Lewis' topsy-turvy road to victory

Published Oct 26, 2015

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By: Jonathan McEvoy

Austin, Texas - Drama has accompanied Lewis Hamilton every lap of his life, and it did so again on Sunday in excelsis as he emerged from Formula One’s longest day crying his eyes out as a triple world champion.

The British driver’s Sunday morning started before dawn’s early light, as he left his downtown hotel to prepare for a qualifying session that was packed into an elongated day of high theatre.

And it finished with him jumping out of his car in glory, having accomplished all and more than he had ever dreamed.

The journey from a Stevenage council estate to the top of the world, again, kept us spellbound for two hours. Our nails were gnawed.

The pivotal moment came seven laps from the end when his Mercedes team-mate Nico Rosberg skewed off the track. Hamilton was suddenly leading the American Grand Prix. The championship was at his mercy.

There were shades of Sao Paulo in 2008, that last-lap madness as he passed Timo Glock to become champion for the first time. This was a little earlier in proceedings, emphasis on the word ‘little’.

UNPREDICTABLE RACE

The race itself was an unpredictable melange, a see-sawing affair with four safety cars, virtual or real. For sheer mind-twisting complexity, few grands prix of recent memory have matched what unfolded on the Circuit of the Americas in the gloom of a Texan afternoon.

And even when Hamilton passed Rosberg, we had to keep an eye on the Ferrari of Sebastian Vettel.

He had started 13th but driven brilliantly and was lying in third place at this crucial late stage. If he had passed Rosberg, then, and ultimately, in second place, Hamilton would have had to wait until Mexico next week to claim the last points for the title.

Heavens, it was close. Vettel was within spitting distance of his German compatriot on the final lap, but there was no spoiling the story.

“It’s the greatest moment of my life,” said Hamilton over the radio, clearly emotional after claiming the victory and a whole lot more.

Now the Mexico race will be a lap of honour.

GREY, DAMP WEEKEND

His feat lit up a grey, damp weekend. Rain fell incessantly and often hard from Friday to Sunday, as Hurricane Patricia blew through the area. Qualifying was postponed from Saturday afternoon and then aborted two-thirds of the way through when it finally took place yesterday morning at nine o’clock local time.

The final shoot-out for pole was called off, and the starting order was determined by the second session: Rosberg on pole, Hamilton next to him.

Fans huddled under umbrellas on the exposed stands and banks. A skunk slipped across the grass. But as the race time arrived the downpour had given way to drizzle; the skies were dark, but the wind had dried large chunks of the track.

We had been in Noah’s Ark territory for days but, at the appointed time, the lights went out and they left the grid two by two.

Hamilton’s start was perceptibly better than Rosberg’s and, using the inside line, he pushed the German right off the track at the first corner. It was a predictably bold statement, and put Hamilton in brief command of the race. Replays showed the pair touched wheels. It was that aggressive.

It was then topsy-turvy up front. The sequence of passing and counter-passing was zany.

By the mid-point, Hamilton had overtaken Daniel Ricciardo, of Red Bull, and was nine seconds off Rosberg, the serene leader.

How on earth could Hamilton catch the other Silver Arrow from such a long way back?

There was little hope in the conditions. After the rain of the last few days, the chance of the skies opening again during the race was rated at only 20 percent.

HOW HAMILTON WON

The fantails of water that had spewed off the cars in the early stages of the race had now evaporated. But, as if manna from heaven, Marcus Ericsson’s Sauber pulled up lame, and the safety car came out. It bunched Hamilton right up behind Rosberg.

Could the pursuing Hamilton jump Rosberg when the race was restarted?

The answer on this unpredictable day was no. Hamilton had, however, got right on Rosberg’s wing when another virtual safety car was deployed. Rosberg pitted for tyres, Hamilton did not, and it seemed damaging to our hero’s chances.

But yet another safety car period, after Daniil Kvyat’s Red Bull had spiralled off the road, allowed Hamilton in to change tyres without suffering lost time. He came out in second, on Rosberg’s tail.

Game on. The warning came over the radio to keep it clean. The rest was historic. In British terms the third title puts him on a par with Sir Jackie Stewart; in world terms level with only nine others — a roll call of the immortals comprising, as well as Stewart, Michael Schumacher, Juan Manuel Fangio, Alain Prost, Vettel, Sir Jack Brabham, Niki Lauda, Nelson Piquet and Ayrton Senna.

It is the last name on the list that stirs Hamilton’s blood. ‘He is the coolest, smoothest, most determined-to-win driver I’ve ever seen,’ Hamilton told Sportsmail before he had even raced an F1 car. ‘He was the man. That’s what I want to be.’

Here, in the Lone Star State, Hamilton won his 43rd race to Senna’s 41. Hamilton has exceeded his life’s ambitions. He is only 30 and in the middle of his career.

Daily Mail

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