One of the most riveting and furious finishes to a Formula 1 world championship occurred in the Brazilian Grand Prix in November 2008. The events that led to this conclusion began the previous year. At the Interlagos circuit in Sao Paulo in 2007, an exceptional rookie by the name of Lewis Hamilton emerged with a narrow four-point and seven-point lead over his teammate Fernando Alonso and Ferrari driver, Kimi Raikkonen respectively.
Nelson Piquet Jr.’s deliberate collision at the race caused a safety car period that eventually helped his Renault teammate Fernando Alonso. This incident generated a great deal of controversy and with Felipe Massa challenging the title 15 years later in 2023 claiming it was unjust. While all was going on, Hamilton, Massa’s main title rival, finished an admissible third.
On this day in 2008, Lewis Hamilton won his first F1 World Championship on the last corner of the last lap in Brazil šš§š·
ā ESPN F1 (@ESPNF1) November 2, 2022
Beating Felipe Massa by just 1 point. Ferrari couldn’t believe it š¤ pic.twitter.com/7Ya3oJfePo
As a result, the 2008 Brazilian Grand Prix will be remembered as a thrilling race defined by fierce rivalries, clever maneuvers, and unanticipated twists of fate that finally determined the outcome of the Formula 1 world championship apart from being marked as the year where Sir Lewis Hamilton earned his first world title and continued to win many more shortly.
When did Lewis Hamilton start training for F1?
When one considers where his career started, it is obvious that his rise was preordained. Lewis Hamilton, a young karting prodigy, made his first plunge into Formula 1 on September 19, 2006, when he took part in his first test drive for McLaren at Silverstone.
Hamilton, who has been a McLaren fan since he was just 13 years old, jumped at the chance to drive the MP4-21 just 10 days after winning the F2 championship. On the first of his three permitted days, after getting acquainted himself with the car, he secured sixth place, just nine-hundredths of a second behind Pedro de la Rosa, who was then driving for McLaren.
šØ| Bernie Ecclestone says that Michael Schumacher should be the sole record holder for number of F1 titles, ahead of Lewis Hamilton.
ā Ferrari News š (@FanaticsFerrari) March 3, 2023
He believes that Hamilton had ‘all the luck’ in 2008, and that Felipe Massa was “cheated” out of the title, due to the farcical Singapore 2008.
But on the final day of testing, Lewis Hamilton beat out de la Rosa, finishing third fastest with a six-hundredths-of-a-second advantage. The Briton had already established himself as a rising star in the world of motorsport at the young age of 21. Sir Lewis Hamilton went on to sign a contract with McLaren in 2007.
Although he came very close to winning the championship in his inaugural season at the early age of 22, he ultimately won it in 2008 at the mere age of 23 years. What transpired next has been extensively chronicled; to put it briefly, Lewis Hamilton became presumably the best driver in Formula 1 history.