AUSTIN POWERS Lew on brink in Texas

TONIGHT’S United States Grand Prix could be one hell of a party.

That is the target for Britain’s Lewis Hamilton, who can clinch his fourth world title if things go his way in Texas.

Hammy has won all but one of the five races held at the Circuit of the Americas in Austin and if he outscores four-time world champion Sebastian Vettel by 16 points he will be a four-time F1 king.

But Hamilton – who will claim the title if he wins and the German finishes no higher than sixth, or if he finishes second behind anybody other than Valtteri Bottas and Vettel is no higher than ninth – knows it will be far from easy.

“It is going to be tough,” he said. “But I am really chuffed that everybody in the team is giving it their best and the best way I can thank them is to be a winner.”

Since the summer break, Hammy (right) has been in scorching form, overtaking championship leader Vettel who, in stark contrast to the

Brit’s golden run, When Kubrat Pulev pulled out of his fight with Joshua injured on Monday night, the IBF-WBA world heavyweight champ suggested to promoter Eddie Hearn that Brit rival Whyte (below) be drafted in instead.

But Cameroon-born Carlos Takam – now based in Paris – was on standby and will be Joshua’s fourth challenger at Cardiff’s Principality Stadium on Saturday. Joshua, 28, stopped Whyte in seven rounds nearly two years ago to avenge an amateur points defeat in 2009.

Whyte, who moved to London from Jamaica aged 12, briefly troubled Joshua when they last met, before being spectacularly knocked out. has suffered a run of self-inflicted clangers and engineering blunders. And should Hamilton claim another world title tonight, nobody will be more happy for him than his old boss Paddy Lowe.

The former McLaren and Mercedes man said: “Lewis is incredibly brilliant.

“He is a tough racer but he doesn’t cross the line and his sportsmanship is never in doubt. When the job needs to be done, that’s when Lewis comes alive.”