AUSTIN (Texas): The fastest man on four wheels stood on the US Grand Prix podium with the fastest man on two feet.

Together, Mercedes driver Lewis Hamilton and retired sprinter Usain Bolt struck Bolt’s familiar “To the World” pose, their fingers pointing to the sky and perhaps the way toward another Hamilton Formula One championship.

Hamilton tightened his control on the F1 season title by winning the US Grand Prix on Sunday ahead of title rival Sebastian Vettel, who finished second in a race he said he had to win.

The 32-year-old Briton, who started from a record 72nd pole position, recovered after losing his advantage at the start to regain the lead and steer his Mercedes to his ninth win this year, his fifth at the Circuit of the Americas and the 62nd of his career.

Hamilton, presented with the winner’s trophy by former U.S. president Bill Clinton, now looks sure to finish off the job and become Britain’s first four-time world champion in Mexico next weekend.

Four-time champion German Vettel came home second for Ferrari and with three races remaining trails Hamilton by 66 points in the drivers’ title race.

There are a maximum of 75 points still to be won from the three races remaining but if Hamilton wins, or finishes anywhere in the top five, in Mexico City next weekend, he will be champion.

Hamilton’s victory, with Mercedes team-mate Valtteri Bottas finishing fifth, confirmed the team as constructors champions for 2017 and for the fourth consecutive season.

“I love this track, I think this track is now my favourite to be honest,” said Hamilton, interviewed on the podium by multiple Olympic sprint champion Bolt. “A big congratulations to the team. They work so hard back at the factory and here.”

Hamilton is on a late-season charge toward a championship that would further define his legacy in the sport. Formula One’s first and only black driver could join Vettel as a four-time season champion. Only Germany’s Michael Schumacher (7) and Argentina’s Juan Manuel Fangio (5) have won more.

“I don’t let my mind go there,” Hamilton said. “Three races to go, three races to win.”

Vettel seemed resigned to the reality that his title hopes collapsed with his second-place finish.

“It wasn’t our race to win,” Vettel said. “We tried to fight. We got beaten fair and square. It was looking good at the start, but we had to realise we couldn’t go at that pace — we were in no-man’s land and there was no secret to it. It’s not strategy. They were quicker than us — so congratulations to Lewis.”

Ferrari’s Kimi Raikkonen took third, despite finishing fourth at the flag, after Red Bull’s Max Verstappen — who had passed the Finn with a great overtaking move — was hit with a five second post-race penalty that dropped him to fourth.

“It is an appalling decision. They have robbed all of the fans here,” raged Red Bull principal Christian Horner as Verstappen left the pre-podium room. “It was a great Grand Prix and they have screwed it up.”

Published in Dawn, October 24th, 2017