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Brazilian Grand Prix – Race reactions

Felipe Massa:

"It was an exciting day. We did everything to perfection and we almost managed to pull it off. Then, as I crossed the line, Rob told me that Hamilton had finished fifth and therefore he took the title by one point. Sport is like this and one has to accept that. Congratulations to Lewis: whoever gets the most points deserves the title. I am very proud of the whole team and how much support they have given me during this fantastic season. Now we must be happy with what have done, namely bringing home the Constructors' title which I know is so important for the team. It was a season of highs and lows and we have learned a lot, from the good moments and from our mistakes. I can leave Interlagos with my head held high because once again I have won in front of my home crowd and because this is an unforgettable day. Now I want to celebrate with my family, my friends and my team. We deserve it!"

Fernando Alonso:

“I am very happy with this second place. The conditions were difficult but we were able to take advantage of them. We did our maximum, the team made the right decisions at the right times, and I managed to keep Raikkonen behind me until the finish. It's a fantastic result for the team and a great way to end the season.”

Kimi Raikkonen:

"I am happy that the team has managed to win the Constructors' title and I am sorry for Felipe, who has lost the title by a single point. That's racing and we have to live with it. I am particularly happy for Stefano, in his first year as team principal as I know how much pressure he has had to deal with and I think that this result is a good reward for that. My race was not particularly exciting. At the start the track was wet, especially the first three corners, where I was being very careful not to make a mistake. Then, my first set of dry tyres gave me a lot of understeer and I was struggling to match the pace of the leaders. On the second set, things gradually improved and I managed to close up on Alonso. Then, when we went onto wets, I got very close but the team told me to avoid taking any risks as Felipe had a chance of winning the title and so I gave up on attacking him. A not very positive season for me has come to an end, but I will do all I can to make up for it next year."

Sebastian Vettel:

"It was a difficult and chaotic race and it's great to end the season on a high with this fourth place. I didn't make any mistakes and I feel we deserved this result, even if I was hoping for a podium. It was great to be racing against Massa, Alonso and Hamilton. Great fun! Towards the end, I was concentrating on staying on the track and I didn't know where I was in terms of position and I just tried to pass Lewis like any other guy and I succeeded. I passed Timo just at the last corner, as he was struggling on dry tyres. Lewis was behind me at that moment, but as I wasn't sure where I was after the final pit stop for rain tyres, I was definitely not aware that I might be influencing the world championship. It was hard to know who was a backmarker or not and as it got darker and darker it was even difficult to know who the cars in front of you were. The important thing is that I scored five points. It's been a fantastic season."

Lewis Hamilton:

"The most dramatic race of my whole life. It's pretty much impossible to put this into words: I'm still speechless. It's been such a long journey, but I've always had the support of my family, the team, our partners and the fans. We did a fantastic job throughout the whole year and, with all the sacrifices we made, I'm so thrilled to be able to win this for everyone.

"Before it started to rain I was quite comfortable, and I was just focused on having a clean race. Then it started to drizzle and I didn't want to take any risks - but Sebastian got past me and I was t old that I had to get back in front of him. I couldn't believe it. Then at the very last corner I managed to get past Timo - it was just amazing. This was one of the toughest races of my life, if not the toughest. I was shouting, 'Do I have it? Do I have it?' on the radio. It was only when I took the chequered flag and got to turn one that the team told me I was world champion. I was ecstatic.”

Timo Glock:

"I was on dry tyres at the end of the race when it was raining quite badly and it was just impossible on the last lap. I was fighting as hard as I could but it was so difficult to just keep the car on the track and I lost positions right at the end of the lap. Finishing in the top six is a decent result for me because I'd been struggling with the car earlier in the weekend but we were very close to fourth place so I am a bit disappointed. It's the end of my first season with Toyota and I'm happy with it as a whole. It was not easy for me early on but we improved the car a lot and I also improved myself during the year. Since Hockenheim it's been positive for me; beating my target of 20 points and finishing on the podium as well is a good achievement. Now we have to work even harder for next year to make another step forward."

Heikki Kovalainen:

"The most important news today is that Lewis pulled it off; he did exactly what he had to do to win the championship. Everybody in the team deserves this title, particularly after what happened here one year ago, but the guys stayed focused throughout so congratulations to everyone. I'll now work even harder over the winter and hopefully next year's world champion will be on the other side of our garage!”

Jarno Trulli:

"It was an eventful race. We had a good start and the first laps were pretty good, when I was following Felipe Massa. It started to dry up and we went for dry tyres. Unfortunately I got stuck behind Fisichella who was much slower than me. I didn't have the top speed to overtake him so I lost a lot of time over those laps. As soon as I got away from him I was one of the quickest on the track, I was recovering quite a lot and closing the gap to the guys in front but it was not enough. When it rained we took the choice to stay on dry tyres and we got a point. Having started second we missed an opportunity but overall we have done a good championship and I am pretty happy with that. Now we are aiming to make even bigger progress for next year. Finally I would like to say that my five years working with Richard Cregan has been fantastic and I wish him all the best with his new career."

Mark Webber:

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Lewis Hamilton & Anthony Hamilton (GBR) Celebrate World Championship, Brazilian F1 Grand Prix, Interlagos, 30th October 2008-2nd, November, 2008
Giancarlo Fisichella, Ferrari, 2009 Brazilian Grand Prix, Interlagos [pic credit: Shell]
Lewis Hamilton - McLaren-Mercedes MP4/24   [pic credit: McLaren]
Lewis Hamilton - McLaren-Mercedes MP4/24   [pic credit: McLaren]
Lewis Hamilton - McLaren-Mercedes MP4/24   [pic credit: McLaren]
Lewis Hamilton - McLaren-Mercedes MP4/24   [pic credit: McLaren]
Lewis Hamilton - McLaren-Mercedes MP4/24   [pic credit: McLaren]
Lewis Hamilton - McLaren-Mercedes MP4/24   [pic credit: McLaren]
Sebastien Buemi, Scuderia Toro Rosso, 2009 Brazilian Grand Prix [pic cedit: Clive Mason/Getty Images]
Kamui Kobayashi. Toyota. Brazil 09. [Pic credit: Toyota]
Kamui Kobayashi. Toyota. Brazil 09. [Pic credit: Toyota]
Kamui Kobayashi.Toyota. Brazil 09. [Pic credit: Toyota]
Jarno Trulli. Toyota. Brazil 09. [Pic credit: Toyota]
Jarno Trulli. Toyota. Brazil 09. [Pic credit: Toyota]
Jarno Trulli. Toyota. Brazil 09. [Pic credit: Toyota]
Vitantonio Liuzzi. Force India. Brazil 09. [Pic credit: Force India]
Vitantonio Liuzzi. Force India. Brazil 09. [Pic credit: Force India]
Vitantonio Liuzzi. Force India. Brazil 09. [Pic credit: Force India]
Vitantonio Liuzzi. Force India. Brazil 09. [Pic credit: Force India]
Adrian Sutil. Force India. Brazil 09. [Pic credit: Force India]
Adrian Sutil. Force India. Brazil 09. [Pic credit: Force India]
Adrian Sutil. Force India. Brazil 09. [Pic credit: Force India]
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