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Formula One: How Lewis Hamilton can win his fourth career championship in the United States Grand Prix

By Asher Fair

SUZUKA, JAPAN - OCTOBER 08: Race winner Lewis Hamilton of Great Britain and Mercedes GP celebrates on the podium during the Formula One Grand Prix of Japan at Suzuka Circuit on October 8, 2017 in Suzuka. (Photo by Mark Thompson/Getty Images)
SUZUKA, JAPAN - OCTOBER 08: Race winner Lewis Hamilton of Great Britain and Mercedes GP celebrates on the podium during the Formula One Grand Prix of Japan at Suzuka Circuit on October 8, 2017 in Suzuka. (Photo by Mark Thompson/Getty Images) /
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Lewis Hamilton has a chance to win his fourth career Formula One championship this Sunday in the United States Grand Prix. Here’s how he can pull it off.

While there are still four races remaining on the 20-race 2017 Formula One season schedule in the United States, Mexico, Brazil and Abu Dhabi, Lewis Hamilton will have the opportunity to clinch his fourth career F1 championship this Sunday, October 22nd in the United States Grand Prix at Circuit of the Americas in Austin, Texas.

Hamilton, 32, who drives for Mercedes, currently leads the drivers standings by 59 points over Ferrari’s Sebastian Vettel, 30, and 72 points over his Mercedes teammate Valtteri Bottas, 28. With 25 points per race still on the table for all drivers, each driver has the potential to score up to 100 more points this season, thus making Vettel and Bottas still eligible to win this year’s championship.

But Hamilton can put the championship aspirations of Vettel and Bottas to bed this Sunday and clinch his fourth career Formula One championship and his first since the 2015 season in two different ways. While both ways are long shots, Hamilton can certainly still get it done. But even if he doesn’t, he will still be the overwhelming favorite to win this year’s title.

Here’s how Lewis Hamilton can lock up his fourth career Formula One championship this Sunday.

If Lewis Hamilton would win the race and Sebastian Vettel would finish in 6th place or lower, Hamilton would win the championship. A win would give Hamilton 25 points while 6th place would give Vettel 8 points, which would allow Hamilton to extend his lead to 76 points over Vettel with three races to go. If this happens, Hamilton would win the championship in the United States Grand Prix, and it would not matter what position Valtteri Bottas would finish the race in. Even if Bottas would finish in 2nd place, he would only score 18 points, which would put Hamilton 79 points ahead of him after the race.

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If Lewis Hamilton would finish the race in 2nd place and Sebastian Vettel would finish in 9th place or lower while Valtteri Bottas would finish in 3rd place or lower, Hamilton would win the championship in the United States Grand Prix. A 2nd place finish would give Hamilton 18 points while a 9th place finish would give Vettel 2 points and a 3rd place finish would give Bottas 15 points. If this happens, both Vettel and Bottas would trail Hamilton by 75 points after the race, and Hamilton would have clinched the wins tiebreaker over both Vettel and Bottas since neither of them would be able to catch his win total of eight victories in the final three races of the season, as Vettel has won four races so far this season while Bottas has won two, thus allowing Hamilton to win his fourth career Formula One championship in the United States Grand Prix this Sunday.

Next: Which drivers will drive for Mercedes and Ferrari in 2019?

Will Lewis Hamilton, Sebastian Vettel and Valtteri Bottas finish where they need to finish this weekend for Hamilton to secure his fourth career Formula One championship? Tune into NBC at 3:00 PM ET this Sunday, October 22nd, 2017 to follow the action live from Circuit of the Americas in Austin, Texas.

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