But after unreliability strikes again there are fears title could be decided by a retirement; Hamilton now heads standings by three points
Monday 22 September 2014 16:32, UK
There was a Star Wars theme to Monday’s newspapers with a consensus that 'the force is with Lewis Hamilton' in his title fight with Nico Rosberg for the 2014 World Championship.
Victory in Singapore gave the Briton the lead in the Drivers’ Championship for the first time since the Spanish GP in May and The Times led with the headline ‘Hamilton on the charge in race for the title.”
‘The tide has turned,’ announced Kevin Eason, the newspaper's F1 correspondent. ‘As the champagne poured, Hamilton was the centre of attention, hugging Anthony and Linda, the parents who have become lucky charms. Three times they have turned up this season and three times Hamilton has won. Their influence has been evident. Anthony, sacked as his son’s manager four years ago, is safely back in the fold.
‘It was job done and the lead in the World Championship back in the overalls of the British driver after a summer of bugs and glitches. Now the force is with Hamilton.’
The impact of having Hamilton Snr back in his corner was also highlighted by Jonathan McEvoy in the Daily Mail who feels it could prove to be a crucial factor.
‘The presence of his father Anthony here for a second successive race may be the crucial fillip,’ said McEvoy. ‘He has never won a title without his dad and mainstay at his side.’
Rosberg cut a dejected figure in the Mercedes garage as he watched the remaining 46 laps following his retirement at the Marina Bay Circuit and with just five races remaining Paul Weaver feels it will be difficult for the German to pick himself up mentally.
‘It is the timing of Hamilton’s surge that will most encourage him and demoralise his great rival and Mercedes team-mate, whose season appears to have gone into a tailspin since being asked to apologise for the clash between the two drivers in the race in Spa last month,’ he wrote in The Guardian.
Those sentiments were echoed by Ben Hunt in The Sun who wrote: ‘While Mercedes will begin their forensic examination of the failed part on Rosberg’s car today, the German will start assessing just how wrong things have gone for him over the past few weeks.
‘He has been in a tailspin since crashing into Hamilton in their notorious Belgium bust-up, bashed up by the team for causing the crash, bloodied by Hamilton in Monza. And booed by the fans.
‘And he was visibly upset by his latest setback and labelled it his lowest point of the season.’
Yet with Mercedes’ Achilles heel of unreliability striking once again there is a fear amongst the journalists that that rather than on track action could be the deciding influence this season.
‘The single factor that could ruin what is turning out to be the most thrilling World Championship in years could be machinery that fails to live up to the demands of the warriors who are waging battle,’ wrote Eason.
In The Telepgraph Daniel Johnson added: ‘Both are coming to the worrying realisation that ultimately this epic duel will not be decided by moments of individual brilliance or speed. It will instead be swayed by how many more times their respective cars let them down.’
