Lewis Hamilton Secures Fifth World Title

LEWIS Hamilton has joined the elite group of Formula One legends after becoming only the third diver in history to capture a fifth world title as Max Verstappen won the Mexican Grand Prix.

For many, this season will rightly be remembered as one of Hamilton’s best. For long periods it was Ferrari, looking for a first championship since 2008, who were in the ascendency, their SF71H appearing both a quicker and a more adaptable machine than the Briton’s Mercedes, and Sebastian Vettel – himself chasing a fifth drivers’ crown – proving a formidable opponent for Hamilton.

“It’s a very strange feeling right now,” said Hamilton following a trademark series of donuts. “I’ve been with Mercedes since I was 13, to complete this, when Fangio has done it with Mercedes, is an incredible feeling. It’s a bit surreal at the moment…”

The 33-year-old Mercedes star has now drawn level with Juan Manuel Fangio, and is just two short of Michael Schumacher’s record, but in a dramatic race, won by Max Verstappen, he ran off the road while defending third place from Daniel Ricciardo.

Hamilton, who needed to finish only seventh at the Autodromo Hermanos Rodriguez to beat Sebastian Vettel to the title with two rounds to spare, spent much of the race at odds with his Mercedes team as he struggled for pace.

But, just as in Mexico City last year, Hamilton did enough to win the championship, his fourth in five quite remarkable years. Ferrari’s Vettel finished second.

Verstappen, upstaged by his Red Bull team-mate Daniel Ricciardo in qualifying on Saturday, came home 17.108 seconds ahead of Vettel after the luckless Australian pole-sitter retired with nine laps remaining.

A puff of smoke from the engine signaled an engine failure and his eighth ‘Did Not Finish’ (DNF) of the season while his 21-year-old Dutch tyro team-mate secured a repeat of his 2017 triumph, his second win this season and the fifth of his career.

Vettel’s Ferrari team-mate Kimi Raikkonen came home third ahead of Hamilton and his Mercedes team-mate Valtteri Bottas.

2018 Drivers Championship Standings