Lewis Hamilton extended his win streak to six races by taking his ninth victory of the season at the penultimate race of the Formula One season in the desert of Doha.
Hamilton took his 53rd career win by prevailing for Mercedes in a race won by Valtteri Bottas of Mercedes — his team-mate — at the tight and twisty Qatari track.
The victorious Mercedes pair finished 14 seconds ahead of Ferrari’s Kimi Raikkonen, who finished fourth with Stoffel Vandoorne fifth in McLaren-Honda.
Hamilton, the two-time defending champion, has also won the previous three races, two of them in the United States, to give his team a clear advantage over Ferrari in the constructors’ championship ahead of this weekend’s title decider in Abu Dhabi.
Only Hamilton’s wife, Nicole Scherzinger, was in the grandstands and the championship leader told reporters: “It’s exciting.
“The last few races have been very special. This is probably the best spectacle, with cool temperatures. The fans love it. I hope we can show the world what we can do tomorrow.”
Raikkonen celebrated the Ferrari team’s first podium of the season by celebrating with his team-mate.
Bottas said: “It is quite amazing to finish our first double wins season. We never thought about something like this.”
Hamilton leads Ferrari’s Sebastian Vettel in the drivers’ championship by 16 points with two races to go.