But with just eight laps of an eventful grand prix to go, Rosberg ran wide and Hamilton reclaimed the lead.
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An “overwhelmed” Lewis Hamilton hoped to inspire others with his achievements, just as Ayrton Senna had fired his imagination as a boy, after celebrating the greatest day of his career with a third Formula One world title on Sunday.
“I remember my first British Championship when my dad drove me home singing “We Are The Champions”.
Hamilton, 30, earned his 10th win this year, becoming the first F1 driver to hit double digits in consecutive seasons. Rosberg was second and Vettel, who needed to be runner-up to carry the championship into next Sunday’s race in Mexico, was third. Tiger has done so much for the sport, there is so much more people involved – even myself I am getting into golf now.
Hostilities between the two Merc team-mates threatened to boil over again following this weekend’s United States GP after Rosberg accused Hamilton of being overly aggressive.
“I was anxious Vettel could pass him and the whole thing would be delayed”, he said. – Former fellow three-time world champion Jackie Stewart.
“For me it was always to get the three that Ayrton had”, said Hamilton when asked if he had set his sights on emulating Michael Schumacher’s record tally of seven titles.
Mercedes team chief Toto Wolff agreed the incident had the potential to repeat the acrimony that erupted following their clash at the 2014 Belgian Grand Prix. He went on to add, “What am I going to say?”
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“The last 10-15 laps were the tough ones”, he said. “Nico was really quick in stages, he pitted under the virtual safety auto but never for one second did I think I couldn’t do it. Sitting in front of you guys for, God knows how many times I’ve been up here, but it never gets old and I just feel incredibly grateful right now and extremely humbled and excited”. “Or should I say Lewis came into me, which is not good”.
