He had to be fifth. The car that overtook him put him in sixth. That meant that the winning driver, Masa, had beaten him to the overall Championship. And you could see the joy in Masa's face, even behind the visor; and the Ferrari team which was celebrating with him.
Masa was, technically, in the championship position, and he'd won the race! How could victory possibly be snatched away from him?
It was. Half a minute behind, or more, the driver who had been number two, suddenly lost control of his car in the increasingly wet conditions, and got overtaken. He went down to sixth; and Hamilton went from sixth to fifth.
So we had the astonishing situation of both teams, McLaren and Ferrari, simultaneously celebrating the winning of the Formula 1 Championship.
And then, as the news of the overtaking manoeuvre sank in, dismay spread around the red uniforms and overalls of the Ferrari pits, like a spilled champagne glass spreading over the table.
Disbelief
dismay
distress
And they'd just won! How hard can it be to win...!
