5 Grands Prix that shaped the Brit’s triumphant season

Lewis Hamilton won his fifth Formula One world title on Oct 28. Here AFP Sport reviews five key races in the all-conquering Briton’s 2018 season.

AZERBAIJAN (APRIL 29)

A chaotic fourth leg of the championship in Baku delivered Hamilton his first win of the season to displace Sebastian Vettel atop the drivers’ standings. Vettel was set to turn pole into his third win until a rash passing move on Valterri Bottas resulted in his Ferrari locking up. A puncture kyboshed Bottas, gifting Hamilton a timely win after cameo roles to leading man Vettel in Australia and Bahrain and to Daniel Ricciardo in China.

FRANCE (JUNE 24)

Hamilton jetted in for the first French Grand Prix in 10 years trailing Vettel by one point. As traffic snarl ups and parking problems at Le Castellet created havoc for fans, Hamilton enjoyed a hassle free drive from pole to leave the track 14 points to the good over his German rival after upgrades to his Mercedes gave him the edge and victory. An opening lap collision with Bottas dented Vettel’s hopes and he could only finish fifth. This was Hamilton’s 65th career win.

ITALY (SEPT 2)

With one of his greatest drives Hamilton wrecked Ferrari’s homecoming party with a record-equalling fifth Monza triumph. Raw aggression and astute tyre-management after an opening lap clash with Vettel saw the Briton finish almost nine seconds clear of Raikkonen, who had claimed pole with the fastest lap in F1 history. After matching Michael Schumacher’s Monza record, much to the distress of Ferrari’s legion of fans, Hamilton moved 30 points clear of Vettel.

SINGAPORE (SEPT 16)

Hamilton prepared for the floodlit Marina Bay street circuit test by launching his new fashion label in Shanghai and New York, but the frantic time-zone hopping schedule only served to energise the unstoppable Briton. After a magical lap of his career to grab pole he won in dominant style, controlling from the start, leaving Vettel moaning and now a yawning 40 points adrift for the season run-in. Max Verstappen took second with Vettel having to settle for third. Despite the Singapore stardust, Mercedes cautioned about premature title celebrations. But they were worrying needlessly, as their man wasn’t about to let a fifth title slip from his fingers.

MEXICO (OCT 28)

After failing to wrap up the title the previous weekend in the United States Hamilton turned up at the Autodromo Hermanos Rodriguez with Vettel needing a victory, with the Briton outside the top seven to prolong the title race. Starting third on the grid Hamilton admitted to enduring “a horrible” race but was all smiles after taking fourth to Vettel’s second behind Max Verstappen to spark wild celebrations as he joined Juan Manuel Fangio with his fifth world title. AFP