Fernando Alonso, who finished third, doesn’t look a happy man carrying his trophy. (AFP)

Sao Paulo: McLaren’s Lewis Hamilton said on Monday he wanted to win the Formula One title on the racetrack, not weeks later on appeal.

“It would be wrong,” said the 22-year-old Briton, still suffering the effects of a heavy night out after letting the title slip from his grasp by one point in Sunday’s season-ending race in Brazil.

“For me, I want to win it on the track,” he told reporters in his hotel room. “You want to do it in style, you want to win the race, you want to win battling it out for the lead or something in the race.

“Being promoted after some people have been thrown out is not the way I want to do it.”

The rookie, Formula One’s first black driver and the title favourite before Sunday’s race, lost out to Ferrari’s Kimi Raikkonen after finishing seventh at Interlagos.

Raikkonen won the race but the Finn’s first title was overshadowed by a stewards’ enquiry into the three cars that finished ahead of Hamilton.

McLaren have said they will appeal against the stewards’ subsequent decision not to penalise Williams’ Nico Rosberg and BMW Sauber’s Nick Heidfeld and Robert Kubica for fuel temperature irregularities.

The aim would be to lift Hamilton above them in the classification, securing the points he needs to become champion instead.

The Briton said he would feel uncomfortable with that. “It would feel weird after Kimi did such a fantastic job in the last two races,” he said.

“He won yesterday (Sunday) and to have it taken away would be a bit cruel and probably not good for the sport.

“Last night was good and Ron (Dennis) did a speech and we had a great evening and sort of rounded up the whole year,” he said.

“Late in the evening I felt it (the defeat) more for sure, it’s tough on everyone but there’s always another year.... I’m only 22, there’s going to be plenty more opportunities for me to win the world championship and I have no doubt that we can do that in the future.”

(Reuters)

kimi Factbox

Finland’s Kimi Räikkönen won the Formula One drivers’ world championship with Ferrari in Brazil on Sunday. The following is a look at his career:

Born — Oct. 17, 1979, Espoo, Finland.
F1 Debut — 2001, Australian GP with Sauber (finished 10th).
Teams — Sauber (2001), McLaren (2002-06), Ferrari (2007-present).
Grands Prix — 122 n Victories — 15 n Pole positions — 14 n Podium finishes — 48 n 2007 season points — 110.

Career Highlights

1990: Began go-karting aged 11 and entered the British Formula Renault series in 1999. He was champion the following year with seven wins from 10 races.
2000: Sauber signed him up as a Formula One driver at the end of 2000, despite his lack of experience. FIA president Max Mosley was one of the doubters, only reluctantly handing him a super licence after Sauber pleaded his case.
2001: Debuts with Sauber, winning nine points to finish 10th in the drivers’ championship.
2002: Joins McLaren and takes three third-places finishes and a second.
2003: Wins for the first time, in Malaysia, and reaches a total of 10 podiums, becoming Michael Schumacher’s closest challenger by finishing two points behind in the drivers’ championship.
2004: Takes pole position at Silverstone and defeats Schumacher to win the Belgian Grand Prix.
2005: Five poles, seven wins, five podiums, but finishes second in the championship because of reliability issues.
2006: Fails to win a race in his final season for McLaren, but scores in every race he finishes to finish fifth in the standings. Signs a deal to move to Ferrari.
2007: Wins six races with Ferrari and reaches the podium seven times to clinch his first F1 title. Overcame a 7-point deficit at the deciding Brazilian Grand Prix to surpass McLaren drivers Lewis Hamilton and Fernando Alonso.

(AGENCIES)

FINAL STANDINGS

Drivers: 1. Kimi Raikkonen (Ferrari) 110 points; 2. Lewis Hamilton (McLaren) 109; 3. Fernando Alonso (McLaren) 109; 4. Felipe Massa (Ferrari) 94; 5. Nick Heidfeld (BMW Sauber) 61; 6. Robert Kubica (BMW Sauber) 39; 7. Heikki Kovalainen (Renault) 30; 8. Giancarlo Fisichella (Renault) 21; 9. Nico Rosberg (Williams) 20; 10. David Coulthard (Red Bull) 14; 11. Alexander Wurz (Williams) 13; 12. Mark Webber (Red Bull) 10; 13. Jarno Trulli (Toyota) 8; 14. Sebastian Vettel (Toro Rosso) 6; 15. Jenson Button (Honda) 6; 16. Ralf Schumacher (Toyota) 5; 17. Takuma Sato (Super Aguri) 4; 18. Vitantonio Liuzzi (Toro Rosso) 3; 19. Adrian Sutil (Spyker) 1; 20. Rubens Barrichello (Honda) 0; 21. Scott Speed (Toro Rosso) 0; 22. Kazuki Nakajima (Williams) 0; 23. Anthony Davidson (Super Aguri) 0; 24. Sakon Yamamoto (Spyker) 0; 25. Christijan Albers 0.

Constructors: 1. Ferrari 204 points; 2. BMW Sauber 101; 3. Renault 51; 4. Williams - Toyota 33; 5. RedBull-Renault 24; 6. Toyota 13; 7. Toro Rosso-Ferrari 8; 8. Honda 6; 9. Super Aguri-Honda 4; 10. Spyker-Ferrari 1.

BRAZILIAN GP RESULTS

1. Kimi Raikkonen (Ferrari) 1 hr 28 min 15.270 sec; 2. Felipe Massa (Ferrari) +00:01.493 sec; 3. Fernando Alonso (McLaren) 00:57.019; 4. Nico Rosberg (Williams-Toyota) 01:02.848; 5. Robert Kubica (BMW Sauber) 01:10.957; 6. Nick Heidfeld (BMW Sauber) 01:11.317; 7. Lewis Hamilton (McLaren) 1 lap; 8. Jarno Trulli (Toyota) 1 lap; 9. David Coulthard (RedBull – Renault) 1 lap; 10. Kazuki Nakajima (Williams-Toyota) 1 lap; 11. Ralf Schumacher (Toyota) 1 lap; 12. Takuma Sato (Super Aguri-Honda) 2 laps; 13. Vitantonio Liuzzi (Toro Rosso-Ferrari) 2 laps; 14. Anthony Davidson (Super Aguri-Honda) 3 laps; r. Adrian Sutil (Spyker- Ferrari) 28 laps; r. Rubens Barrichello (Honda) 31 laps; r. Heikki Kovalainen ( Renault) 36 laps; r. Sebastian Vettel (Toro Rosso-Ferrari) 37 laps; r. Jenson Button (Honda) 51 laps; r. Mark Webber (RedBull–Renault) 57 laps; r. Sakon Yamamoto (Spyker-Ferrari) 69 laps; r. Giancarlo Fisichella (Renault) 69 laps.