Oct.22 (GMM) Sunday's three-way championship finale was a TV ratings hit.

British favourite Lewis Hamilton did not win the title, but 10.4 million of his compatriots tuned in to ITV's coverage; 49.8 per cent of all viewers at the time on Sunday.

Also not victorious was Hamilton's teammate Fernando Alonso, but it was the second most watched grand prix in the history of Spanish coverage.

61.4 per cent of the viewing public were watching Telecinco and TV3's joint coverage, incredibly representing at its peak more than a quarter of the country's population of 40m.

The race fell 228,000 spectators short of the finale last year, however, when Fernando Alonso defeated Michael Schumacher for his second consecutive title.

In Germany, RTL and Premiere's Interlagos coverage attracted 11.13 million viewers, representing 39.8 per cent of those watching television. An extra 1.8 million Germans tuned in to watch Kimi Raikkonen cross the finish line after 70 laps.

This is less than a million viewers fewer than the audience for Michael Schumacher's final race in Brazil a year ago.