His third world championship - matching the tally of his boyhood hero Ayrton Senna - confirmed that Lewis Hamilton had joined the ranks of the sport's greatest drivers.

People overlook his brilliance because they don't like the way he dresses, they don't like this and they don't like that. The Lewis that people see now, there are reasons why he is like that. And now, he is the most successful driver in the history of F1. He broke Michael Schumacher’s record of 91 wins last month, has equalled the German's record of seven world championships - and has every chance of adding an eighth next year.In the autobiography Lewis Hamilton: My Story, published in 2007 after his first year in Formula 1, Hamilton declared, “For me, race is not an issue at all.” This, he now says, was the stance he was encouraged to take. Every driver here looks at the Red Bull car and would love to drive that car. I'm not saying I wouldn't love to drive that car and experience how good that car is - every driver would feel that - [but] I feel that we've had two really difficult cars and if we work towards being that car, it is going to be a way better feeling than stepping into the best car. The speed remains, now married to a new solidity and consistency. He has been unstoppable, even when he has not had the best equipment. I do remember just sitting there in disbelief. And realising I’ve got to undo my belts, I’ve got to get out of there, I’ve got to climb out of this thing, I’ve got to find the strength. I had no strength. And it was one of the toughest moments, I would say, that I’ve had in a long, long time.” Rosberg sensed an opportunity. The maths of the championship were clear - if he could win in Japan, he would have enough of a lead to finish second behind Hamilton at all the remaining races and still win the title. Which, given the size of Mercedes’ advantage over the field, should be relatively easy, reliability permitting.

Lewis once got a telling off from Ron Dennis because his school report wasn't good enough. He was miserable because he missed half a test day and we weren't immediately on the pace. Whitmarsh says: “He was very cosseted at McLaren, very controlled by two individuals he wanted to divorce himself from [his father and Dennis]. They had contributed to his growth but then ultimately limited his growth. I think he had the belief that he had to become his own man, and he had to be able to survive and grow further without those two dominant characters.

In the end, Alonso finished second behind Ferrari’s Kimi Raikkonen, with Hamilton third, but the ‘kid’ had left a huge impression. And it just kept growing. You can see they are following in a different manner, in an aggressive manner, in a way that is not comfortable at all for the car in front. These skills also explain why Hamilton is often so much more effective in races than Bottas, when it comes to key techniques such as following another car closely, overtaking or keeping tyres in optimum condition. But the way he is living his life, the way he looks after himself, the veganism, the training that is constantly adapting to his age, the people he surrounds himself with, all this makes it possible for him to stretch his ability for top performance beyond an age where you would normally think about ending your career. I think he has many more years in him to perform at the top level.” Shortly after the news conference, Rosberg bumped into a journalist, who informed him of what had gone on. “Did he?” said the German. “Good.”

In my younger days, when I hadn't had a lot of success, maybe in the McLaren days, maybe it would have been a lot more attractive.

Hamilton’s one condition for joining Red Bull

It is an activity that, in the words of Mercedes technical director James Allison, requires “sublime delicacy and unbelievable levels of concentration and precision”. I don’t know if I can really put into words the feeling that I had,” he replies. “I do remember just sitting there just in disbelief. And realizi Three years later, after Hamilton had won his second British kart championship, Dennis signed him up to McLaren’s driver development programme. Whitmarsh was put in charge of overseeing Hamilton’s career.