Formula One: Lewis Hamilton braces for fifth World title
Formula One hero Lewis Hamilton is in line to win his fifth World Championship title. The Briton has been in stupendous form this year as well and there is no stopping him at the moment. The Mercedes driver was sensational over the weekend and sealed the Japanese Grand Prix. Mercedes saw a top two finish in Japan and were dominant from the word go.
The main focus, this season, was between Hamilton and Ferrari stalwart Sebastian Vettel. Germany's Vettel lost ground after a string of inconsistent shows despite getting off to a great start and being neck-to-neck with the Briton. Vettel finished a disappointing sixth in Japan. This has paved the way for Lewis to go ahead and conquer another world title.
Vettel is now 67 points adrift of Hamilton. This was the second successive top two finish for Mercedes and in two weeks time a win in Austin (Texas) would give Hamilton the title. Currently, he is tied with Vettel as both have four World Championship honors. Now, he could overtake the Ferrari man. Notably, Hamilton has dominated the US Grand Prix in the past.
Vettel had got off to a dream start winning the first two races of the season in Australia and Bahrain. But he surrendered momentum in the next four races as Lewis crawled back to seal two wins in this period. And the Briton took the complete initiative after winning six of the last eight. Lewis has nine race wins as against five by Vettel.
There are four races left this year and it looks like the lead would become mammoth by the end of the campaign. Ferrari with a much improved car, this year, have been disappointing. Moreover, mistakes by Vettel, on the circuit in several races, cost Ferrari. Mercedes will be keen to not allow Ferrari any space and finish off the year in style.
In the Constructors Standings, Mercedes have 538 points and lead Ferrari by 78 points. The latter need a strong show in four races to stun Mercedes. But that is unlikely. Hamilton has 331 points to 264 by Vettel.
