6 KEY RACES IN THE BATTLE FOR GLORY

RACE 5: SPAIN, MAY 14

VETTEL passed Hamilton at the start, pulled clear and pitted early. Mercedes then delayed team-mate Valtteri Bottas’s pit-stop to hold up the German, who emerged from his second stop alongside Hamilton. Seven laps later the Briton swept around the outside to take victory.

RACE 7: CANADA, JUNE 11

HAMILTON produced a dominant display. Vettel started second but a dust-up with Max Verstappen (right) forced him into the pits. He re-emerged at the back of the field and, despite recovering to take fourth, his championship lead was slashed to 12 points.

RACE 10: BRITAIN, JULY 16

HAMILTON had been winless since leaving Canada five weeks earlier and trailed Vettel by 20 points. But he was crowd-surfing at Silverstone after a record-equalling fifth British Grand Prix win. Vettel was third with two laps to go, but a puncture dropped him to seventh.

RACE 13: ITALY, SEPTEMBER 3

HAMILTON took a record-breaking 69th career pole at Monza with a flawless lap in the wet. Starting from sixth, Vettel was powerless to prevent Hamilton’s cruise to victory. The German finished third but now trailed Hamilton in the championship for the first time.

RACE 14: SINGAPORE, SEP 17

HAVING qualified fifth at Marina Bay, Hamilton said he needed a ‘miracle’ to win. He got one. The race was rain-affected and Vettel, his team-mate Kimi Raikkonen and Verstappen took each other out at the start (left). Hamilton dodged the chaos to stretch his lead to 28 points.

RACE 16: JAPAN, OCTOBER 8

VETTEL was hit by engine problems for a second week running. Ferrari mechanics scrambled to fix a spark plug on the grid and, though they got their man going, Vettel conked out after just four laps. Hamilton (left) took the lead and held off Verstappen’s charging Red Bull.