The 10 moments that decided the F1 title

Having waited six years to become a double world champion of Formula 1, Lewis Hamilton is suddenly on a roll and now, thanks to victory in the United States Grand Prix of 2015, a triple title winner.

This was not one of the classic F1 title battles, as Mercedes remained the dominant constructor and Hamilton defeated team-mate Nico Rosberg more comprehensively than in 2014.

But the battle still contained its fair share of drama. Here are the 10 key moments that helped make Lewis Hamilton a legend in 2015.

1. HAMILTON'S EARLY POLE RUN

Rosberg was the qualifying king in 2014, taking pole 11 times in 19 races as he pushed Hamilton all the way to the wire in the title race.

But this season Hamilton turned the tables, which was the key to a more comfortable run to the championship.

The Brit began this campaign with a run of four straight poles in Australia, Malaysia, China and Bahrain, which eventually became an extraordinary streak of 11 from 12.

Converting the first of those poles, in the opening race of the campaign in Melbourne (having retired from the previous year's edition), got Hamilton's season going in the right way.

POINTS: 1. Hamilton, 25; 2. Rosberg, 18; 3. Vettel, 15.

2. FERRARI IN THE MIX

Ferrari improved massively this season, becoming clearly the second most competitive team behind Mercedes.

The SF15-T was quick enough to allow its drivers (particularly Sebastian Vettel) to become frequent participants in the Hamilton/Rosberg title rivalry.

There were many occasions last season when a bad race for one of the Mercs would still result in a comfortable second-placed finish, but Vettel and Kimi Raikkonen showed early on in Malaysia, where Vettel won, and Bahrain, where Raikkonen split the Mercedes in second, that Ferrari could affect this title battle by taking points away from the main protagonists.

POINTS: 1. Hamilton, 93; 2. Rosberg, 66; 3. Vettel, 65.

3. MERCEDES' MONACO BLUNDER

Having finally broken his 2015 duck with victory from pole position in Spain, Rosberg unexpectedly took a second straight victory thanks to a strategic blunder by Mercedes at Monaco.

Hamilton utterly dominated this race, but a last-gasp and miscalculated decision to pit for tyres under virtual safety car conditions following Max Verstappen's spectacular collision with Romain Grosjean left him stuck in third place, behind Rosberg and Vettel, which slashed his points advantage to just 10 after six races.

Not a fair reflection of how dominant he'd been so far.

POINTS: 1. Hamilton, 126; 2. Rosberg, 116; 3. Vettel, 98.

4. ROSBERG WINS THREE FROM FOUR

Hamilton struck back with a well-judged victory in Canada, proving he has the inner steel and self-confidence to deal with major setbacks, but Rosberg proved he'd be no pushover himself this year by making it three wins from four races in Austria.

This was a big race for Rosberg, who was finally able to show the racecraft he'd been working hard to improve over the winter. He nailed Hamilton at the start then drove away from his team-mate convincingly, suggesting he might be able to make a fight of this title battle after all.

POINTS: 1. Hamilton, 169; 2. Rosberg, 159; 3. Vettel, 120.

5. HUNGARY CHANCE GOES BEGGING

Hamilton loves the Hungaroring. It's a track at which he feels he can throw a Formula 1 car around "like a go-kart", and he was on imperious form in qualifying, taking pole by over half a second.

But things unravelled in the race, as the Ferraris got the jump on the Mercs at the start, with Hamilton slipping to fourth behind Rosberg as well. When he went off behind his team-mate on the first lap, he presented Rosberg with a golden chance to strike a big blow in the championship race.

But Rosberg failed to grasp this opportunity. He seemed too focused on matching Hamilton's compromised strategy, rather than maximising his own chances of challenging Vettel for victory.

He ended up on the slower tyres at the wrong time, collided with Red Bull's Daniel Ricciardo, and ultimately finished behind his team-mate on a day when he should have beaten him comfortably.

POINTS: 1. Hamilton, 202; 2. Rosberg, 181; 3. Vettel, 160.

6. ENGINE DRAMAS IN ITALY

Mercedes brought its final 2015 engine update to Monza, in order, it said, to validate a development direction for next season. But there was undoubtedly a desire to stay one step ahead of Ferrari, which also updated its engine for that grand prix.

In performance terms the decision worked a treat, since it helped ensure Mercedes remained fastest, but Rosberg's unit became contaminated by a coolant leak in practice, which forced him to revert to an older-spec unit.

Not only did this put him at a power disadvantage, it also cost him 15 valuable points in the title battle when that high-mileage engine exploded in the closing stages of the race, robbing him of a podium finish on a weekend when his team-mate won again.

POINTS: 1. Hamilton, 252; 2. Rosberg, 199; 3. Vettel, 178.

7. SINGAPORE SWING

Such was Mercedes' level of domination in 2014 that when one or other of Hamilton and Rosberg retired from a race, it meant a huge points swing in favour of the driver who finished.

Hamilton came unstuck in Singapore this year, when a clamp on his engine's turbo pipe failed, but this coincided with Mercedes' least-competitive weekend of the last two seasons.

The mysterious tyre struggles that kept its cars off the front row of the grid, and out of the podium fight, meant Rosberg could only claw back 12 points on his team-mate. Last year, that would have almost certainly led to a 25-point swing.

POINTS: 1. Hamilton, 252; 2. Rosberg, 211; 3. Vettel, 203.

8. TURN 2 IN JAPAN

Having qualified behind Hamilton for 12 of the previous 13 races, Rosberg broke his barren spell by taking pole position for the Japanese Grand Prix. All he needed to do was nail the start.

An overheating engine might have contributed, but Rosberg didn't nail that start, allowing Hamilton to draw alongside on the run through Turn 1.

Sensing his chances of a vital victory slipping away, Rosberg tried to hold Hamilton off using the outside line at Turn 2.

But Hamilton is too wily a racer, and once he'd used his own car's momentum to edge Rosberg off the circuit on the exit, the race was effectively his.

Not only did this race provide yet more anecdotal evidence that Hamilton almost inevitably comes up trumps in wheel-to-wheel combat with Rosberg, it also allowed the championship leader to extend his already comfortable points advantage.

POINTS: 1. Hamilton, 277; 2. Rosberg, 229; 3. Vettel, 218.

9. PEDAL PUTS A DAMPENER ON THINGS

Rosberg did everything right in Russia, convincingly scoring pole position (for the second race running), nailing the start and defending his lead expertly on the long run to the first proper corner of the lap.

Thereafter his hopes were dashed, thanks to a faulty pedal damper that caused his car's throttle to stick open. Rosberg tried to manage the situation, but he was forced to retire from the lead, handing Hamilton victory on a weekend when Rosberg had been clearly the stronger of the two Mercedes drivers.

Rosberg naturally refused to concede the title afterwards, but with Hamilton holding a 73-point advantage over his team-mate with only 100 left to play for over the remaining four races, a third world title looked a formality for the Brit, even with Vettel jumping Rosberg in the standings thanks to his 11th podium finish from 15 races.

POINTS: 1. Hamilton, 302; 2. Vettel, 236; 3. Rosberg, 229.

10. TOO MUCH THROTTLE

Hamilton knew he had four races left to clinch the crown, and suggested he would take no risks in the United States Grand Prix, but once the red lights went out he and Rosberg went at each other anyway.

Rosberg took pole again, but Hamilton made the better start, before the two Mercedes collided at Turn 1 as Hamilton took the lead. Rosberg produced a fine recovery drive - including making a genuine passing move stick on Hamilton - and worked his way back into the lead.

But nine laps from the end he got too much wheelspin exiting Turn 16, ran off onto the damp part of the circuit in correcting the resulting slide, and therefore conceded victory in this race, and the world championship, to his team-mate.

The manner of defeat in this race was tough on Rosberg, but the season has undoubtedly belonged to Hamilton.

POINTS: 1. Hamilton 327; 2. Vettel, 251; 3. Rosberg, 247.