After Winning 2015 World Championship at Austin Hamilton Loses to Rosberg at Mexican GP

Last week, British F-1 driver, Lewis Hamilton won his second consecutive World Championship and third overall after he held his nerve in a high-intensity contest with teammate Nico Rosberg in the US Grand Prix at Austin. In the Mexican GP, a week later, Hamilton’s loss to Rosberg did not make any difference to his new-found status of the season’s best F1 driver in the world. The two F1 events at Austin and Mexico, however, had their own tales with the only commonality being Mercedes’ 1-2 podium finish. After his US GP victory, 30-year old Hamilton also acquired the tag of the first British driver to win back-to-back titles and also the first to win at least 10 races in successive seasons. In Mexico last Sunday, roles were reversed as Nico Rosberg won his fourth race of the season in finishing ahead of the new world champion. After securing the pole in the qualifying, Rosberg controlled the race from the start and despite Hamilton’s best attempts; the German attained the top podium finish. Though, it won’t matter much now with two races at Brazil and Abu Dhabi remaining this season, Rosberg’s win at Mexico moved him back into second place in the points’ table ahead of Ferrari’s Sebastian Vettel, who unfortunately crashed out of the race.

On October 25, 2015, Lewis Hamilton scored the top podium finish at the US Grand Prix at the Circuit of the Americas in Austin and with that, his tally of championship points became unattainable for any other driver. For the second year in a row, therefore, Hamilton became the F1 champion with three races still left in the 2015 season. For Lewis Hamilton, it was a big moment to be winning the championship for the second year in a row. Nico Rosberg had taken the pole but after losing a tough duel with teammate Hamilton at first corner dropped the German to the fourth spot. Finally, however, Rosberg finished second ahead of Ferrari’s Sebastian Vettel, who had to start from the 13th place on the grid as a result of a 10-place grid penalty. In a race full of incidents, Kimi Raikkonen crashed into the barriers but still managed to drive after a new front wing was attached to his car. Kimi finally retired in Lap 27.Williams drivers Felipe Massa and Valterri Bottas met with accident in the first turn of the opening lap, McLaren’s Fernando Alonso lost a lot of ground after his first-lap accident and finished 11th. The fourth place at Austin was taken by the 18-year old Toro Rosso driver Max Verstappen,

In Mexico on November 1, 2015, Nico Rosberg claimed his fourth consecutive pole by edging out teammate Hamilton in the qualifying. However, this year, the German has only converted two of his last 10 poles into victory. Hamilton was second on the grid and despite having already been crowned as 2015 world champion, the Briton still wanted to win at Mexico and the next two races at Brazil and Abu Dhabi to take his 2015 victory count to 13. But the race day turned out to be another intra-team controversy at Mercedes after Hamilton disagreed with a request to make a second pit stop. The team had strategized to run the first third of the race on soft rubber before fitting mediums for the remaining laps. Everything looked good until Lap-43, when Mercedes called Rosberg for a second stop and one lap later, gave same instructions to Hamilton. The world champion immediately questioned the decision saying that his tyres felt fine. But he was still asked to comply. Adding to Hamilton’s frustration was Sebastian Vettel’s crash in lap-52 that brought the safety car out. If that had not happened, Hamilton could still have rejoined the race and possibly won.

In any case, Rosberg’s fourth triumph of the season at Mexico was well deserved as he drove solidly and left Hamilton at second place. Williams’s Valtteri Bottas took the final spot on the podium ahead of Red Bull’s Daniil Kvyat. The fifth place was taken by the other Red Bull driver Daniel Ricciardo with Williams’ Felipe Massa finishing sixth. The next two places were taken by Force India drivers Nico Hulkenberg and the Mexican Sergio Perez, who was wildly cheered by 132,000 fans at the Hermanos Rodriguez race-track. Toro Rosso driver Max Verstappen was ninth while Romain Grosjean of Lotus finished tenth.