Tensions boil over as critical error hands Lewis Hamilton F1 title

The Lewis Hamilton-Nico Rosberg rivalry was one that lasted several years - but perhaps no moment was as tense as the aftermath of the 2015 United States Grand Prix.

10 years ago, Hamilton took the chequered flag in first place and thus secured his third world championship following an incident-packed race.

But much of the post-race talk centred around an incident that occurred between Hamilton and Rosberg in the cooldown room, detailing just how ugly the relationship had become.

By the time the paddock descended on the Circuit of the Americas in October 2015, Rosberg's title hopes were hanging by a thread. After trailing Hamilton by just 10 points in July, the German had endured a catastrophic run. 

Following his win in Austria, Rosberg failed to claim a victory in the seven races that led up to the USA race. Hamilton, meanwhile, secured five in that time.

Coming into Austin, the mathematics were clear: if Hamilton outscored Rosberg by two points, the championship would be decided with three races remaining.

Rosberg's weekend looked more promising as he secured pole position, before his race unravelled spectacularly. At Turn 1, Hamilton made an aggressive inside move, forcing Rosberg wide and dropping him from first to fourth. Rosberg later criticised his team-mate for his tactics.

However, Rosberg worked his way back to the lead, but with seven laps to go, he ran wide following a mistake, gifting the win and the championship to Hamilton.

In the cooldown room, tensions reached boiling point. Hamilton, distributing the podium caps as tradition dictated, tossed Rosberg's second-place cap to him. 

Rosberg immediately responded by throwing it straight back at Hamilton. The exchange lasted mere seconds, but the incident is still brought up regularly around the US Grand Prix weekend, even 10 years on.

It also marked a rare moment of driver anger that is rarely captured by television cameras in the modern era, with drivers adept at keeping their emotions in check.

Hamilton and Rosberg would battle it out once more during the 2016 season, with the latter coming out on top before sensationally announcing his F1 retirement.

See the incident below!