Hamilton elated after historic success

Lewis Hamilton was "speechless" after his dramatic fifth place in Brazil gave him the Formula 1 world title by just one point.

The British ace knew that fifth place or better would give him the crown, regardless of what rival Felipe Massa achieved in the race, and he duly took fifth by passing Timo Glock when coming out of the final corner of the race.

Massa had already done his part - winning the race from Fernando Alonso, with Kimi Raikkonen third and Sebastian Vettel just one place ahead of Hamilton.

The 23-year-old McLaren star becomes the youngest ever F1 champion and he was at a loss for words after the realisation of his achievements over the campaign.

"It's pretty impossible to put into words," he said after the Interlagos race. "It's been such a long journey and I'm so speechless. After all the sacrifices we've made I am so thrilled to be able to do this for everyone.

"It was one of the toughest races of my life - if not the toughest."

And the Stevenage-born flyer admitted that he did not know the significance of passing Glock until after the race had finished.

"The team didn't say anything so I thought I was shot," he added. "I didn't know where Glock was and Vettel was the guy to beat and I couldn't catch him, so at that point I was going to finish sixth. My heart was in my mouth."