IS WITH LEW

Hamilton is back from t he dead to rule world again

IT WAS not the thrilling win that Lewis Hamilton wanted to be crowned world champion for a fourth time.

But his status as Britain’s greatest F1 driver was sealed last night.

The Mercedes star’s hopes of a victory were ended following a crazy first-lap collision with Sebastian Vettel after his title rival’s Halloween horror show.

As Mexicans celebrated ‘Day of the Dead’, it was the last rites that were read over the German’s challenge as he smacked into Hamilton’s tyre with the race just three corners old.

Hamilton questioned Vettel’s motives as he suffered the ignominy of being crowned champ despite being lapped as Red Bull’s Max Verstappen cruised to victory.

But if it was a deliberate act straight out of fellow countryman Michael Schumacher’s old copybook, the tactic did not work.

Racked

First, pole-sitter Vettel banged wheels with Verstappen at the start and when third-placed Hamilton tried to surge past him at turn three, Vettel hit the back of the Brit’s car, sending them both into the pits for repairs.

Vettel managed to drag his way back to fourth and Hamilton ninth, but the Ferrari driver needed the win to take it into the next race. It was over.

So, 44 years after walking away from the grid having won his third and final drivers’ crown, Sir Jackie Stewart finally saw a successor beat his record.

Hamilton could arguably claim to have been Britain’s best even before he took the grid, having racked up 62 wins compared to the Scotsman’s 27.

The Herts-born racer had only needed to finish fifth to secure his fourth crown, even if Vettel won the race, given his commanding 66-point lead.

But the 32-year-old was determined to claim the trophy in style.

The 1000-yard blast to the first corner, when the red flights went out, offered him his best chance to ® from JAMES MURRAY in Mexico City grab the lead from third on the grid. But it was Verstappen who made the best start, getting alongside Vettel, starting on pole for the 50th time in his career, at the first corner.

The duo made contact, however, allowing Hamilton to nip ahead of his only title rival coming out of the second corner.

But at the third corner Vettel hit the right rear tyre of Hamilton’s Mercedes, sending shards of his shattered front nose flying into 1 L Hamilton (GB).333 2 S Vettel (Ger) .... 277 3 V Bottas (Fin) ...262 4 D Ricciardo (Aus)...192 5 K Raikkonen (Fin).178 6 M Vertsappen (Hol).148 7 S Perez (Mex) ..... 92 8 E Ocon (Fra) ........ 83 9 C Sainz (Spa) ...... 54 10 L Stroll (Can) ......... 40 1 Mercedes ...... 595 2 Ferrari ........... 455 3 Red Bull ........ 340 4 Force India .... 175 5 Williams ......... 76 6 Toro Rosso ..... 53 7 Renault ........... 48 8 Haas ................ 47 9 McLaren .......... 24 10 Sauber .............. 5 the hot Mexican air. It had also punctured Hamilton’s tyre, forcing him to limp around the track to the pit.

It was a longish stop, too, as Hamilton’s car only emerged ahead of the safety vehicle.

Vettel had also been forced to pit for a new nose, coming back in 18th spot and knowing he needed to finish at least second to take the championship battle to the next race in Brazil.

Hamilton questioned on the radio whether Vettel had deliberately tried to hit him, but stewards ruled the early-corners incidents were part of the rough and tumble of racing.

However, it seemed that Hamilton had suffered further damage to his car and was struggling for the pace at the back of the field, unable to overtake anyone.

As Hamilton was told not to get too close to the car ahead, he was lapped for the first time since Barcelona in 2013 as Verstappen swept past.

The British star used a Virtual Safety Car period, when rookie Brendon Hartley parked up his Toro Rosso, to dart into the pits for the quicker super soft tyres.

But he was still back in 16th spot as Vettel – surviving a scrap with Felipe Massa’s Williams – had moved into eighth place. Vettel progressed through the field as Hamilton repeatedly asked his race engineers their respective track positions.

But it was never going to be enough, with Vettel admitting, ‘Mamma mia, it is too much’ as time and laps quickly ran out in Mexico City.

Verstappen triumphed from Valtteri Bottas in the other Mercedes with Ferrari’s Kimi Raikkonen third.

But as Olympic track champion Michael Johnson said beforehand, Hamilton had proved he is “the man”. Just not in the manner he craved.