Hamilton repeats

INDIANAPOLIS – Just wait until Lewis Hamilton actually becomes familiar with the race tracks he’s driving on. Imagine what it will be like when he gets comfortable with being Formula One’s latest superstar.

The 22-year-old rookie phenom added another title to his rapidly expanding trophy case on Sunday, wrapping up an historic trip to North America by winning the U.S. Grand Prix at Indianapolis Motor Speedway, his second victory from the pole in eight days.

Last week, he won the Canadian Grand Prix in Montreal, the first time a black driver had stood atop international racing’s elite series. Now he’s done it twice, setting himself up for a championship run that would be unparalleled in the sport.

“It’s just insane,” he said. “I’m just trying to enjoy it without any of the other stuff confusing me.”

Hamilton did more than win Sunday’s race, he controlled it, driving flawlessly in the face of pressure from two-time defending world champion Fernando Alonso, his McLaren teammate.

Hamilton led an event-tying 66 of the 73 laps, won a pair of front straightaway drag races with Alonso and refused to allow the pressure of the moment to unnerve him.

It was a Tiger Woods-like performance in racing’s version of a major golf championship.

“It keeps getting better and better,” Hamilton said.

Hamilton’s margin of victory over Alonso was 1.5 seconds. They shared the same fuel strategy and had races that were nearly identical.

The difference was minimal. Alonso bobbled and Hamilton didn’t. The Spaniard drifted into the seventh-corner grass on the 47th lap, an unforced error that cost him a tick more than a second. But that was a second too much with the steady Hamilton in command.

Alonso had two chances to gain the lead, but neither worked to his favor. Hamilton beat him to the first corner at the start of the race, and on the 38th lap, Hamilton had the preferred inside line as they roared down the frontstretch. The crowd in excess of 100,000 watched in wonder.

Hamilton turned in slightly ahead of Alonso, executing like a champion in the making. From there, it was a drive down history lane.

“The start was the key point of the race because after that I think (whoever) was second … finishes second in the race,” Alonso said.

Essentially, the race was an intramural battle of the McLarens and the Ferraris. Hamilton and Alonso, who grabbed the first two positions for the third time this season, led Ferrari drivers Felipe Massa and Kimi Raikkonen by more than 12 seconds in the second half of the race.

The Ferrari drivers, who had a spirited battle, finished third and fourth, respectively.

Aside from the lead teams, the event lacked intensity and defining moments after the first corner when three veteran drivers ended up in the runoff area.

There wasn’t a lot of finger-pointing following the accident that included Ralf Schumacher, Rubens Barrichello and David Coulthard, and there was no clear television replay to assess blame.

But it was another disappointing USGP for Schumacher, whose brother, Michael, won the event five times. Ralf Schumacher has crashed out of five of the past seven events.

Hamilton wasn’t the only rookie basking in glory. Renault’s Heikki Kovalainen finished fifth – with the team’s first lead of the season – and Sebastian Vettel grabbed eighth, the final points-paying position. Vettel was starting his first F-1 race as a replacement for the injured Robert Kubica.

But all the attention went to Hamilton, who has finished in the top three of all seven of his grand prix races this season. He leads Alonso by 10 points, the equivalent of one race. As remarkable as it seems, a possible championship is coming into view.

“I wouldn’t say my goals have changed, it’s just that I came to the season with an open mind, trying to do a good job,” he said. “(Now) I have to be smart and realize that I’m running at the front and there is a possibility of winning the championship.

“But I still think it’s far, far too early to even think about it or get any hopes up. Anything can happen during the season. I just have to try and stay calm, remain consistent and try to keep on winning.”