FORMULA ONE WORLD CHAMPIONS Four times or more
| 7 Michael Schumacher (Ger) |  | 1994, 1995, 2000, 2001, 2002, 2003, 2004 |
| 5 Juan Manuel Fangio (Arg) |  | 1951, 1954, 1955, 1956, 1957 |
| 4 Alain Prost (Fra) |  | 1985, 1986, 1989, 1993 |
| 4 Sebastian Vettel (Ger) | | 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013 |
| 4 Lewis Hamilton (Gbr) |  | 2008, 2014, 2015, 2017 |
LEWIS HAMILTON may have secured his latest world title in inauspicious circumstances on Sunday after being lapped and finishing down in ninth place in the Mexican Grand Prix.
But his achievement in having reached the summit of his sport - again - has sealed his place as a legend of Formula One.
Mercedes man Hamilton joins Alain Prost and contemporary rival Sebastian Vettel on four Drivers' Championships. Only Michael Schumacher and Juan Manuel Fangio have more.
Yet, at certain stages of the season, it looked as if it might be Vettel joining Fangio on five, as Ferrari produced a far more impressive car than in recent years.
After the Monaco Grand Prix in late-May, Vettel enjoyed a healthy 25-point lead, the exact equivalent of a whole race win.
And, even after both drivers had endured an indifferent summer, the German still led Hamilton at the four-week break by 14 points.
The autumn, though, was an entirely different story as Vettel imploded and Hamilton ignited his challenge with five wins out of six.
In Singapore, Vettel qualified on the pole - but, at the start, he and team mate Kimi Räikkönen squeezed the Red Bull of Max Verstappen, causing the Dutchman to touch Räikkönen.
The collision sent the Finn out of control and he hit the left sidepod of his team mate Vettel's car, causing major damage to both.
None of the three drivers involved completed a lap, while Hamilton - who had qualified fifth - picked up a fortunate victory, a third win in a row.
Two weeks later in Malaysia, Ferrari again had the fastest car - but an engine problem in qualifying consigned Vettel to the back of the grid.
And, although the German recovered to fourth, Hamilton took a surprise second to extend his lead to 34 points.
Remarkably, in Japan, Vettel retired early again - on that occasion due to a spark plug failure - and the Mercedes man Hamilton took full advantage with another race victory.
The championship lead was up to 59 points - and, at the following race in the United States, Mercedes were crowned Constructors' champions for a fourth successive year.
That achievement should not be understated for it came despite a whole raft of technical changes at the start of the 2017 season.
Indeed, it would also be wrong to suggest Hamilton and Mercedes have solely relied on the misfortune of Vettel for their success.
As Andrew Benson, chief correspondent for the BBC website, explained: "Of [Hamilton's] nine wins, at least three were of the very highest calibre, and in very different ways.
"He fought back to catch and pass Vettel in Spain, held off a faster Ferrari in Belgium, and came through against the odds with pace his team did not know they had in wet-dry Singapore. Three others - in Britain, Italy and the United States - were utterly dominant."
Of course, Hamilton will never be universally popular. Off the track, he is a self-styled high-roller, seemingly hopping from one celebrity bash to the next. One week he is hanging with Mo Farah, the next week with Usain Bolt.
He scored a big own goal when he was the only one of the 20 Formula One drivers who refused to take part in an event in London in the run-up to the British Grand Prix.
Meanwhile, on the track, he has gained a reputation for pettiness, badly damaging his longstanding friendship with Nico Rosberg in last year's tussle for the title.
Even on Sunday, Hamilton immediately speculated Vettel had hit him on purpose at the third corner, though the racing incident had done no favours for the German either.
Vettel ultimately finished fourth, well short of the required second place - which was guarded in any case by Hamilton's loyal Finnish team mate Valtteri Bottas.
Red Bull's Verstappen consequently earned a merited victory, his second of the season and the third of his fledgling career.
But - despite a self-proclaimed "horrible" race in Mexico City - the day belonged to Hamilton.
He already had more race victories (62) than any other British driver in Formula One history anyway - and he also has the most pole positions of any driver in history with 72.
Now, most significantly of all, he has more world titles than any other Briton, surpassing Sir Jackie Stewart's three.
And so, if it was not clear before this week then it certainly is now: this is Hammer time.
| Date | Hamilton | Vettel | Hamilton lead | ||
| 26 March | Australian Grand Prix | 2nd - 18 | 🏆1st - 25 | 🔽7 | |
| 9 April | Chinese Grand Prix | 🏆1st - 43 | 2nd - 43 | 🔼🔽Level | |
| 16 April | Bahrain Grand Prix | 2nd - 61 | 🏆1st - 68 | 🔽7 | |
| 30 April | Russian Grand Prix | 4th - 73 | 2nd - 86 | 🔽13 | |
| 14 May | Spanish Grand Prix | 🏆1st - 98 | 2nd - 104 | 🔽6 | |
| 28 May | Monaco Grand Prix | 7th - 104 | 🏆1st - 129 | 🔽25 | |
| 11 June | Canadian Grand Prix | 🏆1st - 129 | 4th - 141 | 🔽12 | |
| 25 June | Azerbaijan Grand Prix | 5th - 139 | 4th - 153 | 🔽14 | |
| 9 July | Austrian Grand Prix | 4th - 151 | 2nd - 171 | 🔽20 | |
| 16 July | British Grand Prix | 🏆1st - 176 | 7th - 177 | 🔽1 | |
| 30 July | Hungarian Grand Prix | 4th - 188 | 🏆1st - 202 | 🔽14 | |
| 27 August | Belgian Grand Prix | 🏆1st - 213 | 2nd - 220 | 🔽7 | |
| 3 September | Italian Grand Prix | 🏆1st - 238 | 3rd - 235 | 🔼3 | |
| 17 September | Singapore Grand Prix | 🏆1st - 263 | DNF - 235 | 🔼28 | |
| 1 October | Malaysian Grand Prix | 2nd - 281 | 4th - 247 | 🔼34 | |
| 8 October | Japanese Grand Prix | 🏆1st - 306 | DNF - 247 | 🔼59 | |
| 22 October | United States Grand Prix | 🏆1st - 331 | 2nd - 265 | 🔼66 | |
| 29 October | Mexican Grand Prix | 9th - 333 | 4th - 277 | 🔼56 | |
| 12 November | Brazilian Grand Prix | tbc | tbc | tbc | |
| 26 November | Abu Dhabi Grand Prix | tbc | tbc | tbc |
STANDINGS
Drivers' Championship
| P | Driver | Team | Points |
| 01 | Lewis Hamilton (Gbr) | Mercedes | 333 (9 wins) |
| 02 | Sebastian Vettel (Ger) | Ferrari | 277 (4 wins) |
| 03 | Valtteri Bottas (Fin) | Mercedes | 262 (2 wins) |
| 04 | Daniel Ricciardo (Aus) | Red Bull-Renault | 192 (1 win) |
| 05 | Kimi Räikkönen (Fin) | Ferrari | 178 |
| 06 | Max Verstappen (Ned) | Red Bull-Renault | 148 (2 wins) |
| 07 | Sergio Pérez (Mex) | Force India-Mercedes | 92 |
| 08 | Esteban Ocon (Fra) | Force India-Mercedes | 83 |
| 09 | Carlos Sainz Jnr (Esp) | Renault | 54 |
| 10 | Lance Stroll (Can) | Williams-Mercedes | 40 |
| 11 | Felipe Massa (Brz) | Williams-Mercedes | 36 |
| 12 | Nico Hulkenburg (Ger) | Renault | 34 |
| 13 | Romain Grosjean (Fra) | Haas F1-Ferrari | 28 |
| 14 | Kevin Magnussen (Den) | Haas F1-Ferrari | 19 |
| 15 | Stoffel Vandoorne (Bel) | McLaren-Honda | 13 |
| 16 | Fernando Alonso (Esp) | McLaren-Honda | 11 |
| 17 | Jolyon Palmer (Gbr) | Renault | 8 |
| 18 | Pascal Wehrlein (Ger) | Sauber-Ferrari | 5 |
| 19 | Daniil Kvyat (Rus) | Toro Rosso | 5 |
Constructors' Championship
| P | Team | Points |
| 01 | Mercedes | 595 (11 wins) |
| 02 | Ferrari | 455 (4 wins) |
| 03 | Red Bull-Renault | 340 (3 wins) |
| 04 | Force India-Mercedes | 175 |
| 05 | Williams-Mercedes | 76 |
| 06 | Toro Rosso | 53 |
| 07 | Renault | 48 |
| 08 | Haas F1-Ferrari | 47 |
| 09 | McLaren-Honda | 24 |
| 10 | Sauber-Ferrari | 5 |
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