If Lewis Hamilton is still to win F1 title, help will have to come from Red Bull

Graham Caygill writes Nico Rosberg, looking calm and composed, ticked the boxes he needed to in Austin. Barring catastrophe, Lewis Hamilton now needs help from his team's closest challengers.

Lewis Hamilton, followed by Red Bull's Daniel Ricciardo and Mercedes teammate Nico Rosberg during Sunday's United States Grand Prix. Clive Mason / Getty Images / AFP / October 23, 2016

Nico Rosberg's smile on the podium after finishing second in Sunday's United States Grand Prix matched that of his Mercedes-GP teammate and race winner Lewis Hamilton.

It was effectively a case of one down, three to go for the German. He was outperformed by Hamilton at the Circuit of Americas and was never a threat for the victory, but he did not have to be.

The 33-point lead he had going into the race means that Rosberg can afford to not win again in 2016 but still leave the final race of the season, the Etihad Airways Abu Dhabi Grand Prix, as world champion.

Before Sunday, if Hamilton won the remaining four races, it would still not be enough for him to claim a fourth drivers’ title, and a third in a row, if Rosberg is runner-up three times and finishes third on the other occasion.

One of those second places has been ticked off. Even though the gap is now down to 26 points, just three more consistent performances and Rosberg will follow in the footsteps of his father Keke, the 1982 world champion.

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The German appeared in a more conservative mode compared to his impressive drives in Singapore and Japan where he was quicker than Hamilton and beat him on merit.

In Austin, Hamilton was the faster driver and he controlled the race after taking the lead from pole position at the start, and was only headed briefly during the pit stops.

If Hamilton does not win the title he will regret not having more afternoons like the one enjoyed in Austin.

Mechanical problems, which gave him grid penalties at three races, and poor starts aside, Sunday was only the sixth time that Hamilton had led at the end of the first lap of a grand prix this season.

He won on five of the occasions, and the only reason it is not six out of six is because of his engine failure while comfortably leading in Malaysia earlier this month.

The general rule has been when Hamilton has had a problem-free weekend he has triumphed.

The fact that there have been too few of them is why he is in a situation where the title destiny is out of control.

All Hamilton can do now is win the remaining races, score the maximum 75 points available to him, and hope for a mistake from Rosberg or misfortune.

Given his speed and the continued excellent performance of the Mercedes car there is no reason why the former part of that scenario does not happen.

Hamilton will have been given some hope by the man who stood to his left on the podium, Red Bull Racing's Daniel Ricciardo. Without an ill-timed virtual safety car period – ironically so marshals could get to the second Red Bull of Max Verstappen after it had stopped following a gearbox failure on the 29th lap – the Australian was on target to beat Rosberg.

However, the caution period allowed the Mercedes man to pit and regain the track ahead of the Red Bull driver after he had trailed him for the first half of the race.

Ricciardo had appeared comfortable running ahead of Rosberg before that.

Granted, Ricciardo was always running on a softer, and in theory quicker tyre compound until then as he ran the super-soft and soft tyres in the first two stints.

Rosberg had run his race on softs and mediums.

It would still have been a challenge for the German to pass him on track, which he would have had to do before the virtual safety car period, but fortune decreed it was not a problem he had to tackle in the end.

The Red Bulls are becoming a factor though. They may still not have the direct raw pace of the Mercedes, but they are tough rivals when they have track position.

Ricciardo took points off Hamilton as he finished second ahead of him in Singapore last month, and then Verstappen achieved the same result in Japan two weeks ago as he held off a late challenge from the Briton.

The Red Bulls finishing ahead of Rosberg may be Hamilton’s best hope of the championship coming his way.

Ricciardo is already bullish about his prospects of putting in a strong challenge at the Yas Marina Circuit next month.

Hamilton may not be able to win this season’s crown on his own performances now, but Red Bull will be giving him the belief that if he can repeat Sunday’s drive in the remaining three races, all hope is not lost for him yet.

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