Lewis Hamilton
Lewis Hamilton won his 11th race of the season at the 2015 United States Grand Prix to be crowned the F1 Drivers' Champion for the third time in his career Getty

Lewis Hamilton was crowned the 2015 Drivers' World Champion in a topsy turvy race at the Circuit of the Americas, that saw Briton, Nico Rosberg and Daniel Ricciardo lead the race during the course of the 56 laps. Hamilton had the fortune of the safety car in the latter part of the race, which helped him with his final stop, but he drove a brilliant race to take the win, after seeming to have lost it in the middle part of the race. Rosberg finished second, with Sebastian Vettel putting in a great drive to finish third after starting in 13th.

The former McLaren driver now joins his hero Ayrton Senna, Sir Jackie Stewart and Niki Lauda in F1's record books as a three time World Champion. Hamilton had to fight hard to win the title with three races to spare, as the race saw two safety car periods, two virtual safety cars, and the lead change six times, before he wrapped it up after Rosberg lit up his rear tyres and ran wide with just over ten laps remaining.

"My target was always been 3 titles as Senna inspired me. Now I want to carry on as far and long as I can," Mercedes quoted Hamilton saying on their official twitter account.

Daniel Ricciardo and Daniil Kvyat showed great promise at the start, but faded as the track dried during the course of the race, with the former even leading the race ahead of the first round of pit stops. But once the track dried the Mercedes and Ferrari's were quicker. The Russian failed to finish after a massive crash with a few laps to go, while Ricciardo struggled after a late collision with Nico Hulkenburg, only managing a point in tenth place.

Toro Rosso drivers Max Verstappen and Carlos Sainz put in great drives in tough conditions to finish fourth and seventh respectively, with the Spaniard clearly a contender for the drive of the day after starting last on the grid. The Dutchman, who turned 18 earlier in the month has clearly impressed every one on the grid this season.

The McLaren-Honda cars had a good race, with Jenson Button finishing in sixth place, his best for the season. But Alonso, who was in fifth at one point lost out to Daniel Ricciardo on the last lap and finished in 11th.

The Williams team had a day to forget after both Felipe Massa and Valtteri Bottas retired alongwith Nico Hulkenburg, Kimi Raikkonen, Daniil Kvyat, Marcus Ericsson, Romain Grosjean and Will Stevens.

The rain played spoilsport throughout the weekend, restricting the drivers to just two sessions. Even the qualifying was halted after Q2 due to the adverse track conditions. It was, however, a different scenario for the race with the rain staying away for the entire 56-lap duration. The drivers started on the intermediate tyres, but finished on slicks after a drying track caught many drivers off guard.

The fans were surely given their money's worth at the Circuit of the Americas despite the first couple of days seeing a lack of action. There was overtaking, crashes, safety cars, and the crowning of a World Champion. Next up, for the first time since 1992, the Mexican Grand Prix.

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