Lewis Hamilton was one lap away from pulling off a remarkable comeback to clinch what would have been a record-breaking eighth world championship victory.
Lewis HamiltonBeat team mate in qualifying17/22Beat team mate in race14/17Races finished21/22Laps spent ahead of team mate933/1106Qualifying margin-0.25sPoints387.5
That comeback had begun in Brazil, where he arrived needing to sweep the final four races, assuming championship rival Max Verstappen kept up his usual scoring rate. But the situation looked grim for Hamilton when the stewards sent him to the back of the grid for Saturday’s sprint qualifying race after his DRS failed a technical inspection.
Astonishingly, from there until the penultimate lap in Abu Dhabi, Hamilton was on course to claim those four essential wins. Aided by a fresh fifth internal combustion engine in Brazil, he cut a swathe through the field and denied Verstappen victory. He followed it up with an emphatic win in Qatar and bested Verstappen in a…