Lewis Hamilton has won his fifth F1 championship in dramatic fashion at the Mexican Grand Prix.
In circumstances similar to the last race of the 2008 season, the Mercedes driver came home in fourth, needing only fifth to win the title even if closest rival Vettel won the race.
Ferrari’s Sebastian Vettel, however, was unable to challenge Red Bull’s Max Verstappen for the race win, and finished the race in second behind the Dutchman.
Cracks started to show in Vettel’s title challenge following the German’s home Grand Prix at Hockenheim, where the Ferrari driver crashed out of the lead of the race as rain started to fall, gifting Hamilton the race win and crucial championship points.
If Vettel had won the title, he would have been the first Ferrari driver to do so since 2007, when his teammate Kimi Räikkönen had overcome a four-way battle between himself, his then-teammate Felipe Massa, Lewis Hamilton (in his rookie F1 season) and Fernando Alonso.
Many had expected the 2018 F1 Driver’s Title to be clinched at the United States Grand Prix, but Vettel managed to finish in a high enough position at that race to keep himself within range of the Driver’s title.
Hamilton joins an elite club of only three drivers to have won five or more F1 titles, including Juan Manuel Fangio and Michael Schumacher.
KPH car blog 