Lewis Hamilton blasts to U.S. Grand Prix pole

Ferrari’s Sebastian Vettel, the Briton’s closest rival but 59 points behind with four races remaining, qualified second with a prodigious effort just when it seemed Mercedes would sweep the front row.

Hamilton, chasing his fifth win in six years at the Circuit of the Americas, dominated every phase of qualifying and will be champion on Sunday if he scores 16 points more than the German.

“I love this track, it is such a fantastic track to drive,” he said. “It’s going to be a great race, a tough one, but I‘m the best prepared I can be.”

Vettel is the only other driver to have won at the Texas track and will do everything he can to deny the Briton a 62nd victory but will also be haunted by two retirements in the last three races.

Hamilton’s pole, in a time of one minute 33.108 seconds on a gusty afternoon, was the 72nd of his career and 11th of the season.

It also allowed him to claim another of Michael Schumacher’s all-time Formula One records with an unprecedented 117th front row start.

While Mercedes look sure to clinch the constructors’ championship for the fourth year in a row on Sunday, with a 145-point advantage over Ferrari, Hamilton played down his own chances of wrapping things up in America.

“I think it’s highly unlikely that’s going to be the case,” the 32-year-old told the cheering crowd from the pit straight after parking up.

"Sebastian did a great job today to bring the Ferrari back up there. I think ultimately all I can do is do the best I can of my abilities and we are going to work as hard as I can to get maximum points.

“Sebastian is right there so unless he makes a silly mistake, which is unlikely as he’s a four-times world champion, then we are going to be seeing it (the battle) continue on to other races.”