Hamilton dances towards his date with destiny
STIRLING Moss would prepare for a big race by giving up sex for a week. Jackie stewart deflated like a balloon, expelling dangerous emotion from body and mind. James Hunt played ferocious squash or entertained British Airways hostesses.
Lewis Hamilton, who stands on the threshold of the fourth title that would further distinguish him as the most successful Formula one driver Britain ever produced, has dreamed up his own way of counting down to his potential tryst with destiny.
It is to video himself dancing half-naked in the mirror of his downtown Austin hotel to the lurid lyrics of rap song Bank
Account by 21 savage and then post the footage to his social media devotees.
It is this very modern champion on whom the majority of eyes will be focused during the brashest, loudest, most utterly American grand prix ever staged.
Hamilton will be a man of his time here at the Circuit of the Americas as the sport’s new owners, Liberty Media, are staging the race closest to their own image, their much talked about ‘super Bowl-style’ extravaganza.
Michael Buffer, he of boxing fame with the ‘Let’s Get Ready to Rumble’ catchphrase, will introduce the drivers on to the grid, which will open 15 minutes earlier than usual so he can elongate every yodelled syllable.
stevie Wonder will perform. The Dallas Cowboys cheerleaders will shake their pom-poms. And the great Usain Bolt will send the cars on their formation lap. A bucking bronco is plugged in for action in the paddock, while Justin Timberlake and 30 Texan bands are ready to strike up the music around the race. How Liberty boss Chase Carey’s moustache will tingle from shore to shining shore.
But behind the razzmatazz, and his music videos, Hamilton is concentrated on finishing sebastian Vettel’s title ambitions. The Briton leads the Ferrari man by 59 points and needs to outscore his rival by 16 tomorrow to turn the final three rounds of the season into laps of honour.
Hamilton does not seem particularly nervous, nor is he feeling the need to hide the weight of the impending moment of glory behind faux bonhomie. He knows that if he does not wrap up the formalities here, he will do so some time before the season’s close in Abu Dhabi on November 26.
If there is any statistic to cause the slightest concern it comes from 2007, when Kimi Raikkonen was 17 points behind Hamilton with two races remaining — a victory was then worth 10 points, not the current 25 — yet beat the Brit to the title.
‘Nothing has changed for me, man,’ said Hamilton, wearing a big box of bling even by his own glittering standards. ‘Everything is exactly the same as it was going into the last race. Nothing has changed mentally.’
The arithmetic suggests he will clinch the title in Mexico next week rather than here, where he has won four times in five years. surely, Vettel and Ferrari cannot get it as badly wrong as they have at the last three races — a crash, engine trouble and then a faulty £52 spark plug?
If they do not make a total Horlicks of it, Vettel will certainly have the pace to finish in the top five and so keep the fight alive, if only on breathing apparatus.
He has been smiley here, as is his custom. However, that demeanour was a little misplaced. After trailing a distant second to Hamilton in morning practice, the German complained his Ferrari felt like ‘jelly’ in the afternoon, a front axle hampering him as the champion- elect set the fastest ever lap time at the circuit and managed twice the mileage.
But Vettel said: ‘We are still in there. We have a great car and we are going for it.’
The other big news of yesterday was that Max Verstappen has extended his Red Bull stay until 2020, with boss Christian Horner promising to build the team around the Dutchman. He is a championship contender of the future.
one footnote: Hamilton superimposed four golden money bags on the Bank Account video he posted, apparently representing the quartet of titles, and their attendant riches, he confidently believes will soon all be his.