SAO PAULO, Brazil — Lewis Hamilton became Formula One’s youngest champion Sunday, making a last-lap pass to finish fifth in the Brazilian Grand Prix and win the title by one point over Felipe Massa.
Massa won the race in front of his home crowd, but it wasn’t enough to erase the seven-point lead Hamilton held entering the season-ending race.
Just one year after Hamilton lost the title by one point after entering the final race with a seven-point lead, the 23-year-old Briton passed Toyota’s Timo Glock on the last lap to win the championship.
Fernando Alonso was 24 when he won the F1 title in 2005.
• Cruz Pedregon moved into first place in the funny car series standings after winning the ACDelco Las Vegas NHRA Nationals.
Tony Schumacher won the top fuel title, while Jeg Couglin (pro stock) and Chris Rivas (pro stock motorcycle) won their respective divisions.
Radcliffe rules in New York
NEW YORK — Paula Radcliffe defended her title at the New York City Marathon to become the second woman to win the race three times.
Radcliffe, the world record holder from Great Britain, pulled away from Ludmila Petrova in the 22nd mile to win comfortably.
Marilson Gomes dos Santos of Brazil won the men’s race for the second time in three years, passing Abderrahim Goumri of Morocco with about a mile to go.
A 58-year-old Brazilian runner died several hours after he crossed the finish line and complained to race officials he felt ill.
Tsonga doubles his pleasure
PARIS — Jo-Wilfried Tsonga produced a stunning display of serving and shotmaking in a 6-3, 4-6, 6-4 victory over David Nalbandian in the Paris Masters final.
The 23-year-old Tsonga’s second career title gave him the eighth and final spot in the ATP race and a spot in the season-ending Masters Cup in Shanghai next week.
• Nadia Petrova defeated Bethanie Mattek 4-6, 6-4, 6-1 to win the Bell Challenge in Quebec City.
Footnotes.
American ice dancers Meryl Davis and Charlie White won gold at Skate Canada in Ottawa, cementing their victory with a first-place finish in the free dance.
• Britain took three more gold medals on the final day of a World Cup cycling meet in London, completing a dominating performance in which it won 14 of 17 golds in the first track event since the Olympics.
• Ericsson 4 won the first leg of the grueling round-the-world Volvo Ocean Race, sailing into Cape Town’s harbor on a light early- morning breeze 12 hours ahead of its nearest rival after a gale-lashed trip from Spain to South Africa.
• Ruben Amaro Jr. will replace Pat Gillick as general manager of the World Series champion Philadelphia Phillies. Gillick said last year this would be his final season.
The Associated Press
