World of sport
Lewis Hamilton last night completed one half of the job to secure a historic fifth World Championship by putting his Mercedes on pole position for today’s US Grand Prix.
Hamilton will seal the title in Austin, Texas, if he takes the chequered flag and Ferrari’s Sebastian Vettel fails to finish second.
The German was slower only than Hamilton in a nail-biting qualifying session, but he will be demoted to fifth after incurring a grid penalty for his failure to slow sufficiently under red flags in Friday’s practice.
Fellow Ferrari driver Kimi Raikkonen will subsequently join Hamilton on the front row with the Briton’s team-mate Valtteri Bottas third.
Mercedes did not appear to have the pace to beat Ferrari following the early phases at a cold and blustery Circuit of the Americas.
But as he so often does, Hamilton saved his very best for last, edging out Vettel by just 0.061 seconds for the 81st pole of his career.
“That was very important, and that was close,” Hamilton said. “I knew it was edgy between us and it was going to require solid laps.
“The second lap was better and it enabled me to pull it out of the bag. I was very adamant that I was going to do a better second lap so I am very happy with that.”
Vettel, who swore over the radio in frustration after discovering he had lost to Hamilton, added: “It was a bit of a shame that we missed out by that little time.
“Given the last couple of weeks we have had, I am happy we are in range.”