Lewis Hamilton’s third title now ties the Mercedes driver with his hero Ayrton Senna, while also equalling Sir Jackie Stewart’s record, joining the Scot as the only Brits to win three championships.
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Hamilton needed to beat his Mercedes teammate Nico Rosberg by two points and four-time world champion Sebastian Vettel of Ferrari by nine to claim his championship with three races to spare.
1 – Hamilton is the only black driver to have won a grand prix and a championship.
After a weekend hit hard by the affects of Hurricane Patricia, the spectators in Austin were rewarded with a topsy-turvy race, which looked set to fall to Rosberg until his late mistake allowed Hamilton through.
Once he had taken the chequered flag and was congratulated by his team the emotion of the moment finally got to him. “I can’t say more than that”.
“It’s the greatest moment of my life. Thanks to the fans, you’ve been awesome”, he told pop star Elton John who made the presentations.
He jumped into a crowd of Mercedes mechanics. Rosberg finished second, 2.85 seconds back, and Vettel was third, 3.38 seconds behind.
The Briton then dropped down to fourth place, with Rosberg back in the lead after 22 laps following the pitstops, but the first of two safety auto deployments brought everything back into play. With twenty laps to go, the race had developed into a three-way contest between Rosberg, Hamilton and Vettel in that order.
“Who knows what will happen in the race, but I am feeling good in any condition and our vehicle is great in any condition, so whatever is fine really”.
Rosberg was heading for victory when, seven laps from the end, he made an unforced error, ran wide at turn 12, and Hamilton – on fresher tyres after a later pitstop – seized his opportunity.
In contrast, Red Bull’s Daniel Ricciardo, who lines up third, has nothing to lose and is ready to attack the all-Mercedes front row.
“For us as a team and me as a driver, I’m not fighting for a championship, and these conditions are good for us”.
A win for Rosberg or a runner-up finish for Vettel would have kept the championship alive going into the next Grand Prix, but with Rosberg unable to pass Hamilton again and more than capable of holding back Vettel’s Ferrari, the World Driver’s Championship has already been won.
Rosberg did not share a similar sentiment after the race.
He also played down the significance of an incident in the post-race podium room, in which he tossed a cap back in Hamilton’s direction after the Briton had thrown it onto his lap.
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The physical safety auto came out on lap 28, when Marcus Ericsson retired his vehicle at an awkward position on track where it couldn’t easily be recovered.
