Reliving Lewis Hamilton’s Dramatic 2015 United States GP Title Triumph

The 2015 F1 season is often viewed in a somber light due to Mercedes’ dominance. But Lewis Hamilton’s championship-winning moment at the 2015 United States GP highlights the underappreciated competitiveness in the field that year. Despite Hamilton dominating the season, Nico Rosberg and Sebastian Vettel were keeping him honest by winning races at regular intervals.

While Rosberg was the main contender to challenge the Briton for the world championship, Vettel stole his moments of glory too. The four-time champion did not have a competitive enough Ferrari to challenge Mercedes at every race. But Hamilton and Rosberg stepping on each other’s toes helped him even take P2 in the championship at certain points.

The 2015 United States GP was a race where Hamilton had the chance to seal his third world championship. Heading into the weekend in Austin, the #44 driver was leading the standings with 302 points. Vettel was actually second at this stage with 236 points, and Rosberg trailing him by seven points in third.

Hamilton and Rosberg’s roller coaster of a title battle

The rivalry between Hamilton and Rosberg amplified during the 2015 season after a cordial battle for the championship the previous year. The German driver was keen to settle the scores with his old pal but suffered a bad mid-season slump wherein Hamilton capitalized to win five races while Rosberg couldn’t win a single one.

This was the reason for Rosberg being third in the championship as even Vettel had got better podium results and won two Grands Prix during this run of eight races.

As for the on-track tussles with Hamilton, Rosberg’s mental fortitude was affected a lot due to the constant tension. The Mercedes duo had several skirmishes that resulted in contacts and collisions on track throughout the 2014 and 2015 seasons.

At the Circuit of the Americas as well, Hamilton and Rosberg almost collided with the tense championship battle heading towards its tipping point. The British driver had to simply win the US GP and he was going to seal his third world championship. Had Rosberg won, he would have delayed Hamilton’s celebrations until the Mexican GP weekend.

Amid all this, rain further spiced things up to add another level of uncertainty. Due to inclement weather on Saturday, qualifying had to be delayed to Sunday morning and it was a big challenge for all drivers. However, even in qualifying, the rain intensified to only allow Q1 and Q2 to happen. Thus, they had to use the order from Q2 to set the grid for the Grand Prix.

Hamilton’s aggressive start against Rosberg

Rosberg was starting on the pole with Hamilton beside him on the front row. The rain had persisted with overcast conditions at COTA and all drivers started on the intermediate tires. The Mercedes duo battled at the start into the turn 1 mound with Hamilton running his teammate out of the road after they both struggled for front tire grip.

Rosberg lost several places due to this running in the lower fringes of the points in the initial phase of the 56-lap race. However, after a Virtual Safety Car (VSC) neutralized the Grand Prix around lap 8, Rosberg climbed through the field. The Red Bull cars of Daniel Ricciardo and Daniil Kvyat were keeping Hamilton in check all this while.

As the German driver entered this tussle, it was an entertaining phase of the race with Rosberg and Ricciardo pushing Hamilton for the race lead, with the Aussie even taking it on lap 15. As Hamilton started to struggle on his intermediate tires around lap 19 with a dry line appearing on the track, he pitted for slick tires.

Rosberg and Ricciardo covered him off as the Briton could not warm up his yellow-walled soft tires in time to undercut the leading duo. From there on, the German driver produced an excellent middle stint of the race and looked in command to win the United States GP.

Rosberg pitted later around lap 39 under another VSC to give the lead to Hamilton. The Briton also took advantage of a cheaper pit stop under a full safety car five laps later, and it put the German under the threat of Hamilton overtaking him on fresher tires.

Rosberg could’ve won the 2015 United States GP

Despite five-lap fresher tires, Rosberg was doing a good job in the final stint to protect his lead. However, as the cars went racing again after the safety car ended, on lap 48, Rosberg made an unforced error and went wide at turn 15 which allowed Hamilton to go through and take the lead.

That was the decisive moment as Hamilton was now in the perfect position to secure the 2015 world championship. It all came undone as a messy race for Rosberg had a fitting conclusion with that one moment where his concentration lapsed.

As he lost to Hamilton for a second consecutive season, it was understandable that the German was angry after the race. In the cooldown room, the British driver playfully threw the podium cap at Rosberg who was sitting in agony of losing the race and the championship.

He frustratingly threw the cap back, which hinted at the tension between the Mercedes duo at that time. Per Motorsport.com, Rosberg played it down in the post-race presser by saying, “That was just some games so nothing much, nothing more into that.”

However, as it is well-documented, the German driver was extremely frustrated about losing to Hamilton in 2015. From there on, he went on a dominant winning run by clinching all three remaining races of the 2015 season in Mexico, Brazil, and Abu Dhabi.

He continued this winning streak into the 2016 season as well to win the first four Grands Prix that year. This showcased his renewed vigor for beating Hamilton to the world championship, which he eventually did in another tense finale in Abu Dhabi that season.