F1 Preview: Championship Number Six to arrive in USA for Hamilton?

A top eight finish this weekend is all Lewis Hamilton needs to become a six-time world champion. Only teammate Valtteri Bottas can stop him, but he would need to win the remaining races to do so, with Hamilton hardly scoring anything.

It’s very hard to argue that Hamilton does not deserve this title. Perhaps it was not quite as good as last year, nevertheless to wrap any drivers’ championship up with races to spare is amazing and Hamilton is on track to do this again for the third consecutive season.

Mercedes were very tough to beat in the first half of the year but even with Ferrari having the fastest car in recent races, Hamilton and Mercedes have been able to topple them.

Ferrari have not only taken the last three pole positions, but they have locked out the front row too so should have been able to control the race in any situation.

Instead, Ferrari have not won any of the last three races whilst Mercedes have now got a hat-trick of wins and have scored double podiums in those Grand Prix.

Hamilton always praises the team and whilst it might be annoying to some people, he is ultimately right. Formula One and any motorsport is a massive team game and the driver is just one part of the process, albeit a very important jigsaw piece.

The strategy, communication, the pitstops, operations team, – these are just a few things that need to be working at the highest of levels all the time. Reacting to the situation, listening to feedback, willing to take a risk and executing a plan will not always go the way you want to.

But, Mercedes get it right more often than not and other teams are behind in all these areas.

As for Hamilton, it’s his pace on a Sunday which makes him the class of the field and the ability to do this for nearly every race of the season.

Austria and Germany are the only races where Hamilton has been off his game, arguably the season opener in Australia too. Apart from that, he has made no mistakes and always had the edge over Bottas whilst managing to topple or at least fight the Ferrari challenge.

If you look at Charles Leclerc, Sebastian Vettel and Max Verstappen – they make so many more unforced errors so whilst people will say ‘Hamilton just has the best car and only has to beat one driver’ – this is true to an extent but Hamilton has won races from behind and put himself in a position to capitalise on mistakes from others.

He is not sticking it on pole position, then driving away from the field. The Brit has had to battle for some of his wins this year, just like 2018. This is what makes him so tough to beat.

Even without the fastest car, he will chase you down all the way until the finish line in an utterly relentless manner, he rarely makes a mistake and he is by far the most consistent driver over a season.

Going back to this weekend, Hamilton will want to win the championship by crossing the finish line in first place. The 34-year-old has won in America on six occasions (the most) and always goes well around the Circuit of the Americas.

It’s a second home for Hamilton, he is always tough to beat at Silverstone and it’s the same with COTA.

Verstappen was excellent last year, going from 18th to 2nd in what was a classic Grand Prix. Kimi Raikkonen held off Hamilton and Verstappen including a fantastic battle with Hamilton in the mid-part of the race.

That particular race may well have been Raikkonen’s last ever F1 victory but it was a good one. He was ice-cool and drove very cleanly and wisely to stand on the top step of the podium.

The temperatures are in the mid-teens in Austin, Texas this weekend so the cooler conditions might not help Red Bull as much as it did last year. It will play into Mercedes’ hands and make a one-stop strategy a little bit easier.

Similar to Mexico, I believe Ferrari will have a car on pole position in qualifying and it will all be about the strategy and a little bit of luck.

It is slightly easier to overtake in USA compared to Mexico, because you can vary your racing lines a in places to try and keep out of the dirty air of the car in front.

So hopefully there will be more wheel to wheel battles rather than two second gaps splitting the top five cars with nobody able to attack or else their tyres will fall out of the operating window.

The 3.42 miles COTA track is getting faster and faster with the first sector requiring very little braking which is simply staggering. Overtaking opportunities into turn one and turn 12 can create some of the best racing we see all season as the battle can often continue through the next sequence of corners.

Track limits will be an issue as the drivers go off the track to gain laptime. The penultimate turn as well as turn nine will be the key areas which the stewards will have to look at. Will they put some kerbing there? Will they delete laptimes? How harsh will they be in the race? As long as they are consistent, there should be no problems.

Ferrari might win the battle this weekend, but Hamilton will win the war. Bottas will have to do something extraordinary to keep the championship alive, it’s unlikely to happen so Hamilton will be celebrating yet another title on Sunday.