Lewis Hamilton wins F1 championship 2015: Hamilton equals Sir Jackie Stewart's British record and says it is 'the greatest moment of his life'

Perhaps the most crucial moment of Lewis Hamilton’s season came as the crash-strewn US GP moved into its final phase following the fourth safety car intervention. That was when team-mate Nico Rosberg, in the lead, slid wide soon after the restart, and handed Hamilton the win he desperately needed.

It was a fitting climax to a nail-biting race that had been dogged all through practice and qualifying by appalling weather, and Hamilton’s third victory here gave the Circuit of The Americas, and a spirited crowd, just the boost they needed.

“That’s the greatest moment of my life,” Hamilton said on his slowing down lap, his voice choked with emotion. He thanked his crew, as he always does, and then he added: “Thanks to my family, I love you all.”

The pre-race cheer from the spectators, which followed the rendition of the national anthem by Mayer Hawthorne, was one not just of pleasure and enthusiasm, but also relief after the collateral effects of Hurricane Patricia had so disrupted things. Finally, things were beginning to go right. There was only a 20% chance of rain, and was that even a glint, albeit momentary, of sunlight just before the smoke bombs temporarily obliterated everything?

open image in gallery

Hamilton had gone to the line secure in the knowledge that all he needed to do to cement a third title that would equal Sir Jackie Stewart's British record and bring him level with his idol Ayrton Senna’s tally was to outscore Ferrari’s Sebastian Vettel by nine points, and Rosberg by two. He would be home and dry, regardless of what the Ferrari driver might do, if he led a Mercedes 1-2. But with Rosberg narrowly beating him to pole position when qualifying was run yesterday morning after rain forced a postponement on Saturday, and desperate to end his own recent run of bad luck with a victory, he conceded that he was not approaching the race with a do or die attitude

open image in gallery

“With qualifying cut short I was unable to battle it out in last few laps,” he said. “But qualifying is just the beginning. The race is a long battle, and it’s going to be hard throughout the race. So today it’s about being sensible out there, there is no need to take any particular risks. There are four races left, so it’s not do or die this weekend.”

Things nevertheless went Hamilton’s way at the start as he pounced inside Rosberg, and then eased his team-mate wide as his Mercedes surrendered its front-end grip. But on intermediate tyres and a still very slippery track, he soon had his hands full as a battle royale developed with Rosberg and the Red Bulls of Daniil Kvyat and Daniel Ricciardo. The latter were handling the cold-tyre conditions much better, and by the 15th lap Ricciardo had pushed Hamilton down to second and was fast disappearing. But in the first pit stops after 19 laps, it was Rosberg who went ahead, and he appeared to have the race under control until the first safety car deployment was made on the 27th after Marcus Ericsson’s Sauber broke down and had to be retrieved.

On the restart six laps later Rosberg backed everybody up before speeding away from Hamilton, who on soft-compound slick tyres had quickly ousted Ricciardo.

Then another safety car, this time the virtual one which obliges drivers to slow to a predetermined speed, interrupted proceedings again as Nico Hulkenberg’s damaged Force India was removed. No sooner had that been switched off than there was another real intervention as Kvyat crashed his Red Bull heavily in the final corner on the 43rd of the 56 laps.

Yet again Rosberg backed everybody up, as they prepared for the final restart on the 47th lap. And again he clung to the lead, heading Hamilton by 1.6sec going into that 48th lap, but then he slid wide in Turn 12, and suddenly Hamilton was where he needed to be.

open image in gallery

But it was not yet quite over, for 2.8sec behind him Rosberg was under massive pressure from Vettel for the last five laps, but Rosberg just managed to fend off the Ferrari, by half a second, to give Hamilton the result he so badly wanted. Afterwards, they hugged in the green room with the same warmth with which Rosberg had greeted him in defeat in Abu Dhabi last year. As Hamilton prepared to go to the podium, Rosberg tossed his second place finisher’s hat at him. These were spontaneous display of sportsmanship on a day when everyone finally went home happy after all the aggravation.

But this was Hamilton’s moment. His day. His year. Last year he won his 10th race of the season in America, and this marked his 10th of 2015 and his 43rd overall. But it was that third title that really mattered so much. He laughed with sheer happiness on the podium, shocked to be greeted by Elton John, in town to give a concert.

“I feel amazing, and I want to say a huge thank you to the whole crowd for standing in the rain and staying with us,” he said. “I hope we put on a good show today. We have such a great team and they have taken me on board for the past three years and given me such a wonderful car. But I can’t find the right words this second to say how amazing I feel. Team LH, still I rise!”