Lewis Hamilton secures sixth Formula 1 title

English driver Lewis Hamilton, from Mercedes, finished second this Sunday in the United States Grand Prix and won his sixth Formula 1 championship since his debut with McLaren in the Australian Grand Prix of 2007.

Hamilton completed the 56 laps of the Circuit of the Americas, in Austin (Texas), where the race took place, with a time of 1:40.503.

His teammate, Finnish driver Valtteri Bottas (1:40.351), won the race, securing another one-two finish for the Mercedes team, while Dutch driver Max Verstappen from Red Bull joined them on the podium and Monégasque driver Charles Leclerc finished fourth.

The 34-year-old British driver, who had already won the Bahrain, China, Spain, Monaco, Canada, France, England, Hungary, Russia, and Mexico Grand Prix, arrived in Austin needing only four points to secure the championship. By winning, he gained 25 points and reached a total of 388.

The English driver now climbs to second place on the list of Formula 1 champions, surpassing the legendary Argentinian driver Juan Manuel Fangio, and is one title away from equaling German driver Michael Schumacher's record of seven titles.

Hamilton's previous titles were in 2008 with McLaren, and 2014, 2015, 2017, and 2018 with Mercedes.

Hamilton secured the championship with two more races to go in the official 2019 Formula 1 calendar, the Brazilian and Abu Dhabi Grand Prix. EFE