I couldn't watch, admits father as Lewis Hamilton family celebrate

If the nation's nerves were collectively shredded by Lewis Hamilton's last gasp dash to the Formula One world championship, then imagine the sheer agony suffered by his family.

"They were absolutely the worst few minutes of my life," declared his father Anthony Hamilton, 49, who could not bear to watch the closing laps of yesterday's decisive Brazilian Grand Prix in Sao Paulo.

And so it was that Anthony missed one of the greatest sporting moments in history. As his 23-year-old son overtook the German driver Timo Glock to snatch fifth place in the Grand Prix and the world championship by just one point, Anthony was pacing up and down at the Interlagos circuit, unable to look.

It was a victory that owed itself in no small part to Anthony's dedication in nurturing his son's talent a journey which has taken Hamilton from a Stevenage council estate to a racing career that could see his earnings top $1billion in his lifetime.

But Anthony was sure his son had blown it. "To be honest, I thought it was over. I thought it was gone," he said, "But I believed in God, I believed that right would come through. This is the culmination of 16 years of hard work. And I'd like to hope this is inspirational for other families and other kids.

"When we started out we had no money, we were nowhere, we were nothing. But here we are now, on top of the world, and the reality is it can be done through hard work, dedication, respect to your family, respect to all people."

Anthony, the son of immigrants who came to the UK from the Caribbean island of Grenada, at one stage held down three jobs to pay for his son's racing until Ron Dennis, head of the McLaren team, offered to sponsor the boy. He and his first wife Carmen split up when Hamilton was just two and at the age of 15 when his mother moved to London Hamilton moved in with his father, stepmother Linda and stepbrother Nicholas, now 16, who suffers from cerebral palsy.

They were all at trackside, hugging Hamilton even tighter than his margin of victory. Nicholas, who Lewis hails as his "inspiration", admitted: "Towards the end of the race I was more nervous that Lewis was. As the rain came down I was scared because I'm a big pessimist and I just wanted things to go well.

"But Lewis really deserved this. And it's only just the beginning. It's the first of many championships."

Lewis said he drew on his brother's condition as strength for his final push to the line, saying: "I often try to imagine myself in Nic's position. I do not think I would be anywhere near as strong as him. There's just so much to admire in him. So, whatever I am doing, I say to myself 'If you think it is hard to do this then think again'."

And of yesterday's performance, he added: "It was the race of my life. It's the realisation of a dream."

He was so close to seeing that dream slip from his fingers, lying in sixth place with just a corner to go.

Instead he can now expect to out-earn even David Beckham, while he already has his own pop star partner to boot. His girlfriend Nicole Scherzinger, lead singer of the pop group Pussycat Dolls, danced with delight in the pit lane as she declared: "This feels so good and we're so grateful. I'm so proud of Lewis. God was definitely on his side."

Lewis's triumph drew praise from Prime Minister Gordon Brown, who said: "The whole of Britain are proud of the inspirational Lewis Hamilton and the McLaren team."