Lewis Hamilton only needs nine more points to secure the Formula 1 drivers’ championship after his victory at the US Grand Prix in Austin, Texas.
On his way to winning at the Circuit of the Americas, the British star overtook his nearest title rival – Ferrari’s Sebastian Vettel – who had to settle for a second-place finish.
The US win gives Hamilton a 66-point advantage over Vettel with three races left, which means he just has to finish fifth in Mexico to clinch his fourth career title.
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With the drivers’ title now in sight, it would mark a double for Mercedes after they wrapped up the constructors’ championship in Austin.
After the race Hamilton said on the podium: “I feel amazing. Look at this crowd. These guys have been amazing. Since 2012 the crowd has been growing year on year. I think this track is now my favourite track.
“A big congratulations to the team. They work so hard back at the factory and here. I feel great. It is a dream job. Many people would love to drive an F1 car and I can tell you it is the best experience in the world.”
Not a good day for Vettel
With Hamilton on the verge of the title, Vettel was left to rue another missed opportunity. Vettel took an early lead in the race but was overtaken by Hamilton on lap six – and the German was unable to claw back the Mercedes car.
Speaking to Sky Sports F1, Vettel said: “Not quick enough, that sums it up. As a team, we want to win, I thought we could but we didn’t, which is why l am not happy.
“Lewis was a lot quicker, when he got past he was just playing. Not a good day.”
Red Bull anger at Verstappen penalty
Max Verstappen proved why he is such a hot property in F1 when he came from 16th on the grid to third after a superb overtake manoeuvre against Ferrari’s Kimi Raikkonen on the last lap.
But the celebrations were short-lived when the 20-year-old was given a five-second penalty for having all four wheels off the track when he overtook Raikkonen at turn 17.
It meant Verstappen’s podium place went to Raikkonen and the Dutchman had to settle for fourth.
Red Bull boss Christian Horner wasn’t happy with the decision. He told Sky Sports F1: “There’s been cars going off track all day today and no action at all so I think it’s unbelievably harsh to give Max a penalty for that. It’s wrong, it’s wrong.
“For me, it was fair, hard racing and I think that’s a bad judgement by the stewards to have made that call. We’ve seen cars off track all weekend so to penalise him at this stage is not right.”
Verstappen added: “I really hope the fans didn’t like this decision and hopefully next year [those decisions] won’t come.
“Everybody is running wide, at turn nine you can go wide and turn 19 you can go off the track and nobody would say anything. It’s not good for the sport. They have to be really clear in the rules that it’s not allowed anywhere.”
