MILAN - Italian media paid gracious tributes to McLaren's new world champion Lewis Hamilton on Monday after the Briton beat Ferrari's Felipe Massa to the title on the final bend at the Brazilian Grand Prix.
Massa won his home race on Sunday and for a moment looked to have snatched the title before Hamilton overtook Toyota's Timo Glock to seize the fifth place he needed to become Formula One's youngest champion at the age of 23.
Italian television did not realise Massa had been denied the title for almost a minute.
Italy's main sports daily, Gazzetta dello Sport, was unsure how to react after Italian team Ferrari wrapped up the constructors' title.
"Honour to Ferrari. Felipe Massa did not deserve to lose like that, with a cruelty that a wizard in a thriller could not even have imagined," read the front page.
However, the paper praised Hamilton inside and absolved German Glock given that his Toyota slowed down considerably because he was on dry tyres in the wet.
"He stole nothing and Glock gave him nothing. We honour his skill," it said.
Reports said Glock had been insulted by Brazilian fans at the end but he protested his innocence amid accusations he had done Hamilton a favour.
"What? Are you taking the Mickey? I had dry tyres, what could I do?" he was quoted as saying.
"When it started to rain it was always difficult to find the right line with dry tyres. At the end the track was totally wet. For five laps we asked if it was better to come in but I stayed out."
Italian daily Corriere della Sera also put aside its love of Ferrari to congratulate the sport's first black champion, who won the title by one point just as he lost by a single point to Ferrari's Kimi Raikkonen last season.
"We bow to Lewis Hamilton, who deservedly won the first title of his career. Other world championships will follow for this 23-year-old blessed with talent," read its main story.
Corriere, which said it was wrong to blame Glock, also called on Ferrari to sign Renault's former double world champion Fernando Alonso to replace the struggling Raikkonen.
