Hamilton champion from the US GP?

While Lewis Hamilton was 14 points behind Sebastian Vettel at the end of the Hungarian GP played on July 30 at the Hungaroring, the driver Mercedes is having a sensational second half of the season after winning four of the last five Grands Prix contested after the summer break and now has a lead of 59 points with four events remaining in the season.

At the same time, Sebastian Vettel has not won since the Hungarian weekend. While the pilot of the Team Ferrari finished in the top two places in the first six events of the season, with three victories to boot, the four-time world champion is going through a difficult time. His retirement at the Singapore GP while on pole preceded another disappointing weekend in Malaysia where he had to start from the back of the grid following a mechanical problem in qualifying. His new retirement last weekend in Japan following a new reliability concern, this time with the spark plugs, could well have sealed the outcome of the Championship.

Lewis Hamilton, who scored his 61st victory in Suzuka yesterday F1 and his eighth of the year, also celebrated his 21st consecutive finish in the points, equaling the best consistent performance of his rival for the coronation. The Briton is only six races away from the absolute record held by Kimi Räikkönen.

Above all, Lewis Hamilton could secure the title at the next US GP on October 22 in Austin (Texas), as he did in 2015 against his former teammate Nico Rosberg. The three-time world champion will win a fourth coronation on November 12 if he wins the race and his German opponent finishes higher than fifth place.

Discover the analysis of the Japanese GP carried out by our special correspondent in issue 2135 of AUTOhebdo, available from Monday evening in digital version on all platforms, and from this Wednesday on newsstands.