Sao Paulo, Brazil (My Sportsbook) - Felipe Massa did everything in his power to claim the Formula One World Championship by winning Sunday's season-ending Brazilian Grand Prix, but with a twist of luck and the slightest bit of margin, McLaren's Lewis Hamilton earned the 2008 Formula One World Championship with a fifth-place finish at Autodromo Jose Carlos Pace at Interlagos.

Hamilton was on the verge of losing the title to Massa as he was running sixth on the final lap, but the McLaren driver passed Toyota's Timo Glock and grabbed the coveted fifth spot as he entered the last corner.

Hamilton, 23, becomes the youngest driver to win a World Championship in F1 history and the first Briton to take the title since Damon Hill in 1996. He also becomes the 30th different driver to win a title on the racing circuit. Hamilton ended the season with 98 points, one better than Massa (97).

Massa recorded his sixth victory of the season, the most of any driver this season, and the 11th of his F1 career.

"The race was just perfect," Massa said," We did everything fantastic through this difficult weather right at the beginning and then the rain at the end. I'm so proud about the race, our team and the people around me that supported me much more than I expected. It's an emotional day for me."

Massa's victory gave Ferrari the constructors' title for a record 16th time.

As rain fell on Interlagos, the start of the race was delayed 10 minutes to allow teams to change to intermediate tires. Parts of the track were wet, while most of it remained relatively dry.

Massa led the field and immediately pulled away, while Hamilton was noticeably cautious in his start as he remained fourth on the opening lap. However, Nelson Piquet, Jr., David Coulthard, Kazuki Nakajima and Nico Rosberg were all involved on a first-lap incident. Rosberg and Coulthard made contact, triggering the accident. Piquet and Coulthard suffered heavy damage to their cars and retired early.

Coulthard ended his 15-year F1 career with 13 wins and 62 podiums in 246 grand prix starts. He began his career with Williams in 1993, but Rosberg, who is now with the team, finished Coulthard's career on a disappointing note.

"I began my career with Williams, and I ended my career because of Williams. Nico touched me into turn two, spun me around and Nakajima finished me off," Coulthard said.

The safety car came out as a result of the incident and paced the field for two laps. When racing resumed, Massa continued his early dominance as he quickly built a one-second lead over second-place Jarno Trulli by the fifth lap.

Teams began pitting on the eighth lap for dry tires, as Sebastien Bourdais was the first driver to come in for a set of four tires. Two laps later, Massa handed the lead over to Trulli as he came in for a set of dry tires.

Trulli, Kimi Raikkonen and Hamilton all pitted on Lap 11.

Massa was back in front on Lap 14 as he set a new fastest lap and pulled a 1.5-second lead over Sebastian Vettel in second place. Hamilton, meanwhile, had slipped in the field to sixth as he was stuck behind Giancarlo Fisichella. Hamilton got around Fisichella and grabbed the fifth spot on Lap 18.

While Fernando Alonso moved up to the second spot and trailed Massa by four second, Hamilton had climbed up to the fourth position when Vettel pitted for the second time on Lap 27.

Massa held a seven-second lead over Alonso when he made his second pit stop on Lap 38. Alonso captured the top spot, but came in two laps later for his stop. Hamilton also pitted at the same time as Alonso.

Hamilton was running back in sixth on Lap 42, and when his McLaren teammate Heikki Kovalainen came in for stop on the next lap, Hamilton was up to fifth.

Massa re-inherited the lead when his Ferrari teammate Raikkonen came in for his stop on Lap 44. Massa held a four-second advantage over Vettel.

On Lap 53, Vettel pitted from second position, allowing Hamilton to move up to the fourth spot. Vettel rejoined the field in fifth and was in pursuit of Hamilton.

Massa continued to enjoy his dominance in the race as he held a 10-second lead over second-place Alonso on Lap 58, but Hamilton was in danger of losing the fourth position to Vettel.

With less than 10 laps remaining, rain began falling on track again as Massa's advantage increased to 13 seconds over Alonso.

Hamilton, Alonso, Raikkonen and Vettel all pitted for wet tires on Lap 67, while Massa came in the following lap for the same pit strategy. Glock gambled as his Toyota team opted not to pit for new tires.

Hamilton remained fifth after his stop, but Vettel passed him for the position on Lap 69, putting Hamilton out of the championship picture with just two laps to go.

With the title at stake heading into the final lap, Hamilton needed to advance one position to seal the deal, and he did it as Glock began to slow down on his old tires and fell from fourth to sixth on the pit straight.

As Massa cruised to a 13.3-second margin over second-place Alonso, Hamilton claimed the fifth spot and was assured of his first F1 title.

Raikkonen came in third, while Vettel was fourth. Glock ended up finishing sixth.

The first race of the 2009 Formula One schedule is the Australian Grand Prix, set for March 29th in Melbourne, Australia.