-old from Stevenage chased him down in the nick of time.

Hamilton's race was far from a flawless display but, in the mark of a true champion, his will forced him home as he was faced with the unthinkable prospect of losing the championship in the final race for the second year in succession.

In an ideal, school playground-style, world both men would have emerged victorious and both fathers would have had genuine cause for celebration but the cut-throat world of top level modern sport has no room for these sentimental notions.

Over the course of this year, neither of the championship contenders has reached the flawless standards set by Michael Schumacher in his prime but we cannot measure all champions by the greatest of them all and the lack of dominance has meant a season that was never lacking in drama.

But it was Hamilton who came through, the mental damage may well have been long-lasting if he had failed at the last again, and his success was largely down to a very un-British attitude of a champion.

Sometimes it seems British sports stars seem to worry too much about their own image, preferring to play the role of gallant hero rather than ruthless winner.

But Hamilton, and to an extent Andy Murray who too has developed a the demeanour of a champion of late, has adopted an almost blinkered tunnel vision purely focused on winning that has lead to accusations of being aloof and a reputation for pushing the competitive boundaries on the track to the bounds of the dangerous.

It means he may not be popular with other drivers and even the world audience (not just the narrow-minded racist Spanish fans but the wider fanbase of Formula One), even though that may be hard to gage in face of the fervour of the partisan support in this country.

But something tells me that won’t bother Hamilton in the slightest as he basks in the glory that comes with the title of world champion, besides, when did Schumacher ever seem bothered about his reputation with fans and other drivers?