Hamilton crowned king of F1 – but is he one of the true greats?

Lewis Hamilton was crowned F1 world champion for the third time after winning an eventful US Grand Prix and now joins an elite band of ten men who have won three or more world titles.

He secured the crown after team-mate Nico Rosberg's error in the closing stages gave him the race victory and Sebastian Vettel's third-placed finish meant he could no longer catch the Mercedes driver.

Hamilton has now equalled Jackie Stewart's haul of three titles and has become the first Briton to win back to back championships. But despite a season of dominance on the track the jury is still out on whether he can be considered one of the sport's greats.

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Mercedes have given Hamilton a car that is "possibly the most superior of any age in F1", says Kevin Eason of The Times. And although that should not relegate him from the list of the greatest drivers, there does appear to be something lacking.

"Even Hamilton acknowledges that his statistical elevation must be accompanied by something else, the mystical quality that could turn him into a legend," says Eason. "He is unsure what he does next to push himself into that cluster of drivers whose name trips easily off the tongue when legends are discussed — Fangio, Clark, Stewart, Lauda, Schumacher, Senna."

Perhaps his jet-set lifestyle has prevented people taking him to their hearts. "His lifestyle is controversial and his devotion to the rap culture of Hollywood seems to have alienated him from his roots. Admittedly, Stevenage in Hertfordshire is hardly the bright lights but it seems strange that he is so little celebrated in his home town."

The dominance of Mercedes is a cause for concern though. "Without wanting to belittle Lewis Hamilton's achievements, he has been driving comfortably the best car in Formula 1 this year," says Daniel Johnson of the Daily Telegraph.

But that is the nature of the sport, he adds. "As Hamilton points out, there are very few drivers who have won the world championship not in the best car, and he is arguably one of the few to have done it, in 2008."

But Hamilton's victory does mark him out as an icon, says Paul Weaver in The Guardian. "He started the year as a very brilliant racing driver and towards the end of it he has become an indisputably great one... even though his dominance is in danger of becoming the stuff of quotidian tedium."