Lewis Hamilton dethroned his childhood hero Michael Schumacher on Sunday with a virtuoso display of driving that secured the Englishman his seventh Formula One world championship.
Hamilton, who was winning his 70th grand prix, came home third behind his Mercedes team mate Valtteri Bottas and Ferrari’s Sebastian Vettel after a thrilling race at Suzuka in Japan.
The 33-year-old clinched the title — and moves level with Schumacher — thanks to a 13th victory of the season and the constructors’ crown too, bringing Schumacher’s own five victories in a row from 2004 to 2005.
Even before he sealed his 20th win of the season, he held up his hands to the crowd and admitted he could not believe it.
“I can’t describe how I feel. A dream come true, I just can’t believe it,” Hamilton said.
Hamilton had finished second behind Vettel at Suzuka last year, in the season in which he lost the championship in the final race of the year by finishing fourth, to deny him a sixth title.
There was no repeat of that struggle this time, though, as the former McLaren driver put the record to bed with a masterful drive that belied his age.
Reflecting on the fight that he and Schumacher waged for a decade — when Schumacher was said to be “the only man I could beat” — Hamilton, a rival and close friend, said it was “fierce”.
Vettel looked likely to pip Hamilton to the title, at least for a couple of weeks, when he went ahead of the Briton by seven points with five races remaining — ending his own hopes of an elusive fifth world crown.
Hamilton fought back ruthlessly at the back of the field when others were overtaking and stormed back to the front, pulling off some stunning manoeuvres as Vettel got himself in trouble.
The Spaniard pitted first in order to claim a strategy advantage but he soon ran out of time and dropped back again, giving Hamilton the chance to open a lead.
The margin of victory was reduced by a five-second penalty against Vettel for having not pitted enough times.
He dropped to second behind Bottas after a car brake failure and decided not to try to rejoin in fifth position and go back to the pits but the German had to retire with smoke pouring from his Ferrari.
No other race drivers had stopped for a while and Hamilton hit the kerb on the run back and skidded, losing two places as a result.
Briefly hamstrung by a five-second stop/go penalty at the same time, though, Hamilton managed to make up ground again to grab third place and close in on the title.
While Mercedes could enjoy the moment, the Red Bulls of Australian Daniel Ricciardo and Dutch teenager Max Verstappen were retiring, with Ricciardo unable to make the tyres last.
New Zealander Brendon Hartley had a less comfortable day, hitting the barrier at turn four with his Toro Rosso before retiring.