It was the final race of the 2008 Formula 1The highest class of motor-racing. The cars can go as fast as 230mph. season. Brazil's Felipe Massa, racing on his home track, was on course to become world champion. The only man who could beat him, Lewis Hamilton, had had a disappointing day. But on the last corner of the last lap, Hamilton made a crucial overtake. At the age of 23, by a single point, he became the youngest world champion in the history of the sport.

There was a further significance to Hamilton's victory. He was - and still is - the only black driver to have competed at motor-racing's highest level.

He has gone on to break many other records. No other driver has achieved as many podiumA small platform on which a person stands to be seen by an audience, as when making a speech, receiving a prize, or conducting an orchestra. positions, or points in a season or pole positionsDrivers who record the highest speed in practice get to start the race from a position on the track ahead of everyone else.. His tallyTotal amount. In medieval times a stick marked with notches to record a financial transaction was called "a tally stick". of six world championships is then second-highest ever, as is his total of 90 first-place finishes. He is the most successful British driver in history, and many regard him as the sport's greatest driver of all time.

Hamilton was born in StevenageA town in Hertfordshire, 30 miles north of London. The England footballer Ashley Young also grew up there, and played in the same school team as Lewis Hamilton. in 1985 to a black father and white mother. At school, he suffered such bad bullying and racist abuse that when he was just five he learnt karate to defend himself. His passion for racing began the following year, when his father gave him a radio-controlled car and a go-kart. By 10 he was British junior go-karting champion. His father made great sacrifices to support him, sometimes taking three jobs at a time.

That year Lewis met Ron Dennis, head of the McLaren Formula 1 team, and told him, "One day I want to be racing your cars." Dennis wrote on a page in his autograph book, "Phone me in nine years, we'll sort something out then." In fact it was just three years before Dennis signed him as an apprentice driver.

In 2007 he made his Formula 1 debut - and finished third in his very first race. He then won the Canadian Grand PrixA French term meaning "Great Prize". It was originally applied to a horse race, the Grand Prix de Paris. There are around 20 Formula 1 races per season, each called the Grand Prix of the country or region it is held in.. "I remember looking down from the podium and seeing my dad, and the smile on his face from ear to ear," he says. "He was the proudest person. I felt like I'd finally done everything he'd hoped and expected of me."

Hamilton ended that first season as runner-up in the world championship. Now 35, he continues to dominate the sport: he has been world champion for the last three years, and is comfortably ahead in this season's standings.

There has been plenty of controversy along the way. Hamilton has been criticised for over-aggressive driving, and penalised for overtaking safety carsWhen there is an accident that obstructs the track, an ordinary car leads the way around it until the debris is cleared. Drivers have to remain in the same positions, and overtaking the safety car is forbidden.. He in turn has accused officials of coming down hard on him for racist reasons.

One of the most important figures in his life is his younger brother, who suffers from cerebral palsy. "He was told that he wouldn't walk, that he wouldn't be able to play drums, that he wouldn't be able to race a car-and he's done all those things. He's defied the odds, defied disability. I look at him and I'm so inspired."

Some say, no: brilliant driver though he is, Hamilton would not be a champion without the fantastic cars he has been given. The greatest sporting heroes, such as Venus and Serena Williams, owe their success to their own efforts rather than the equipment they are supplied with. Hamilton's achievements would be much more impressive if he had been driving for lesser teams than McLaren and Mercedes.

Others argue that motor-racing is a far more physically demanding than most people realise. Hamilton is super-fit as well as super-skilful, and he has won races against drivers with better cars. His record is outstanding, but for five years he finished no higher than fourth in the world championship - and the determination he showed in making a comeback proves that he is the very best.