Lewis Hamilton is now a class act - mature on and off the Formula One track

I don't know how you might classify these things, but surely Lewis Hamilton is now a legend of motor racing. He's world champion again, with his third title; a second in a row. It's been suggested, not unreasonably, that this is now the Hamilton era of F1.

The title was wrapped up in Austin, and now Hamilton has three races - including this weekend's welcome return to Mexico - to bask in the glow of his own success. It's been borne not only by the brilliance of Mercedes, but also by the Briton's growing authority over his teammate.

He elbowed Nico Rosberg out of the way on the first corner in Texas to take the lead, and when events conspired to give him fresh tyres behind the German toward the end of the race, he was quick to overtake and keep himself in front. No wonder there was a bit of tension between the two afterwards, it must have been an immensely frustrating afternoon for the German.

Not so for Hamilton who as tradition dictates was dripping with champagne as he and his team celebrated. He's one of only 10 drivers to have at least three world titles to his name. He is in exulted company, with Nikki Lauda, Jack Brabham, Jackie Stewart, Nelson Piquet and Ayrton Senna also having three titles.

To equal his hero Senna had added meaning, but surely now he must be eyeing those above him. Alain Prost and Sebastian Vettel have four titles, Juan Manuel Fangio had five and Michael Schumacher has seven.

Nigel Mansell believes that Hamilton can match Schumacher's tally, given the continued dominance of Mercedes. That may be a prediction too far, but consider how far Hamilton has come in a short space of time.

Cast your mind back to Monaco last year and his fury at Rosberg's antics in qualifying that cost him pole in what was then a very tight title contest. It might have preceded a meltdown over the rest of the 2014 season, but instead he slowly wrested control and momentum from his teammate and dominated the run in.

This year, buoyed by that title, he hasn't looked back and his authority over Rosberg and the team has grown. He's 30 now and his maturity has been a great asset, where it was often lacking in the past. His race craft has improved again this season and he has looked a class act on the track.

Off the track, the slightly difficult to love persona of old has melted away and it's a lot easier to empathise with a guy who is comfortable in his own skin. Unless Mercedes produce a pig of a car in 2016 - and that is unlikely - expect to see more dominance from Hamilton.

It's ironic that he won the title in the US. This column is being written while in the States this week, and there has been minimal to no coverage of the race weekend in Texas.

TheWashington Post's sports pages garnered not one mention; not over the weekend build up with the weather as much of a factor as the race itself, or on Monday when the sports pages were full of football analysis.

There was some coverage of Nascar, but that's not much consolation.

Of course, there is coverage if you go looking for it, and I'm sure the Texas papers would have more than mentioned it, but the sport is not going to grow in the States unless those with only a passing interest are more exposed to it. The US has proved a hard nut to crack in terms of interest in F1. Austin is a fabulous track, but the weather and the race down the road in Mexico this weekend won't have helped the organisers one bit.

America can be an insular place, especially when it comes to sport.

Let's hope in future years there may be more of a stir in the US when a world champion (a truly global champion at that - not a "World Series" type) is crowned on their own soil.