Heartbreak for rookie Hamilton

Just eight laps gone and his seven-point lead over Kimi Raikkonen was being whittled away. The hard-drinking Finn went on to win by a single point, a cue to the bartenders of Sao Paulo to stock up on vodka.

A remarkable turnaround for Raikkonen, who was 17 points behind going into the final two races of this incredible, topsy-turvy season, but a crying shame for Hamilton, who missed out on the fairytale end to a uniquely successful rookie season.

Alonso, the Briton's closest rival before yesterday's Brazilian Grand Prix, came third on the day and in the final standings, level on points with Hamilton but losing out on countback.

It was drama from the off. Starting next to pole starter Massa, Hamilton saw Raikkonen sneak through at the first corner. No problems with that for the moment.

Then Alonso squeezed through, with Hamilton hemmed in by Raikkonen at Turn 3. Still no worries, just let him go. Fourth to Alonso's third would be good enough.

But with a rush of blood to the head, Hamilton chose to fight back against his bitterest rival, only to lock his wheels at the next corner and slide off the tarmac. He plunged down to eighth.

How did the figures add up? Who would take the crown as it stood? Not for the last time on a tumultuous afternoon, Hamilton was making an Archimedes of us all.

He kept on pushing, first past Jarno Trulli and then Nick Heidfeld to take sixth place before calamity struck. He suddenly lost all pace, his dream chugging to the cruellest of slow deaths.

The midfield and then backmarkers piled past with his space age machine suddenly as impotent as a milk float.

But somehow, after a few seconds of panic, and as if by miracle, his McLaren was revving up to full speed and ostensibly back in the race, albeit in 18th place.

Meanwhile, the Ferraris of Massa and Raikkonen were untroubled at the head of the field. Now the 70,000 crowd would see Hamilton under pressure.

Twelve months before Michael Schumacher, the most decorated racer of them all, bade farewell to the sport with a virtuoso performance here from the back of the field to finish fourth. If Hamilton could emulate him, it would be more than enough to seize the throne.

"I never gave up until I saw the chequered flag," said Hamilton. "They told me on the radio that I could do it and I believed it."

By lap 20 he was tearing through the also-rans, up to 11th by lap 20 and 10th by his first pit-stop. By lap 37 and his second refuel after a short, low-fuel stint on soft tyres, he was lying ninth.

The Ferraris were pulling away, out of sight of Alonso and in a different contest from Hamilton. With second no good for Raikkonen, the Italian team needed to shuffle their pack for the second successive race.

It happened at their second stops, Massa first in, followed by the Finn, who emerged ahead and on his way to the top of the world.

With 12 laps to go, Hamilton produced a fastest lap, but he was back in eighth and needed to finish fifth. Time was running out. Fast.

There were barely any straws to clutch at in the McLaren camp or among the sons of Ayrton Senna's city, who had come to see Hamilton shoot his silver arrow into history. The crowd hollered and sang but their prayers went unanswered.

The final hope, size-zero slim, was that both Raikkonen and Alonso might suffer a burst tyre or blown engine.

No such luck. Hamilton came home seventh edged second in the championship by virtue of his five runners-up placings to Alonso's four.

The mind went back to McLaren's error in China two weeks before, when they kept Hamilton out too long on degraded tyres to the point where his car was skidding as if on ice. He put it in the gravel. That, in truth, is where the title was thrown away.

There will be some soul-searching at the team's Woking HQ this week. Principal Ron Dennis says they exist to win championships and, judged by his own criteria, they have fallen short unnecessarily.

But for Hamilton there is no need for self-recrimination. We should remind ourselves that only last year he was still tearing around the B-roads of the feeder series, GP2.

His father Anthony said: "We've got 15 years in this business. There is no rush. It will make us stronger for the future.

"Lewis has come through so much this season. He's won races and taken poles. Disappointment is not in my vocabulary today."

Hamilton has only competed in 17 grands prix in his life. He has won four, climbed the podium 12 times and scored points in all but two. Not bad for a new boy.

Sad end, undoubtedly, but what a joyride it has been. Hamilton's time will come, you suspect, again and again.