Felipe Massa has won the Brazilian Formula One Grand Prix with team mate Michael Schumacher finishing fourth in his last race.

Fernando Alonso joined a list of legends in becoming only the eighth driver in Formula One history to win successive titles.

Alonso drove a steady, flawless Brazilian Grand Prix, finishing second at the end of an enthralling 71 laps at Interlagos where Michael Schumacher headed into retirement, but only after a heroic display worthy of his status.

A left-rear puncture was hardly a fitting way for Schumacher to end his glorious 16-year career at the pinnacle of motorsport.

But that is effectively what cost him a shot at victory in the 249th – and last – grands prix for the seven-times champion.

After the engine in his Ferrari let him down for the first time in six years in the last race in Japan, Schumacher had consistently played down his chances of an eighth championship going into this race.

His focus, he maintained, was on helping the team overhaul Renault in the constructors’ championship due to them holding a nine-point lead beforehand.

But when Schumacher suffered a fuel pressure failure at the start of ’Super Pole’ qualifying yesterday, leaving him 10th on the grid and with a mountain to climb, his title chances were severely damaged.

IOL