Sao Paulo - Brazilians were still trying to digest Monday the hard blow they took a day earlier, when they saw the Formula One world championship - which they have not celebrated since Ayrton Senna's triumph in 1991 - slip away from their hands within seconds.

For less than one minute - during the last lap of the Brazilian Grand Prix at the Interlagos circuit in Sao Paulo - the legion of Brazilian fans of motorsport revived the joy of celebrating an F1 title.

Felipe Massa of Ferrari was the hero, following in the tracks of the late Senna, three times world champion champion.

According to commentator Fabio Seixas, of the daily Folha de Sao Paulo, the title that British driver Lewis Hamilton obtained in the last lap of the last race in the year generated a disappointment in Brazil that is only comparable to the loss of the 1950 World Cup at the Maracana stadium.

"On November 2, 2008, Brazilian motorsport lived through the 'Interlagazo'," Seixas said.

He was making a reference to the painful "Maracanazo," as the Brazilian defeat at the hands of Uruguay in the Rio de Janeiro stadium in the 1950 World Cup final came to be known.

The disappointment was unanimous Monday in Brazilian media.

"Is God English?" the daily O Globo asked, perplexed, as it commented on Hamilton's recovery.

The British driver managed to reconquer 500 metres before the finish line the fifth place that turned him into the youngest-ever Formula 1 world champion at the age of 23 years and 300 days.

"Even Alfred Hitchcock, the great master of suspense, would not have been able to imagine such an exciting end as the one we had at Interlagos, in which the world championship title changed hands twice in close to 50 seconds," O Globo commentator Celso Itibere said, as he commented on the historic race.

According to the analyst, Hamilton made a "zero-risk" race and paid "less attention to the Ferrari cars and more to the engine and the gearbox of the McLaren." In so doing, he secured a world- championship title that will make him "an even harder rival to beat."

The daily O Estado de Sao Paulo, in turn, underlined the Briton's "incredible title" Monday, after what it termed "the most exciting finish in the history of Formula One."

Commentator Luis Fernando Ramos, of the Brazilian sports daily Lance, said Massa was "the hero in a tragic epic" on the Interlagos circuit.

However, not everything was negative. The disappointment also left a glimmer of hope among Brazilians, who aspire to relive with Massa the joy that they experienced with their F1 champions Emerson Fittipaldi, Nelson Piquet and Senna.

"Hamilton conquered the title... with a car that did not break once. But it is Massa - small in height, gigantic in character - who comes out of Interlagos as a winner," said Folha de Sao Paulo.

"Against all forecasts, he had an extremely strong season and lost the title due to problems outside his control. And he convinced everyone that it is a matter of time for him to be crowned champion, and that he will not need any miracles to do it," the daily stressed. (dpa)