Lewis Hamilton

Formula One drivers might epitomize suaveness with their worldly jet-setting and their residences in Monaco or Switzerland, but they have to come from somewhere, even from bedroom towns 29 miles north of London and profoundly unassuming. So as the global supernova Lewis Hamilton on Sunday became the youngest champion in Formula One history some 5,887 miles away in Sao Paulo in a finish so suspenseful it menaced respiration, in his hometown it proved hard to find a rowdy pub.

Rookie Lewis Hamilton won the Canadian Grand Prix on Sunday in Montreal, the first victory for a black driver in Formula One. In a race filled with caution flags, the 22-year-old Englishman won in his sixth F1 start and now has six consecutive top-three finishes. Nick Heidfeld was 4.3 seconds back in second. Alexander Wurz finished third. * Sebastien Bourdais passed pole-sitter Justin Wilson to start the 56th lap and cruised to his third straight victory, and the Grand Prix of Portland (Ore.

The Lewis Hamilton show, otherwise known as the Formula One series, arrives for its only U.S. stop this weekend at Indianapolis Motor Speedway. American fans at Sunday's U.S. Grand Prix will get their first look at Hamilton, the 22-year-old English rookie and Formula One's first black driver, who easily won the Canadian Grand Prix last Sunday for his inaugural victory.

As rookie Lewis Hamilton continues to astonish Formula One, even hardened veterans of the international auto-racing series are becoming increasingly awestruck. Frank Williams, whose Williams team has been in the sport for more than 30 years, was asked this week to name another driver -- past or present -- who reminded him of Hamilton. "Nobody," he said. And former F1 driver David Hobbs, now a television analyst, recently called Hamilton's performance so good it was "unnerving."

If Lewis Hamilton goes on to become the first rookie to win a Formula One world championship, he can say it started with the capture of North America. Hamilton, surpassing even his own expectations, drove another textbook race Sunday to win the U.S. Grand Prix at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway one week after scoring his inaugural Formula One victory at the Canadian Grand Prix.

OYAMA, Japan -- Lewis Hamilton won a wet-and-wild Japanese Grand Prix on Sunday, giving him a 12-point lead in the drivers standings over McLaren teammate and defending champion Fernando Alonso, who crashed out of the race. Renault's Heikki Kovalainen was second and Ferrari's Kimi Raikkonen was third in a rainy race that had spins, bumps and crashes throughout its 67 laps.