It doesn’t get any closer than this. A photo-finish has nothing on the last-minute – make that last-second – end to yesterday’s Brazilian Grand Prix, the ultimate decider of the 2008 FIA Formula One World Championship. Even if you were watching it, chances are you might have missed it. It was that close.

Heading into this final round, the rival pair of young guns Felipe Massa (Ferrari) and Lewis Hamilton (McLaren) were the only two in contention for the drivers’ title. But Hamilton’s lead in points would mean that Massa would have to win the race with Hamilton coming in no better than sixth place. The win would put the two tied in points, but give Massa the crucial extra grand prix victory to just edge out Hamilton and claim the title. Any less and they’d have to start counting podiums. Saturday’s qualifying set the stage: Massa on pole, wildcard Trulli beside and team-mate Raikkonen behind him, with Hamilton stuck in fourth place on the grid. Les jeux sont faites; all bets were placed and the dealer spun the ball. And we wouldn’t know who had taken home the prize until the very end. Follow the jump to read how it turned out.

We could give you the play-by-play of each lap and how it turned out, but chances are if you wanted to see every corner unfold, you would have watched it yourself instead of reading about it here. So we’re going to skip ahead to the end and give you what you want.
Although the race had started in the rain, the skies quickly cleared up, leaving the drivers with a rapidly drying track and good visibility. But as the race wound to a close, reports of rain came in for the last few laps and the drivers began pitting for the third round to switch to rain tires. Of the cars at the head of the pack, only Toyota’s returning rookie Timo Glock gambled to stay on dry tires for the closing laps in the hope of holding on to his solid fourth place. Felipe Massa held his commanding lead for nearly the entire race distance (falling back only temporarily in the pits), all but locking up victory at his home race in front of thousands of cheering fellow Brazilians. Massa was doing all he could to win the race and take the title. Now it would depend on the position in which Hamilton finished.

The young McLaren driver came to Brazil in the same place he had been last season: heading into the final round seven points ahead in the championship. But would he repeat his mistakes and give the title to Ferrari? After starting the race in fourth, he dropped down the field to seventh, only to take fifth again and looking to seize the crown until rookie sensation Sebastien Vettel in the Ferrari-powered Toro Rosso managed to squeeze by him in the penultimate lap. If these positions would hold for less than just two laps, Vettel would be credited for giving Massa the title.

But then the unexpected happened. After Massa had crossed the finish line, Glock, Vettel and Hamilton came through the very last corner before the straight to the finish line. Glock, still on dry tires, apparently couldn’t hold on in the corner and both Vettel and Hamilton slipped by. Vettel moved up to fourth place, but most crucially, Hamilton was elevated to fifth. With a fifth place finish, Hamilton won an all-important extra point over Massa – just enough to claim the drivers’ title in one of the closest season-ending grands prix in motor racing history.

It was so close, in fact, that the cameras missed it. Massa’s family was already celebrating in the Ferrari garage. And the multitude of viewers around the world sat on the edge of their seats as even the broadcasters missed it. But Lewis Hamilton was crowned the youngest ever champion in Formula One history, edging out former team-mate Fernando Alonso, who looked down from the podium alongside a still jubilant Felipe Massa who was still happy to have won his home grand prix and done everything he could to take the title. Next to him were last year’s champion Kimi Raikkonen and their team principal Stefano Domenicali, who stepped up to accept the constructors’ trophy for the race in symbolic lieu of the constructors’ championship that the team secured with their double-podium finish. Maybe not the drivers’ title they hoped for, but as Ferrari president Luca di Montezemolo pointed out to us last week in Sicily, enough to propel the Scuderia into the history books for securing eight titles in the past ten years. With the titles split between Ferrari and McLaren, the heat is already on for next season.

2009 Brazilian Grand Prix

1 Felipe Massa Ferrari
2 Fernando Alonso Renault
3 Kimi Räikkönen Ferrari
4 Sebastian Vettel STR-Ferrari
5 Lewis Hamilton McLaren-Mercedes
6 Timo Glock Toyota
7 Heikki Kovalainen McLaren-Mercedes
8 Jarno Trulli Toyota
9 Mark Webber Red Bull-Renault
10 Nick Heidfeld BMW Sauber
11 Robert Kubica BMW Sauber
12 Nico Rosberg Williams-Toyota
13 Jenson Button Honda
14 Sebastien Bourdais STR-Ferrari
15 Rubens Barrichello Honda
16 Adrian Sutil Force India-Ferrari
17 Kazuki Nakajima Williams-Toyota
18 Giancarlo Fisichella Force India-Ferrari

Fastest lap: Massa, 1:13.376

Not classified/retirements:
Nelsinho Piquet Renault
David Coulthard Red Bull-Renault

World Championship standings
after 18 rounds

Drivers:
1. Hamilton 98
2. Massa 97
3. Raikkonen 75
4. Kubica 75
5. Alonso 61
6. Heidfeld 60
7. Kovalainen 53
8. Vettel 35
9. Trulli 31
10. Glock 25
11. Webber 21
12. Piquet 19
13. Rosberg 17
14. Barrichello 11
15. Nakajima 9
16. Coulthard 8
17. Bourdais 4
18. Button 3

Constructors:
1. Ferrari 172
2. McLaren-Mercedes 151
3. BMW Sauber 135
4. Renault 80
5. Toyota 56
6. Toro Rosso-Ferrari 39
7. Red Bull-Renault 29
8. Williams-Toyota 26
9. Honda 14

[Source:Autoblog]

While his priority is to launch the Ford Fiesta in North America in 2010, the CEO of Ford told Automotive News that the Europe-only Ford Ka microcar might also be available in the United States. Alan Mulally said that an array of subcompact and Focus-sized cars will follow the Fiesta, and then the redesigned Ka (itself smaller than the Fiesta) may find itself on our shores. Mulally reiterated Ford’s commitment to a small-car strategy, but admitted the company must find a way to achieve a decent profit margin on the inexpensive vehicles. The task is especially daunting when one considers the $8,000 to $10,000-plus margins the automaker banks on SUVs and big pickups.

[Source:Autoblog]

While the Chevy Camaro is technically the Official Vehicle of SEMA, the Dodge Challenger may upstage it with a parking lot full of custom iterations including a 560-hp convertible, speedster, 900-hp Super Challenger, official Targa and Blacktop concepts and, perhaps the most exciting, a Viper-powered variant.

The latest and perhaps last custom Challenger we’ll be showing you before SEMA starts on Tuesday is from Classic Design Concepts. Called the Group 2 Widebody Challenger, its claim to fame are extra wide fenders from and rear to accommodate 20×10-inch front and 20×11.5-inch three piece wheels wearing 275 and 315 series Pirelli tires. The Group 2 kit also includes a stainless mesh grille and aluminum hood with CDC’s cold air “shaker” system.

CDC will have two versions on hand in Las Vegas next week: a white R/T widebody and this car, a black SRT8 version. The latter features a Vortec supercharger good for 560 horsepower, Pypes Performance cat-back exhaust, KW adjustable coil-over suspension and Baer brakes with 15-inch rotors and 6-piston calipers at all four corners.

We’ll definitely bring your more pics of the CDC Group 2 Widebody Challenger and its white R/T brother, as well as all the other custom Challengers, from the show floor of the Las Vegas Convention Center starting Tuesday.

[Source:Autoblog]