Early stoppers and wet weather specialists Vettel and Alonso had vaulted up to second and third, and would impressively push Massa until their next stops, while Force India's Giancarlo Fisichella had been the first to gamble on dry tires and emerged in fifth - between Raikkonen and Trulli, who swapped places in the pits. Hamilton soon passed Trulli when the Italian made an error at the Senna S, but it was not only lap 17 that he was able to overtake Fisichella at the same place and move back into the crucial fifth position.
He then gained another place when Vettel made an early second stop on lap 27 and fell from second to sixth. Although the Toro Rosso briefly reappeared second when others made their final stops, Vettel's own third pit visit dropped him back to fifth behind Hamilton again by the end. Massa managed to pull out a comfortable gap over Alonso prior to his second stop, with Raikkonen steadily closing on the Renault and Hamilton driving cautiously in fourth.
But then the rain returned with just seven laps remaining, prompting everyone to pit bar the Toyotas, with Glock rising to fourth, ahead of Hamilton and Vettel. Hamilton still looked set to cling on and take the title, until he ran wide at the final corner when Robert Kubica dived through to unlap himself with just three laps to go. That let Vettel through as well, and suddenly it appeared that the title had slipped away from Hamilton again.
And yet within sight of the flag his luck changed once more, with Glock losing 17 seconds on the last lap as the rain increased, allowing the McLaren to sweep through and back into fifth place. The Ferrari team had already started celebrating a potential Massa title, but the mood abruptly changed as it became clear that Hamilton had snatched the crown after all.
"It's pretty much impossible to put into words, I am still speechless," Hamilton said after the race. "Before it started to rain I was quite comfortable. My tires were a little bit shot so I was struggling to keep the pace up, but I was able to stay ahead of them and that
was all.
"Then it started to drizzle and I didn't want to take any risks. Then Vettel got past me and I was told that I had to get in front of him, and I couldn't believe it. Then at the last corner I managed to get past Glock and I'm telling you it was just amazing. I can only thank God. Just before I got to him they said you have to get past Glock, so I was trying my hardest to get to Vettel but he was just as quick as me, if not a little bit quicker. It was one of the toughest races of my life, if not the toughest. It's been a dream."
Massa meanwhile was proud of winning on home soil for the second time: "I think you know the race was just perfect. We did everything fantastically with such a difficult weather. I am so proud about that race I am so proud about the team. I am so proud about the people around who support me more than ever, more than 100 percent, much more than I expected.
"That is really an emotional day for me. You always do everything perfect even with the temperature but we saw Lewis passing Glock again and that is really mixed a lot of emotions, but that is racing. The race finishes at the checkered 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."
BRAZILIAN GRAND PRIX RESULTS
SPEED F1 Host Bob Varsha will join Dave Despain on Wind Tunnel Sunday night at 10 p.m. ET to recap the season finale from Brazil.
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