Six key moments in the race to lift the championship

From an epic duel in Barcelona to mayhem in Singapore, Oliver Brown recalls Hamilton’s route to the world title

Spanish Grand Prix Barcelona, May 14

So monumental was Lewis Hamilton’s effort in vanquishing Sebastian Vettel at the Circuit de Catalunya that he lost 4½lb in body weight. At last, the battle between the two outstanding drivers of their generation was drawn. Over 66 compelling laps, the tension built and churned.

While Hamilton was passed on the inside by Vettel at the first corner, he responded stylishly, capitalising on a clever tactical switch by Mercedes to sweep past his fellow title challenger in the closing stages.

In the wake of such a draining tussle, the language was all sweetness and light. “To stay on Seb was a killer,” Hamilton said. “He was so fast up ahead, it was such a push to keep up. It is the rawest fight I can remember having for some time, which I loved. This is how the sport needs to be every single race – it is what got me into racing from the beginning. To be able to have this contest with a four-time champion is awesome.”

Mercedes, after three dominant seasons, could be in little doubt the challenge from Ferrari would be ferocious. “It was an epic battle,” said Toto Wolff. “Racing simply doesn’t go more wheel-to-wheel.”

Azerbaijan Grand Prix Baku, June 25

In one memorable dust-up by the Caspian Sea, the Hamilton-vettel love-in was rent asunder. After a chaotic start, the two tangled behind the safety car. Vettel, believing Hamilton was braketesting him, banged wheels with the Mercedes and waved his fist.

“What the hell is going on?” he yelled over the radio. His rival’s verdict was equally pithy: “Vettel literally just came alongside and hit

me.” It was almost forgotten that Daniel Ricciardo won or that Williams’ Lance Stroll earned a podium spot at the tender age of 18.

All eyes were on an enraged Hamilton, who said of Vettel: “He disgraced himself, to be honest. If he wants to prove that he’s a man, I think he should do it out of the car, face-to-face. If we were going fast, it could have been a lot worse. Imagine all the young kids watching F1 today, seeing that kind of behaviour from a four-time world champion. That says it all.”

Hamilton might have slipped further adrift of Vettel, who was fourth to his fifth, but he had gained the moral high ground.

British Grand Prix Silverstone, July 16

Hamilton entered his home race under a cloud, having swerved a promotional event in Trafalgar Square in favour of a two-day break in Mykonos. He was the only driver absent, although any sense of bitterness among his home fans evaporated the moment he took the wheel. In imperious form, Hamilton controlled the grand prix from lights to flag, becoming only its third five-time winner after Jim Clark and Alain Prost.

Better still for his title prospects, Ferrari suffered calamity with their tyres late on, with Kimi Raikkonen forced into an unscheduled pit-stop, before Vettel suffered a puncture and was relegated to seventh. It was a weekend to prove that Hamilton remained, in the words of Wolff and despite his mercurial ways, his sport’s one true “rock star”.

Belgian Grand Prix Spa-francorchamps, Aug 27

The summer break brought a perceptible change in Hamilton’s mindset. Having spent his three weeks visiting a Unicef visit to Cuba and luxuriating on the beaches of Barbados, he arrived in the Ardennes with a conviction that he would not let the title slip by for a second year running.

“I’m here for blood,” he said. So it proved, as he secured pole in a track-record time. Hamilton raised his level yet further in the race, holding off Vettel with masterful defensive driving, even though the Ferrari had superior race pace.

Some unexpected interventions threatened to thwart him, not least when a collision between the Force India duo of Sergio Perez and Esteban Ocon triggered a safetycar deployment. A “b------- call from the stewards,” Hamilton called it. “It’s a bit like Nascar, where they keep putting these cars out there for no reason.” In halving his deficit to Vettel from 14 points to seven, he gave every indication this would be a duel to the death.

Singapore Grand Prix Singapore, Sept 17

The moment that all but handed Hamilton the championship. Vettel, having grasped a brilliant pole, committed the cardinal sin of taking out team-mate Raikkonen, while damaging his own car irreparably.

The man in this Scuderia sandwich was Red Bull’s Max Verstappen, whom Ferrari initially sought to blame for the incident, only for replays to suggest Vettel was at fault for darting aggressively to the left. A few hundred yards later, the German’s race was run. Hamilton, who had qualified in fifth, wove around the mayhem in front to take an implausible lead.

A grand prix where Mercedes had arrived with scant prospect of glory, given their car’s struggles on high-downforce circuits, ended with a decisive switch of momentum in Hamilton’s favour. Who would have thought that a spark plug worth just £52 could gift Lewis Hamilton a 59-point championship lead? Vettel’s title chances disappeared after Ferrari failed to address the most rudimentary problem with his car.

His mechanics spotted the problem minutes before the race, but attempts to fix the type of issue more familiar to morning commuters failed. Vettel, slipping back into the pack, could only watch his dream unravel.

Admirably, he was sanguine in the post-mortem. “It’s normal that you’re critical, especially if things go wrong,” he said. “But I feel I need to protect the team.”

Hamilton duly took his moment to plunder, sweeping to his fourth win in five. A lead that had begun to look ominous was now effectively unassailable.