Texas offers Hamilton first shot at fifth title

It will be high fives for Lewis Hamilton in Austin on Sunday if a fifth win in a row brings the Briton a fifth Formula One world title. The Mercedes driver is on the brink of joining the late Argentine Juan Manuel Fangio as a quintuple champion, with only seven times titleholder Michael Schumacher ahead of them in the all-time lists. Hamilton is 67 points clear of Ferrari’s Sebastian Vettel with three races — and a maximum 75 points — remaining after Texas.

That means the title will be Hamilton’s if he scores eight points more than the German, something the Briton has done for the past four races and a total of eight times in the 17 grands prix so far. On paper, with Hamilton and Finnish team mate Valtteri Bottas one-two in the last two races and the champion triumphant in five of the past six races at the Circuit of the Americas — including the last four — the title is there for the taking.

Hamilton has won five races in a row before, in 2014 when the sequence involved the same five as this time, and is in the form of his life with nine wins so far this season. He has been busy with media activities in New York this week but his focus on the main task ahead remains laser sharp.