IN A CLASS OF HIS OWN
JONATHAN McEVOY Lewis overtakes Fangio with a sixth world title...now only Schumacher’s out in front
LEWIS HAMILTON was last night backed by his Mercedes boss to rewrite the sport’s record books for years to come after winning the Formula One world title for the sixth time.
The Briton finished second in the US Grand Prix to claim his third straight driver’s crown.
Hamilton declared himself to be ‘overwhelmed’ by the achievement, which took him ahead of five-time champion Juan Manuel Fangio, the Argentinian great of the 1950s.
He also moved to within one championship of German legend Michael Schumacher, the seven-time winner.
While the 34-year-old took time to compose himself after stepping out of the car, team principal Toto Wolff said: ‘There is no limit to what he can win. He is still very motivated and you can see he wants to win every single race. As long as that is the case, he can go for more. We need to provide him with a good car.’
Hamilton, who finished just behind team-mate Valtteri Bottas in the race, said: ‘It is an honour to be up there with the greats.
‘My dad told me when I was six or seven never to give up — that is the family motto. I was pushing as hard as I could today and was hopeful I could win but I didn’t have enough left in the tyres.
‘I don’t know how many championships I can win but, as an athlete, I feel as fresh as I could be. We will keep pushing.’
Dad Anthony, who managed Hamilton’s early career, said: ‘Six means the world to him. This feels just like 2007, the first chance we had to win the world championship.’
This was the third season in which he has sealed the title with two rounds to spare.
Bottas said: ‘Winning was only thing I could have done in terms of the Championship, the rest was up to Lewis. Congratulations to him. He deserves it. He’s a great champion.’
Hamilton hid tears of joy under his visor as race engineer Peter Bonnington told him: ‘What a drive, mate. You did that in style.’ He held his head in his hands after, seemingly incredulous.
He could not quite make his tyres last well enough to claim the race win, despite nursing his rubber brilliantly for the last 32 of the 56 laps. Bottas passed him four laps from the end to claim the win, but not the glory.
In the wet, in the dry, in the hot, in the cold, in the day, during the night, across 13 seasons of near-uninterrupted brilliance, Hamilton is not only one of motor racing’s all-time greats but surely one of the finest British sportsmen of his era.
The arithmetic suggested he did not have much to fear yesterday. Eighth place would have been enough to seal the title with two rounds to spare — regardless of a Bottas victory. That still meant finishing was the priority and this rendered the start the single most nervy moment of the day. Would Red Bull’s Max Verstappen, starting third, ensnare Hamilton, starting fifth? They had grappled in recent days, in Mexico last week and during qualifying here on Saturday.
But on the grid they shook hands and patted each other on the back.
Was it a precaution by Hamilton to defuse the situation before they went wheel-to-wheel again on the first lap? Very wise, if that was the case.
So to that steep climb into the blind first left-hander. Hamilton, needing only to avoid danger, confined himself to his own zip code. Then he overtook Charles Leclerc comfortably at the first corner before sweeping brilliantly beyond the other Ferrari of Sebastian Vettel on the outside of Turn 8. Those few moments were marks of the champion.
Twice Hamilton led yesterday’s race, after Verstappen — who finished third — and Bottas peeled in for their two stops. The perfect ending looked possible but even the star man could not get his tyres to perform the impossible.
Mercedes technical director James Allison, who shared the podium last night, said of Hamilton: ‘He can feel and steer and direct a racing car with the best who have stepped in one. He had that before he decided to start his career.
‘But complementing this sublime talent for handling a car is an unquenchable desire to win races and championships.
‘He does not dwell on his achievements. When he wins and then drinks the champagne he has a brief, fleeting moment when he is at one with the world, in a temporary redemptive peace.
‘And then he is on to the next one with a sense of excitement, anxiety and self-doubt. I think his self-doubt is one of his great strengths.’
There is no use the naysayers insisting that it’s all down to the car. No, the best teams find the best man. It is Darwinism at work and, if Hamilton had dropped his standards for a moment, he would have been found out.
Instead, he just goes on and on showing weapons-grade competitiveness. Schumacher’s record of seven titles is the next target, the only one standing.
And then, surely, Hamilton will shoot for his own eighth wonder of the world.
There is no limit to what he can do...he is still highly motivated