Congratulations to Lewis Hamilton and Mercedes for clinching the drivers title with two races to spare. Lewis deserves a lot of credit for his 5th title and we are all very lucky to have witnessed the kind of dominance that we’ve seen over the last 20 odd years with Michael, Seb and Lewis. They almost make the other title winners appear as a footnote, such has been their authority.

People will say that Lewis had the luck of being in a team that built him a fast car and it was more luck than anything else. Definitely luck does play a role for it could very well have been Alonso. But you’ve gotta hand it to his never say die spirit and always trying to extract the maximum from the car. It’s not like he was the only driver. His team mates also had access to the same car, but he took what was a great car and added that certain something whether you call it skill, attitude or just being able to visualize each and every moment and execute it better than others that got him where he is. Part of it also has to do with how the team clustered around him to get him there for a driver simply can’t rely on superior driving skill. He or she have got to be able to marshal the troops and get the best out of them.

Much as he isnt my favorite driver on the grid, I’ll have to admit that this was something special and out of the two drivers on the grid currently that have a shot at catching and beating Schumacher, it is Lewis that is likely to get there on current form. Did Seb and Ferrari make mistakes that helped Lewis? Surely they did, but that is part of the game. You drive the best you can while avoiding making any mistakes.

Was he aided by Bottas? For sure, Bottas did play sidekick but as much he’d hate being labeled that, he had enough of an opportunity in the same car to also establish his dominance. He did not and Lewis came out ahead. Lewis also outlasted Rosberg, perhaps the one driver that most toyed with his mental composure. But Nico retired rather than stay there and keep Lewis on his toes and things worked out better for Lewis.

Here’s a great article from the BBC on Lewis’ 5th championship
https://www.bbc.com/sport/formula1/46013836