Enough to nail fourth championship

his own fiery exit too, in his second F1 race.

The 27-year-old had engine issues in the 32nd lap of the race while sitting in 11th place. Hartley pulled his Toro Rosso car over to the side of the track where the back of the car caught fire just after he left his seat.

A roadside marshal was quick to put out the fire.

‘‘I'm losing a lot of power,’’ Hartley had told his pit crew.

‘‘Stop the car, Brendon. Stop the car in a safe place,’’ the New Zealander was told. Seconds after stopping his car, it caught fire.

It capped a difficult week for Hartley after he was handed a fourplace grid penalty following power issues during qualification on Sunday. He worked his way from 17th to 11th, putting him on the verge of his first point in Formula One before his race was stopped.

The opening lap of the race was highly eventful, with polesitter Vettel banging wheels with Verstappen before Vettel and Hamilton also touched.

Debris from the Ferrari flew on to the track and Hamilton suffered a punctured right rear tyre.

A seething Hamilton asked his team over the radio if Vettel had made contact “on purpose”. “Not sure, Lewis,” the team replied. Race stewards determined no investigation was necessary.

Vettel pitted for a new front wing and Hamilton for a new rear tyre and the pair rejoined the race with Hamilton last and Verstappen clear in the lead.

‘‘I hated the race but I am super happy now,” Mercedes team boss Toto Wolff said.

“He (Hamilton) has achieved it and the team has won. This is most important. “It was a bizarre accident.” In the end Hamilton made it up to ninth place, after a late ding-dong with old rival Fernando Alonso, which was enough for the title as long as Vettel did not win.

“I don't really know what happened at turn three — I gave him plenty of room,” Hamilton said.

‘‘I tried as hard as I could to come back.

‘‘A big thank you to my family, to my team — Mercedes have been incredible for the past five years and I am so proud to be a part of it.’’

Verstappen drove away from the rest of the field in his Red Bull. He looked after the tyres and his Renault engine to secure the third win of his Formula 1 career.

Hamilton’s championship makes him the most decorated British driver in F1 history, passing Sir Jackie Stewart.

He is one of only five drivers in F1 history with four or more titles.