Motorsport · 2008 · São Paulo, Brazil
The Last Corner of the Season
Needing fifth place to win his first world title, Lewis Hamilton passes a driver on worn wet-weather tyres at the very final corner of the very final lap of the season.
1 point
Championship margin
5th or better
Position needed
Final lap, penultimate corner
Decisive overtake
Lewis Hamilton went into the 2008 season finale at Interlagos needing only a fifth-place finish to beat Ferrari's Felipe Massa to the title. Massa won the home race in front of his own crowd, and as Hamilton ran sixth with two corners of the race remaining, Ferrari's garage began celebrating what looked like a Massa championship.
Toyota's Timo Glock had stayed out on dry-weather tyres as rain fell late in the race, a gamble that left him vulnerable as the track got wetter. On the final lap, Hamilton caught and passed Glock at the second-to-last corner, moving back up to fifth place moments before the chequered flag fell.
The swing was announced to the television audience with commentary asking, in real time, 'is that Glock?', as the position change that decided the entire championship happened in the final seconds of the final race. Hamilton won his first title by a single point, in a finish still regarded as one of the most dramatic in the sport's history.
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