The first time that Lewis Hamilton was on the podium at the Circuit of the Americas was on November 17 2012 when he beat Sebastian Vettel and Fernando Alonso to the finish line and got to celebrate with champagne and a novelty Pirelli hat.
That win was also the very last time he stood on the podium for his old team McLaren. A few weeks later he was packing up his things and heading to Mercedes, which pretty much everyone at the tie universally agreed was a very bad move and probably the last time he'd win anything for years to come. Which shows just how much we really knew - given the difference in form between Mercedes and McLaren in 2015, it's clear that Lewis actually made a very smart call.
He went on to win the US Grand Prix a second time (and pick up a new cowboy hat) in 2014 and this year will be looking to complete his hat-trick - not only in terms of head wear and wins at COTA but also world championships too.
Incidentally, Hamilton can already boast a trio of United States Grand Prix wins to his name as he also won the event in 2007 back when it was staged at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway - but that was a very different track and nothing like the custom designed and built COTA facility that awaits the drivers this weekend.
