Lewis Hamilton could become the second driver in Formula 1 history to win six world championships at the next race.

Michael Schumacher is the only other driver to have won more than five world titles.

Hamilton will go into the Mexican Grand Prix 64 points ahead of team mate Valtteri Bottas, the only driver left who can keep him from the title. If Hamilton leaves Mexico with a lead of at least 78 points, he will have won the world championship again.

That will only happen if Hamilton finishes on the podium in Mexico and Bottas finishes several places further behind. The table below breaks down all the scoring possibilities.

The bonus point for fastest lap, which was introduced at the beginning of this year, could also play a role in deciding whether Hamilton wins the title in Mexico for the third year running, or if he has to wait at least another week.

How Lewis Hamilton can win the championship in the Mexican Grand Prix

The table below shows the combinations of finishing positions which would see Hamilton clinch the title in Mexico:

Hamilton’s finishing position 1st 2nd 3rd 4th 5th 6th 7th 8th 9th 10th 11th+/DNF Bottas’s finishing position 1st 57 54 51 49 47 45 43 41 40 39 2nd 71 61 58 56 54 52 50 48 47 46 3rd 74 67 61 59 57 55 53 51 50 49 4th 77* 70 67 62 60 58 56 54 53 52 5th 79 72 69 66 62 60 58 56 55 54 6th 81 74 71 68 66 62 60 58 57 56 7th 83 76 73 70 68 66 62 60 59 58 8th 85 78** 75 72 70 68 66 62 61 60 9th 87 80 77* 74 72 70 68 66 63 62 10th 88 81 78** 75 73 71 69 67 65 63 11th+/DNF 89 82 79 76 74 72 70 68 66 65 64

*Hamilton will only win the championship in these cases if he also scores the bonus point for fastest lap

**Hamilton will only win the championship in these cases if Bottas does not score the bonus point for fastest lap

NB. If the race is cut short and half-points are awarded, Hamilton will not win the championship in Mexico regardless of the race result.

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Hamilton played down the possibility of clinching the world championship with three races to spare. “I think Mexico is generally our worst race of the year because of the way our car is set up,” he said. “It’s going to be a tough one for us. The last few have been pretty shocking, even though we’ve won the title there.

“I’m hoping for a better weekend but I think it’s going to be very hard to beat the Ferraris with those long straights. We have no hope of getting by on those straights, that’s for sure. But even if you look at the others, the McLarens are picking up some serious speeds on the straights, so are the Red Bulls so I think it will be a tricky one. I don’t anticipate it will be Mexico. I think we will be battling for a good few races.”

Bottas said he isn’t prepared to give up on the championship despite needing to out-score Hamilton heavily over the remaining races to beat his team mate to the title. “I don’t really give up on anything as long as there’s a theoretical chance so there’s no point in that,” he said.

“I’m realistic that I will need to be very lucky, that’s a fact, to win all the rest of the races. But I don’t really think about that much at this point.

“It is my bad, mostly, that I’ve been behind this much in the points compared to Lewis, it’s my fault which I try to fix for the future but it is where we are now and just take it now race by race and see how it goes.”

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2019 F1 season