Formula One champion Lewis Hamilton: I felt as though my heart was going to explode

He stood there beaming, and pleading speechlessness, which was probably not what a clamouring throng of TV reporters needed to hear. Hamilton's last-gasp fifth place secured less than half a lap from the end of the Brazilian Grand Prix, made him the youngest world champion in the 59-season history of the Formula One world championship.

"I don't think it has hit home yet," said Hamilton, edging ever close to his team's garage wall to avoid being consumed by the media scrum. "It was the most intense race of my life and my heart is still pumping. I'd like to thank McLaren for giving me a wonderful car and my family for being here to support me. I'm thankful to everyone who has given me this opportunity.

"Honestly, I felt as though my heart was about to explode in the closing stages of the race. I don't know how I kept my cool. I was fortunate on the last lap, but I've done it. It was such a tough race, the toughest of my life."

He blamed tyre problems for the lack of pace that made him easy prey for Sebastian Vettel shortly after both drivers had switched to wet tyres in the race's final moments. Vettel moved ahead on lap 69, knocking Hamilton back to sixth and giving Massa the advantage in the title race. On the final lap, though, Toyota driver Timo Glock – who had gambled on sticking with dry tyres – slowed in the increasing rain and Hamilton recovered the extra point he required.

"My tyres were beginning to grain," said Hamilton, "and it was all I could do to stay on the track. My heart was in my mouth, but then I had a chance to get past Glock. We came, we saw and we did what we needed to do."

McLaren team principal Ron Dennis denied there was any particular sinking feeling when Vettel passed his talisman. "This is a heroes-to-zeroes sport," he said. "This was a day when you just had to make the calls as the race evolved. We were fairly sure there was a lot of rain coming and in the end our strategy turned out to be right. Lewis is a very special talent. He's the youngest-ever world champion and he's done it so well."

Hamilton's father, Anthony, was, like his son, struggling to find the right words. "This is the culmination of 16 years of hard work," he said, "and we have to hope this is inspirational for other families and kids. We had no money when we started out but now we're here on top of the world. The reality is that it can be done."

Emotions were running high in another family, too. The Massa clan momentarily believed their man had done enough and were just starting to celebrate when the reality of the final half-lap dawned.

The race winner, Massa – who has been victorious in six grands prix this year, one more than Hamilton – crossed the line 13.2sec ahead of Fernando Alonso and then faced an interminable wait to learn how his rival had fared. He was in tears at the end and happy to admit as much.

"I don't cry a lot," Massa said, "but today it was difficult not to. Perhaps it's my age. I had really mixed emotions, racing at home here in front of the Brazilian people. We did everything absolutely right. We can be proud of our race and our championship campaign.

"Now I need to concentrate on celebrating this victory and then looking ahead to next year. It's another day in which I'll have learned a lot and yes, for sure, I'm very emotional."

This time last year Hamilton left Brazil having missed the title by one point. Massa, another worthy loser, now knows how that feels