Hamilton set to finish the job in Mexico City
mexico city — Lewis Hamilton is a racing certainty to become Britain’s first four-times Formula One world champion and any lingering smidgen of a doubt should be swept away at a coronation in Mexico City on Sunday.
The Mercedes driver, 1/500 odds on title favourite with British bookmakers who know a safe bet when they see one, has a 66 point advantage over Ferrari’s Sebastian Vettel with three races remaining worth a grand total of 75.
Hamilton is also well clear in terms of the number of wins, the first decider in case of a points tie, with nine to Vettel’s four.
Put simply, Vettel has to score 17 points more than Hamilton at the Autodromo Hermanos Rodriguez to keep his championship hopes on life support as far as the next race in Brazil.
Regardless of where the German ends up, Hamilton needs only finish fifth to get the party started.
This is how Hamilton can do it in Mexico * If Vettel wins (25 points), Hamilton need finish no lower than fifth (10 points). * If Vettel finishes second (18), Hamilton needs only a ninth place (2) to be champion. * Any other result for the German hands the title to Hamilton. * Hamilton will become champion during the race if Vettel retires.
And if the Ferrari driver retires during the race, Hamilton will be world champion before he has even seen the chequered flag.
The high-altitude circuit could well favour Ferrari more than Mercedes, but Hamilton won from pole position last year and arrives this time with a haul of five victories from the last six races.
The pressure, what little there is remaining, is all on Vettel.
It will take the biggest comeback the sport has ever seen to deny Hamilton now, even if Mercedes continue to urge caution.
“I can imagine every scenario,” team boss Toto Wolff told reporters in Texas on Sunday night when asked if he could envisage Hamilton not winning.
“This is motor racing. Sebastian had a DNF (did not finish) in Singapore, scored little in Sepang (Malaysia) and DNF at Suzuka.
“So it is not done until you’ve mathematically achieved it,” added the Austrian, whose team have already wrapped up the constructors’ championship for the fourth year in a row.
Red Bull could also be in the mix on Sunday, with Max Verstappen also very much in the spotlight after criticising stewards for imposing a time penalty in Austin that demoted him from third to fourth.—