Hospital porter Simon Beausire is the winner of this year’s Fantasy Formula One competition. (Picture by Tom Tardif, 0666025)

THE Fantasy Formula One competition was as close as the real thing.

In Sunday’s climax to the 2008 F1 Championship at Interlagos, Brazil, with rival Felipe Massa winning his home Grand Prix, Lewis Hamilton needed to finish in the top five to ensure he was crowned the youngest ever world champion.

The 23-year-old British driver left it to the penultimate corner of the race before overtaking Timo Glock to grab fifth place and the title by just one point from Massa.

The word close does not do it justice. And the Guernsey Press Fantasy F1 competition was just as tight, as the tiebreaker was needed to decide the champion.

Both Martyn Lowe and Simon Beausire finished on 694 points but it was 36-year-old hospital porter Beausire who grabbed the honours and the £100-worth of petrol vouchers courtesy of the Co-Op when his guess of the victor’s final points tally of 792 was nearer than Lowe’s estimate of 1,122. ‘It’s the first thing that I’ve ever won,’ said Beausire.