Lewis Hamilton poised to take F1 title in Texas

Lewis Hamilton could live his own American dream by becoming a triple Formula One world champion in Texas on Sunday.

If the Briton scores two points more than Mercedes team mate Nico Rosberg, and nine more than Ferrari’s Sebastian Vettel, at the Circuit of the Americas then it is game over with three races to spare. A Mercedes one-two, with Hamilton winning, would see to that.

No British driver has ever won two Formula One titles in a row, despite the country providing more world champions than any other nation, but Hamilton looks set to make history in a country he considers home from home.

“Well just first I’m happy to be here. Excited. Always enjoy myself out here in the states and the track is fantastic. The race has been great here since 2012 so yeah just excited for another weekend. Missed driving the car for two weeks,” he said at Thursday’s news conference

The 30-year-old would join Jackie Stewart, now 76, as Britain’s only three times champion but it is another great – Brazil’s late triple title winner Ayrton Senna – that he most wants to emulate.

If Brazil, next month, might have been a more symbolic place to secure the title than the United States is perfect in other respects.

Hamilton has a holiday home in Colorado and is a frequent visitor, as celebrity websites and his social media accounts bear witness, to both the east and west coasts of a country that is also his employer’s biggest market.

With Mercedes wrapping up the constructors’ title in Russia for the second year in a row, Sunday could see the ‘double double’ sealed in style.

The country’s race has been good to Hamilton, who is chasing a literal hat-trick after winning two of the three grands prix held so far in Austin and three of the last four in the United States.

Rosberg, despite the mathematical odds against him, will be determined to keep his team mate waiting at least until Formula One makes its return to Mexico next week.

With only three wins to Hamilton’s nine he needs to regain momentum after retirement in Sochi pushed him down to third overall in the championship behind Ferrari’s four times champion.

For local fans there will be the novelty of a U.S. driver to cheer, the first since 2007, even if Californian Alexander Rossi is more likely to be lapped in the Manor Marussia than playing any part in the championship outcome.

“I think, first of all, that the reaction has been very positive, which is what we wanted to see, Of course there is pride that goes along with it, but that started in Singapore and Japan as well. Obviously to be here at home means a big deal, but at the same time we have a job to do and very clear objectives to meet. I’m looking forward to it; there are a lot of friends and family that will be coming this weekend. But I think once you get in the car and on track you appreciate the fact that there is a bigger picture,” Rossi said.

Kimi Raikkonen and Valtteri Bottas were asked about their collision at the Russian Grand Prix which occurred as they were battling for the final podium spot.

“Obviously there were some discussions and penalties given to me, but I would still do it tomorrow again, that doesn’t change the story. Unfortunately, we came together in the end and we both lost a bit, but that’s life, that’s racing. I don’t feel bad about it and if somebody feels that, it’s up to them. It’s OK for me. Like I said, I would still do the same thing next time and maybe it goes better,” Raikkonen said

“For me it’s the same really. It was a good weekend until the last lap, so of course disappointing to lose the points but my opinion hasn’t changed. I wouldn’t do anything different and it’s now history, so I’m 100 per cent ready to move on,” Bottas added.

Red Bull’s Daniel Ricciardo was asked about his status with the team for the upcoming season.

“Not much has changed to be honest. We’re still not confirmed with anything yet but from my side I’m still confident I’ll be racing. Confident we’ll be there and hopefully competitive. I think that’s more the concern. I have confidence we’ll be on the grid it’s just a concern that we can be competitive and I think we can be. This year we obviously got a couple of podiums which is nice but certainly not enough to keep us extremely happy. We want to be competitive and I think that’s just as important as being on the grid,” he observed.

Sweden’s Marcus Ericsson, in his second year of F1 racing, spoke about his progress with Sauber.

“I think I’ve had a really good run from the middle of the season really. Then the last three weekends we’ve had some messy weekends with difficult Fridays and difficult Saturdays, so I’m not entirely happy with the last three events. I think we could have done better things there. Like you said, Russia was a tough one, going our on the first lap, especially because I think our car was competitive around there. So not very happy with the last three but looking forward to turning it around here in Austin,” he said.

The starting grid will have two more cars than last year, a race that went ahead amid rumbles of a potential boycott after absent Marussia and now-defunct Caterham went into administration.