Lewis Hamilton is the most successful British driver in Formula One history after winning his fourth world title at the Mexican Grand Prix yesterday.
The Briton achieved the feat - surpassing Jackie Stewart’s three titles - despite finishing only ninth in a dramatic race that began with a clash with Sebastian Vettel.
There’s no love lost between Hamilton and the German driver and the relationship won’t be healed after events on the first lap at the Autodromo Hermanos Rodríguez when the Briton was hit by Vettel’s Ferrari.
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Hamilton’s Mercedes suffered a puncture and Vettel was left with a broken front wing, requiring both cars to pull in for repairs and to have fitted fresh ‘soft’-compound tyres so they could finish the race without another stop.
The collision unsettled Hamilton more than it did Vettel, who started in pole position knowing that he had to finish in the top two to keep his world championship hopes alive.
The German had soon climbed to fourth place while his British rival was struggling towards the back of the grid, way down on Red Bull’s Max Verstappen, who dominated from the front after moving into the lead at the first corner.
Hamilton at least knew that his 66-point cushion in the title race put the onus on Vettel to take risks in attempting to finish in the top two. Despite a gutsy drive by Vettel the task proved beyond him and he finished off the podium, behind Verstappen, Valtteri Bottas and Kimi Raikkonen.
Hamilton took the chequered flag in ninth, his lowest finish of the season, but enough to see him crowned world champion for the fourth time, the same number of wins as Vettel and Frenchman Alain Prost.
His next objective will be to equal Juan Manuel Fangio’s five crowns before, surely, trying to surpass Michael Schumacher’s record seven world championship titles.
“I’ve been reminiscing a lot about where I came from,” reflected Hamilton after the race. “Growing up in Stevenage, dreaming of being in F1. Being a four-time world champion, it’s so hard to describe. I was going back to when my dad put me in a boxing ring when I was young. I was bleeding but I kept going. I remembered that moment today, decided that I was going to keep pushing.”
Asked about the clash with Vettel, Hamilton replied: “I had a good start and I don’t really know what happened at turn three but I gave him plenty of room, but I tried my hardest to come back.”
The German also preferred not to dwell on the collision, saying: “I’m down, obviously. It’s tough to cross the line and realise that you’re not in the fight anymore. The rest isn’t that important, whatever happened today, the most important thing is it’s Lewis’s day - he was crowned world champion and he deserves that. I would have loved to go one up on him, but it’s his day, it’s his year.”
As for the future, the Briton made his ambition clear. “Four’s a great number,” he said. “But I want number five now.”
We take a look at reaction from Twitter after Hamilton secured his title:
Gary Lineker calls Hamilton one Britain’s greatest sportsmen.
Brazil footballer Neymar congratulates his “bro”.
He’s “one in a million” says his Mercedes team.
TV personality Ross Kemp thinks Hamilton can win more.
