A TEARFUL Felipe Massa handled the glory of victory and the pain of defeat with equal dignity on Sunday when he won the Brazilian Grand Prix in thrilling style, but missed taking the driver's world title by a point.
The 27-year-old local hero drove with perfect judgment and great elan to thrill a crowd of more than 100,000 fans packed into the old Interlagos circuit by finishing first ahead of two times champion Fernando Alonso of Renault.
But Briton Lewis Hamilton of Mclaren, whose dramatic fifth place, recovered on the final lap with only three corners remaining, did just enough to take the drivers championship in one of the most exciting finishes to any race in F1 history.
Hamilton became the youngest champion and the sport's first black title-holder.
It was Massa's sixth win of the season, one more than the total of Hamilton, but not enough to turn his great improvement over the year into a season of total success.
He said: "You know the race was just perfect. We did everything fantastically with such difficult weather. I am so proud about that race, I am so proud about the team and I am so proud about the people around who support me more than ever, more than 100 per cent much more than I expected.
"That is really an emotional day for me. You always do everything perfect even with the temperature, but when we saw Lewis passing Glock again I had such really mixed emotions. But that is racing.
"The race finishes at the chequered flag. We finished in front and we have to be very proud of that. We missed one point, but that is racing. We need to be proud about our job, we need to be proud about our race and our championship.
"I know how to win and I know how to lose. It is another day of my life. I will learn a lot from this day but I am very emotional too."
He said he was more than satisfied that his Ferrari team had clinched the constructors' championship.
"Everything was perfect today (Sunday), but for me unfortunately it was not enough. I think we did a great championship, but we had some ups and downs and we paid for that.
"Everybody worked really hard to achieve our goals with the heart and sometimes thing don't happen in the way we want. That is racing, that is the sport, but we need to be happy with our constructors' championship, it is very important.
"And we need to congratulate Lewis as he did a great championship, he scored more points than us so he deserves to be champion. I know how to lose, I know how to win and it is another day of my life where I will learn a lot.
"I hope we come back here with the title (next year), but it is part of our experience and part of our life."AFP
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