Lewis Hamilton may have the numerical advantage heading into this weekend’s US Grand Prix but one thing is clear: he has no intention of allowing mere figures to influence his charge to a fourth world championship.
His purpose at the Circuit of the Americas is to engage in battle with the intention of shaping this race to his implacable will, as he has done repeatedly in the second half of the season. The mathematics suggest it is only a matter of time until he is crowned the most successful British driver of all time – Hamilton does not care where it happens, here in Austin or at the last round in Abu Dhabi.
On Thursday, the Mercedes driver dismissed discussion of joining the NFL’s kneeling protests during the US national anthem on Sunday as a distraction he was no longer considering. “The championship, as long as it’s done in the next four races, that’s my focus,” he said. “I honestly couldn’t care less if it’s here or the last race, as long as it’s done.”
The 32-year-old’s focus is understandable. In 2007, his rookie year, he went into the final four races of the season 18 points clear of Ferrari’s Kimi Raikkonen who was in third, under the scoring system where 10 points were awarded for a win.
Of those four he won once at Fuji but was fourth at Spa, retired in the gravel of the pitlane entry in China, and was seventh in Brazil. Raikkonen took the title by a point.
It had been a magnificent but bitterly disappointing season during which he had outraced his team-mate Fernando Alonso.
A decade on and Hamilton is a different man. He had displayed remarkable promise in winning his first US Grand Prix at Indianapolis in 2007, and has since developed into one of the finest drivers of his generation, not least by proving it repeatedly at the Circuit of the Americas.
Hamilton has won four of the five races held in Austin, and he secured his third championship here in 2015 with three races remaining, an achievement he could repeat on Sunday. He leads Ferrari’s Sebastian Vettel by 59 points.
If the British driver finishes third or lower, the title fight will move on to the next round in Mexico. However if he wins and Vettel finishes sixth or lower, or he is second and his team-mate Valtteri Bottas fails to win, with Vettel finishing ninth or lower, the title will be his.
He has every expectation of being on the top step. It is not only his record here that impresses but his mastery of what is a challenging circuit. In 2012 he produced an exceptional display. It was to be his last win for McLaren and all the more admirable in that their car was largely unable to match the Red Bull. He had dropped a place to Mark Webber off the line and had to repass him and catch Vettel, who would win his third title that season. Having caught and passed the German on the back straight, Hamilton held him off for a further 14 laps.
It was a bravura drive on a track that, like Suzuka, demands a variety of skills. The first sector is a high-speed sequence of direction changes that requires drivers to thread the needle, similar to Japan.
The long straight in sector two is followed by a tight, technical challenge of the slower corners that conclude the lap.
Hamilton believes he and his engineers are now better able to find the balance of their car early in the weekend. Yet equally there is an impressive hunger that still drives him. He could have played percentages in Japan against a charging Max Verstappen but instead was fired up by the challenge the young Dutchman presented.
An attitude that will doubtless be repeated in Texas. “Winning the world championship is obviously the goal,” he said. “I think about it every day. My drive naturally is to winning that championship so every bit of my energy goes towards that mission. Wherever it happens.”
His Mercedes team could also wrap up the constructors’ championship in Austin, should they outscore Ferrari by 16 points. But Vettel, who has seen his challenge crumble over the last three races, is still determined to take his season beyond Texas. “In English, they say it’s not over until the fat lady sings,” he said. “We need to make sure she shuts up for quite a while. We are still in there, our chances are slimmer than they have been some races ago. There is a chance. We’re going for it.”
His team have an upgrade package for the race and a car that appears to be every match for the Mercedes. But the German is in the position Hamilton faced at this point last season, when his deficit was such that winning all of the last four races was still not enough to overcome Nico Rosberg. Vettel is not giving up the fight but knows his number is very nearly up.
Hamilton started as he means to continue, quickest in both practice sessions, half a second in front of Vettel, while, before the first session, Red Bull announced they had re-signed Verstappen until the end of 2020.
