All Lewis Hamilton had to do at the last race in Mexico almost two weeks ago was finish fifth, and it didn't matter if his title rival Sebastian Vettel won the race, because fifth was all he needed to be crowned the 2017 F1 World Champion, the fourth championship title of his F1 career, and the most titles ever won by a British driver.
However, things didn't go anywhere near as planned come race day I Mexico. A first lap coming together with Vettel saw the Mercedes suffer a puncture, forcing him to lap slowly back to the pits for repairs. Vettel also had issues with a broken front wing, however, while the Ferrari driver emerged a lot higher up, Lewis was left at the back of the field with a partially damaged car.
A very heroic drive up to ninth place soon followed with Vettel unable to get any higher than fourth, meaning that, even though he was lapped (the first time a driver was lapped in their title winning race since the 70's) he climbed from his Mercedes as the 2017 F1 World Champion.
After receiving all the accolades, Lewis went on a much deserved holiday with family nd friends, however even now, almost two weeks later, his title win still hasn't fully sunk inโฆ
"It feels good when people say it. It really doesn't feel like it's sunk in,โ he said. "I think I was trying to absorb all the positive energy and then on the Monday I set my phone aside and had the best holiday we have ever had.โ
"Then, I came here and got back into race mode. I haven't thought about it too much. I guess I won't do that until probably the end of the season, until racing is done and my job is fully done. Then I can sit back. There are definitely things that can be improved but what a year it has been. I have enjoyed every moment of it."
Even though the title fight is over, there are still two races left to be contested in the 2017 season and the world Champion is fully focused on ending the season on a high note and hopefully some good racing with his rivals at Ferrari and Red Bull.
"Definitely, looking back, two years ago (when he took his last title) the focus was not the same as it has been during this season," he said. โI generally don't like to look back, so it is what it is. But, I don't want to be in that position again. I'm planning to keep the pressure exactly the same as it has been over the year.โ
โRed Bull stepped up their game, obviously with Max's win in the last race, and Ferrari have got a bit stronger. It might not be as bad a circuit for us as it was at the last one, but still, I am here to race with them. I had such a great time racing with these guys at Turn 1 (in Mexico), it's a shame it ended the way it did but I am hoping for more of that."
