With his stetson cowboy hat shading his eyes from the Texas sunshine, Lewis Hamilton reaped deserved plaudits atop the podium at Sunday's United States Grand Prix.
Meantime, teammate and sole title rival Nico Rosberg will be well aware his hopes of a first championship are in the last-chance saloon.
Rosberg is no longer in control of his destiny.
Despite starting on pole position and building up a comfortable three-second lead ahead of the first round of pit stops in Austin, the German proved too conservative with his tyres.
Hamilton, typically aggressive and typically confident, attacked brilliantly to pass his childhood friend on Lap 24.
The two drivers – in the same car and on the same unworn medium tyres – could hardly have cut more contrasting figures in their approach to winning the race. Rosberg was wary and slow to react. Hamilton was focused and single-minded.
The latter leads the standings by 24 points meaning that, were it not for the implementation of the controversial double points rule for the race at Abu Dhabi's Yas Marina Circuit, Hamilton would have been in a position to seal his second title in Brazil this Sunday.
The result instead leaves Rosberg a glimmer of hope, but he knows even if he wins the penultimate race of the year at Interlagos and the season-finale in Abu Dhabi on November 23, he would still be runner-up if Hamilton is second on both occasions.
Austin presented Rosberg, 29, with his best chance to break Hamilton’s remarkable run of victories – the Briton has the past five in succession – but the former Williams driver came up short.
He had been notably quicker and was in complete control before changing rubber during the race. It is little wonder he called it the “worst possible way to lose”.
Hamilton, crowned world champion in 2008, has the experience required to close out a title fight and Rosberg has consistently proven he does not.
As has been obvious since his collision with Hamilton in Belgium, the pressure is proving too much for the German.
His decision-making was questionable at Spa-Francorchamps, his focus was unconvincing in Italy and he has more than once failed to show the killer instinct needed to wrap up a title that at one stage he led by a substantial margin.
Since making an error of judgement in Belgium, crashing into the rear of Hamilton and being forced to deliver a sheepish apology two weeks later, he has looked defeated.
With every race win Hamilton collects, Rosberg sinks deeper.
Austin should have been his resurgence, but instead it was merely a repeat of Japan.
Another chance gone.
“I just didn’t drive well enough,” he said in Austin.
That is not to say Rosberg is handing the title to his teammate.
Hamilton has been superb on his way to becoming, with 32 race wins, the most successful British driver in history.
He has more victories than Damon Hill and James Hunt combined, and he is the first driver other than Michael Schumacher or Sebastian Vettel to win 10 grands prix in a season. Hamilton is the deserved world champion and will – save for an unprecedented capitulation or bad luck – be crowned in the UAE capital.
Rosberg will be the first to congratulate him, but he will also be acutely aware that he has made mistakes this season that have helped his teammate and hindered his own chances.
This season’s experience will stand the German in good stead, but this weekend – as has been the case for much of the past few months – the man in the stetson was too quick on the draw.
Rosberg has shot himself in the foot one too many times.
gmeenaghan@thenational.ae
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