lewis Hamilton took off his racing helmet and bent low in a moment of quiet reflection after winning a tight race and another Formula One championship.
Mercedes teammate Nico Rosberg sat nearby, slumped in a feeling of disgust revealed when Hamilton tossed him his second-place cap and the German flipped it right back, nearly hitting Hamilton in face.
Hamilton ignored the gesture, turned and walked to the victor’s podium to celebrate winning the United States Grand Prix to secure his third Formula One season title.
later, Rosberg accused Hamilton of being “extremely aggressive” and “going one step too far” at start of Sunday’s race.
The disappointed German finished second behind his Mercedes team-mate after starting from pole position and blamed himself for losing the race with an unforced error late in the race.
But, he added, Hamilton’s aggression at Turn One was “too much and one step too far” and said it was not acceptable.
“He was extremely aggressive at the start. We hit each other. Or should I say lewis came into me, which is not good.”
Rosberge said he had not seen a video re-run of the start and was reluctant to comment, but later he was adamant that the move was too aggressive to be acceptable.
But he made the point that he recovered from that setback on the first lap and could only blame himself for failing to win in the final laps after running wide on the 49th which opened the door for the Briton to seal a third world title
“It was my mistake that cost me the race and it was for me a very tough moment and so strange — it has never happened to me before, not even in free practice, not in the whole season,” added Rosberg.
It was indeed Rosberg’s mistake that helped make this one happen. The German skidded off a short straight out of the 12th turn with eight laps to go at the Circuit of the Americas, opening the gap Hamilton needed.
Hamilton’s third championship matches his idol Ayrton Senna and ties Jackie Stewart for most championships by a British driver. Only Michael Schumacher, Juan Manuel Fangio, Alain Prost and current Ferrari driver Sebastian Vettel have won more.
Vettel, who started 13th because of an engine change grid penalty, finished third. He could have pushed the championship race to next week in Mexico City if he had finished second.
Perez finishes 5th
Sahara Force India notched up 10 points from the US Grand Prix owing to Sergio Perez’s fifth-place finish even though Nico Hulkenberg could not complete the Formula One race.
Hulkenberg was forced to retire on lap 35 after contact with Daniel Ricciardo.