Vettel extends lead but title race will go to the Brazilian wire
Monday 19 November 2012 08:18, UK
The title fight lives on after a day - and not just a race - of compelling drama at the Circuit of The Americas saw Fernando Alonso, with a little help from team-mates past and present, cancel Sebastian Vettel's coronation party as Lewis Hamilton secured a deserved victory from the Red Bull driver.
But still the story did not end there. To his credit, even the prospect of extending his World Championship lead wasn't sufficient to persuade Vettel to call off his hunt for victory, with his Red Bull maintaining a dogged pursuit of the McLaren until the chequered flag and crossing the line for the final time with the fastest lap of the race. You may not like him, but sometimes it's impossible not to admire him. More emphatically, the same could be said of Hamilton following his spirited and ultimately successful pursuit of victory for a team he will be leaving in less than two months' time against machinery which had appeared at the weekend's onset to be simply unstoppable. Was this Hamilton's best victory yet? Very possibly. "That was wicked. I was so happy I nearly lost my voice on the in-lap because I was screaming so much," he told Sky Sports F1 afterwards. "What a great day. To finally be able to battle the Red Bulls was very special." Having lost out from the dirty side of the grid at the start, the 2008 World Champion retook second place from Webber on lap four before setting off in search of Vettel. Time and again, the pair swapped fastest laps, serving up a majestic display of frontrunning as the rest of the field were reduced to the rank of backmarkers. Featuring just a single overtake, their duel may not have had been the most dramatic of the year, but its longevity, and the absence of any obvious mistakes, made it one of the campaign's finest spectacles. What a way for Hamilton to sign off as he prepares to depart McLaren. What a track. What a season. And what a finale awaits us in Brazil. PG