Lewis Hamilton has a rather large lead in the Formula One drivers standings heading into the United States Grand Prix. Can he clinch the championship at the race?
There are just four races remaining on the 20-race 2017 Formula One schedule. Those four races will be held in the United States, Mexico, Brazil and Abu Dhabi, respectively. Lewis Hamilton currently holds a 59-point lead in the drivers standings over Sebastian Vettel.
Hamilton, 32, drives for Mercedes, while Vettel, 30, drives for Ferrari. Mercedes’ Valtteri Bottas is also still in the mix to win the 2017 championship in 3rd place in the standings, but he sits 13 points behind Vettel and 72 points behind Hamilton.
With a maximum of 25 points on the table for each driver in each of the remaining four races of the season, that means that the maximum points total a driver can accumulate over the next four races is 100 points, and a driver can only do that by winning every single one of those four races. This means that it will be hard for someone other than Lewis Hamilton to win this season’s championship.
The question is, will Hamilton be able to seal the deal and clinch his fourth career Formula One championship this weekend in the United States Grand Prix?
Lewis Hamilton clinching the 2017 championship in the United States Grand Prix: SELL
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I have no doubt that Lewis Hamilton will win this year’s Formula One championship given his massive points lead with four races to go. But simply put, too much needs to happen for Hamilton to clinch his fourth career Formula One championship this weekend in the United States Grand Prix.
Here are the two possible scenarios by which Lewis Hamilton can seal his fourth career title this weekend.
- Lewis Hamilton wins and Sebastian Vettel finishes in 6th place or lower.
- Lewis Hamilton finishes in 2nd place, Sebastian Vettel finishes in 9th place or lower and Valtteri Bottas finishes in 3rd place or lower.
So if Hamilton finishes anywhere outside of the top 2 OR Sebastian Vettel finishes anywhere in the top 5, Hamilton will not have secured his fourth career Formula One championship this weekend even though he will still have a sizable points lead heading into the 18th of 20 races on the 2017 schedule in Mexico.
Next: Which drivers will drive for Mercedes and Ferrari in 2019?
Will Lewis Hamilton clinch his fourth career Formula One championship in this weekend’s United States Grand Prix? Tune into the action from Circuit of the Americas in Austin, Texas live on NBC on Sunday, October 22nd, 2017 at 3:00 PM ET to find out.