The us grand prix
Hamilton has more milestones in mind
The Mercedes driver won his fifth crown in Mexico on Sunday, only the third man to reach that milestone since the championship started in 1950.
Vettel qualified second, and just 0.061 slower than Hamilton, but has a three-place grid drop after failing to slow sufficiently while red flags were being waved in Friday practice.
Hamilton had already dominated both rainswept practice sessions for Mercedes when the German’s penalty was confirmed by race stewards.
The Mercedes driver’s fifth victory in six years at Austin’s Circuit of the Americas extended his lead over Ferrari’s Sebastian Vettel, who finished second, to 66 points.
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.
The Mercedes driver lapped a soggy Circuit of the Americas in a time of one minute 36.335 seconds on the supersoft tyres.
Rosberg, who had been chasing his 10th triumph of the season, finished second.
Hamilton says he would like to come to South Africa because of its huge F1 following.
The Briton will have to wait until today to secure a 50th career pole before aiming to clinch his third title.
Earlier in the week, the German driver said he was not driven by setting records.
Lewis Hamilton picked up where he left off in 2007 by winning the United States Grand Prix.