Lewis Hamilton won his fifth Formula One world championship Sunday at the Mexican Grand Prix. Despite coming in fourth place in the race, Hamilton needed to finish in seventh or higher to take home the title. The only person standing in his way was Sebastian Vettel, who had to win outright to keep his F1 title hopes alive. However, he came up just short by coming in second.
Hamilton has experienced a career resurgence these last four years after going through a six-year drought following his first F1 title in 2008. His return to greatness coincided with a change in scenery of sorts for the British driver, who left McLaren in 2013 to join Mercedes, aligning himself with rival and longtime friend Nico Rosberg. The two would go on to wage war against one another throughout a three-year span where Hamilton got the better of Rosberg in 2014 and 2015. The following year, Rosberg finally came out on top, defeating Hamilton by a slight five-point difference in final standings.
In 2017, Hamilton captured his fourth F1 title and gained a new rival in Vettel after Rosberg announced his retirement. Much like his previous adversary, Hamilton has come away with the championship in back-to-back years, fending off consecutive second-place finishes by the German driver, who won four straight titles from 2010 to 2014.
Hamilton, who turns 34 in January, doesn't have any plans to call it quits any time soon as he sits just two titles away from matching the record set by Michael Schumacher. "I've still got more to do. There are so many different things that happened in that time and I waited a long time to get the second," he said, perThe Guardian. "I could easily have stayed where I was and I wouldn't be sitting here with the ones I have now. It's been interesting, the journey and the different decisions I have taken, but I am very grateful for the route I have been on. I feel incredibly fortunate to be in the position I am in but I feel like I have quite a lot left to do."
