SAO PAULO: England expects Lewis Hamilton to become Formula One's youngest world champion in Brazil on Sunday at the same circuit where last year he buckled under pressure and blew his chance. Brazil hopes Ferrari's Felipe Massa can somehow upset the odds and, with his home Interlagos crowd roaring him on, be crowned the country's first champion since the late Ayrton Senna in 1991. After last year's astonishing finale, with Ferrari's Kimi Raikkonen clawing back a seven-point deficit to prevent Hamilton becoming the first rookie to take the title, anything could happen. The only certainty is there will be a first-time champion. Hamilton, 23, is back with another seven-point advantage while Massa must win and hope the hand of fate favours him. All the McLaren driver has to do, to become Britain's first champion since Damon Hill in 1996 and his team's first since Mika Hakkinen in 1999, is finish fifth. That proved beyond him at Interlagos last year, despite starting alongside Massa on the front row, when he struggled to seventh place. This time Formula One's first black driver is determined to make amends and show he has learned from the past by playing it safe. "I remember last year, going into the final race, I was really on the back foot," he told Britain's Observer newspaper. "I felt the whole country, the whole world ... I just felt this huge weight on my shoulders. I went in and made several mistakes and we dropped back. This year, because I've experienced it, I'm much better prepared."
Sunday, February 28, 2010 HAVANA: Hundreds of wealthy merchants and cigar aficionados from all parts of the world gathered in Havana this week to bid high stakes for humidors full of premium cigars. Cuba's annual Habanos festival ended on Friday night with an auction of ornate humidors of cedar and mahogany stacked with hand-rolled stogies that raised 800,000 euros ($1.09 million dollars). Habanos S.A. executives this month said cigar sales fell 8 percent to $360 million in 2009, so they have created the Julieta, a smaller, milder version of the Romeo y Julieta cigar, aimed specifically at female smokers. Women now make up only 5 to 10 percent of customers for Habanos. But even with the creation of the Julieta, Garcia said Habanos has only modest hopes for 2010 sales, due largely to a weak economy in Spain, the biggest market for Cuban cigars. The flavor of premium tobacco relies on the soil and climate in which it is grown. The western province of Pinar Del Rio, famous fo...
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