Hamilton on verge of fifth F1 title with POLE at US Grand Prix

Lewis Hamilton is on the verge of his fifth drivers title as he takes pole position for the US Grand Prix. Vettel qualified second, but starts fifth.

If Lewis Hamilton wins the 2018 United States Grand Prix this weekend and Vettel finishes third or lower he will take his fifth drivers title. And that looks to be on the cards after qualifying in pole with Vettel in second, with Vettel getting a three place grid penalty for failing to slow down enough in practice.

With Vettel shuffled down to fifth on the grid, it will be Raikkonen starting in second – which could help Ferrari – and Bottas in third. But Vettel will also have to get past Daniel Ricciardo in the Red Bull before he can take on Bottas and, we assume, have Raikkonen moved out of the way to keep his title hopes alive. It looks a tall order.

But although Ferrari has seemed off the boil – and error prone – in recent races, in Austin this weekend they have seemed strong, so there is a chance Vettel, Raikkonen and Ferrari could frustrate the ambitions of Mercedes and Hamilton to close out the title race this weekend.

Vettel probably won’t have to battle Max Verstappen’s Red Bull as he tries to stop what seems the inevitable, after he qualified in 15th following a power loss, and the mix of Force India, Haas, Sauber and Renaults in the ‘best of the rest’ following shouldn’t impact either.

What certainly won’t have any impact is McLaren, a team no doubt praying for the end of the season after qualifying in 16th (Alonso) and last.