History man Hamilton roars in to clinch the title on day of destiny

ON the Day of the Dead celebrations, Lewis Hamilton finally sounded the deathknell for Sebastian Vettel to be crowned world champion.

Hamilton sealed his place as one of Britain’s greatest ever sportsman after becoming world champion for a fifth time in Mexico.

The Mercedes ace joined an elite club of just two other drivers as he equalled Argentine legend Juan Manuel Fangio’s tally set in the 1950s.

And he moved within two of matching Michael Schumacher’s record of seven F1 drivers’ crowns.

Hamilton couldn’t seal this triumph with a victory as he coasted home in fourth place after a muted display, having struggled with tyres throughout the 71 laps.

But rival Vettel could only finish second in a race he had to win and hope Hamilton finished outside the top seven as Red Bull’s Max Verstappen triumphed, with Kimi Raikkonen third in the other Ferrari.

Over a minute behind, Hamilton cruised home taking no risks to claim the title for the second year in a row. It was hardly a fiesta of a race – but that would have not stopped the fireworks last night.

Hamilton has proved he is by far the quickest and most skilled driver of his generation and rightfully ranks among the very best in the all-time history of the sport.

Having been forced to wait a week after finishing third in the US Grand Prix, the signs were good that Hamilton would be cracking open the champagne this time.

He only needed to score five points – by finishing seventh if Vettel won the race – to make the remaining rounds in Sao Paulo and Abu Dhabi meaningless.

Vettel, who had never won a race from below third on the grid despite having reeled off four titles in a row while Hamilton struggled in a waning McLaren outfit, was behind the Brit in fourth place on the grid.

The biggest danger to Hamilton’s hopes would be the long, 890metre drag down to the first corner at the Autodromo Hermanos Rodriguez, which was packed to its 135,000 capacity.

Dream

With the fighting Red Bulls of Daniel Ricciardo and Verstappen, and a desperate Vettel alongside, there was every prospect of a first-corner pile-up.

But Hamilton made a dream start from third to snatch second place as Verstappen beat his team-mate to head the race, with Vettel unable to make up any ground to stay fourth.

The world championship might have been at stake but Hamilton showed his bravery and skills with an overtaking move on Raikkonen – Ricciardo followed him through – as the Finn struggled on older tyres before his stop.

His rivals were also having their own issues on their new rubber in the heat and altitude of Mexico’s capital city.

Hamilton and Mercedes were well below the high standards they set for themselves but he got round safely and knew the job was done.

At the end of the race, Hamilton pushed his car through a series of celebratory “doughnut” spins in the track’s stadium section.