LEWISBECOMESA FIVE-TIMECHAMPION

WHERE: MEXICAN GRAND PRIX WHEN: OCTOBER 28

It seemed that Mercedes-benz bosses on the pitwall were determined to make Lewis Hamilton’s attempt to capture a second successive title and his fifth overall as difficult as possible.

Strategy mistakes in Australia and China gifted the advantage to rivals, but the Briton’s rescue missions in those races meant that he moved into command in the championship when he took his first win in Azerbaijan.

Rival Sebastian Vettel pushed his Ferrari back to the top of the standings as Hamilton struggled for pace in Canada and then suffered a crippling fuel pressure problem in Austria.

From that point, Mercedes was in the ascendant and Hamilton went on a run of six wins in seven races throughout the summer to push himself well out of reach. The run mirrored a similarly crushing blow in 2017 and once again underlined that he is truly the master of the turbohybrid era. In the end, he was nearly 100 points clear of Vettel.

Another impressive indicator to Hamilton’s domination was his ability to win races even after the title was in his pocket – which is not something he has done previously.

Team boss Toto Wolff said that the Brit is performing at a different level.

Hamilton noticed it himself: “I think this year it was being in a different place in my life. I do want to continue to push the limits. [I want to] so that I can really continue to keep that foundation as strong as it has been this year, so I can use that to start on next year. It was no biggie that I didn’t win after I won the championship but I’m definitely happy [with the way the end of 2018 went].”