ALONSO: HE WON RACES WHEN THE CAR WAS GOOD, AND WHEN IT WAS NOT SO GOOD
he checkered flag awaits, yet the underlying expectation at the Mexican Grand Prix is that Lewis Hamilton’s fourth career Formula One championship is on course for the inevitable.
Whether it’s this week or next month, Hamilton’s nearly insurmountable lead over Ferrari’s Sebastian Vettel has him facing constant questions about his legacy in the sport and where he stands among Formula One’s greatest drivers.
Hamilton tries to steer the conversation toward winning a single race, but it always returns to measuring his place in F1 history. He can win the title if he finishes as low as fifth. He’ll shoot to finish first.
“I’m trying to win,” in Mexico. “It would be cool if we did and I plan to,” Hamilton said.
If he wins the championship tomorrow, the Autodromo Hermanos Rodriguez would be the fourth city where Hamilton gets to celebrate a title, joining Sao Paolo in 2008, Abu Dhabi in 2014 and Austin in 2015.
And with its confetti and sombreros in front of tens of thousands packed into the enormous grandstand, Mexico City provides one of the biggest podium parties of the F1 season.
A fourth world championship would put the 32-year-old Briton in some elite company. He would set the championship record for British drivers, join Vettel and former champion Alain Prost as four-time winners, and trail only Michael Schumacher (seven) and Juan Manuel Fangio (five) for the most all-time.
Killed in a crash
He also would pass his idol, Brazilian driving great Aryton Senna, who was killed in a crash in Italy in 1994 and is generally considered to be the most elegant and skilful driver in F1 history.
“Aryton’s life was cut short. If he had the chance to race in safe conditions, he would have won more,” Hamilton said. “I feel very proud to have my name mentioned with his.”
Formula One is full of disputes over who were the top drivers of different eras, and how they would fare against each other. Hamilton won his first title with McLaren, but his most dominant years have come with a Mercedes team that has had no peers in the hybrid engine era. Of his 62 career victories, a mark second only to Schumacher’s 91, 40 have come since 2014.
“He’s a champion of this generation,” said McLaren driver Fernando Alonso, himself a former two-time champion. He and Hamilton were teammates for one tempestuous season in 2007 when the rookie Hamilton upstaged Alonso and finished second in the championship by a single point.
“He won races when the car was good, and when it was not so good,” Alonso said.
Williams driver Felipe Massa, who Hamilton beat to the title with a final-lap dash in Brazil in 2008, this week already put Hamilton on the level with Schumacher and Senna.
“He’s there,” Massa said. “It’s really made me happy to hear nice things from other drivers,” Hamilton said. “They know how hard it is to be consistent and perform.”
British F1 champion