Hamilton clinches F1 championship No. 6
AUSTIN, Texas – Lewis Hamilton secured his sixth Formula One championship with a second-place finish Sunday at the U.S. Grand Prix, a race won by his Mercedes teammate Valtteri Bottas.
The British driver now ranks second in F1 history behind German Michael Schumacher’s record seven titles. Hamilton has won the last three season championships and locked this one up with two races left.
He has been a dominant force at the Circuit of the Americas, with five wins here since it opened in 2012, but a poor qualifying set up a start from fifth.
Hamilton quickly bolted to third on the first lap as he passed the Ferraris of Sebastian Vettel and Charles Leclerc. From there, Hamilton looked to be in the hunt for his sixth win at the track while knowing he could coast in for the championship, because a finish as low as eighth would clinch it.
He still fought hard for the victory before fading late in the final five laps to fall behind Bottas, who was on fresher tires.
“Still we rise!” Hamilton radioed to his garage on a lap after the checkered flag. season Sunday at the Dodge NHRA Nationals to pull within one round of points of leader Steve Torrence with one event left.
Force, the defending season champion, beat Torrence with a track-record time of 3.652 seconds and a top speed of 334.73 mph at The Strip at Las Vegas Motor Speedway.
She trails Torrence by 16 points going into the finale in two weeks in Pomona, California.
“This weekend has been incredible for this team,” Force said. “I’ve always wanted to win here. We set the mph record here and we’ve accomplished a lot, but what we’re really going after is a championship together.”
The victory was the 151st for female drivers, coming moments after Pro Stock’s Erica Enders claimed No. 150.