Lewis Hamilton secured a crucial victory by winning the United States Grand Prix from Nico Rosberg to reduce his team-mate’s championship lead.
Hamilton got away cleanly at the start – an area of weakness for him on a number of occasions this season – while Rosberg was overtaken by Daniel Ricciardo. An alternate strategy for Rosberg saw him run third during the middle of the race before the retirement of Max Verstappen ironically helped the German get ahead of Ricciardo.
- AS IT HAPPENED: United States Grand Prix
Rosberg managed to pit under the Virtual Safety Car and rejoin in second place, but with both Mercedes drivers pitting at the same time it negated any advantage his strategy would have given him compared to Hamilton and the defending champion eased to victory having rarely looked troubled all afternoon.
At the scene of his title triumph last year, Hamilton’s victory could reignite his hopes this season as the win – the 50th of his F1 career – saw him close the gap to Rosberg to 26 points with three races remaining.
Ricciardo came home third but will rue his team-mate’s retirement as costing him a chance of second place. Red Bull had the pace to keep a Mercedes at bay if ahead on track, and Ricciardo was doing exactly that throughout the middle stint before pitting for medium tyres to run to the end of the race. Rosberg was still likely to pit again but managed to do so without losing the position when the race was neutralised by the Virtual Safety Car.
Verstappen was the cause having lost drive exiting the Turn 11 hairpin and crawled round the majority of the rest of the track before stopping on the outside of Turn 18 by a marshal post. The car was stuck in gear, however, and needed a crane to lift it behind the barrier, resulting in the VSC.
It was an unfortunate stoppage for Verstappen who was in the fight with Ricciardo and Rosberg for second place before a pit stop error cost him time. The Dutchman came in a lap after his team-mate had made his second stop but the team hadn’t called him in and he was delayed while his pit crew fetched the tyres.
Verstappen’s error should have benefitted both Ferraris but Kimi Raikkonen – running fourth on the road – then pulled away from his final stop with the right rear wheel gun still attached. Raikkonen reversed back down the hill into the pit lane to retire, leaving Vettel a clear run to fourth place behind Ricciardo.
Fernando Alonso took an impressive fifth for McLaren after two late overtaking moves, although he is under investigation for one of them. With the retirements of Raikkonen and Verstappen, Carlos Sainz was promoted to fifth and was holding off Felipe Massa – with the Toro Rosso on old soft tyres – allowing Alonso to close in as all three drivers attempted to go to the end.
Alonso eventually dived up the inside of Massa at Turn 16 but the pair banged wheels and both went wide, suggesting Alonso was not in full control of the move. The contact resulted in a left front puncture for Massa, who was able to pit and rejoin without losing a further position. The stewards are investigating the incident after the race.
Once clear of the Williams, Alonso attacked his countryman Sainz and finally got through on the penultimate lap at Turn 12, shouting “Yee-haw” over team radio.
Sergio Perez finished eighth to limit the damage in the constructors’ championship as only one car from each of Williams and Force India was in contention during the race. Nico Hulkenberg sustained damage hitting Valtteri Bottas at the start and was forced to retire, while the contact resulted in a right rear puncture for Bottas which left him far down the field.
Perez was also involved in first lap contact as Daniil Kvyat tapped the Force India into a spin at the Turn 11 hairpin. While Perez recovered well, Kvyat was handed a ten-second time penalty which he took at his one and only pit stop, eventually finishing 12th behind Kevin Magnussen.
Jenson Button and Romain Grosjean rounded out the top ten, with Haas scoring a point in its home race. Grosjean’s team-mate Esteban Gutierrez was the only other retirement as he suffered a brake failure and had to limp back to the pits.
01
Lewis Hamilton
Mercedes
56 laps – 1h38m12.618s
2
02
Nico Rosberg
Mercedes
+4.520
2
03
Daniel Ricciardo
Red Bull
+19.692
2
04
Sebastian Vettel
Ferrari
+43.134
3
05
Fernando Alonso
McLaren
+93.953
2
06
Carlos Sainz
Toro Rosso
+96.124
2
07
Felipe Massa
Williams
+1 lap
3
08
Sergio Perez
Force India
+1 lap
2
09
Jenson Button
McLaren
+1 lap
2
10
Romain Grosjean
Haas
+1 lap
2
11
Kevin Magnussen
Renault
+1 lap
3
12
Daniil Kvyat
Toro Rosso
+1 lap
1
13
Jolyon Palmer
Renault
+1 lap
2
14
Marcus Ericsson
Sauber
+1 lap
1
15
Felipe Nasr
Sauber
+1 lap
1
16
Valtteri Bottas
Williams
+1 lap
2
17
Pascal Wehrlein
Manor
+1 lap
2
18
Esteban Ocon
Manor
+2 laps
3
19
Kimi Raikkonen
Ferrari
DNF
3
20
Max Verstappen
Red Bull
DNF
2
21
Esteban Gutierrez
Haas
DNF
2
22
Nico Hulkenberg
Force India
DNF
1
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