Lewis Hamilton won the US GP at the Circuit of the Americas from Ferrari driver, and title rival Sebastian Vettel. Hamilton had lost the lead at the start of the race to Vettel who made a brilliant start from 2nd. However, the Englishman had supreme pace and retook the lead from Vettel on lap 5. Such was the advantage that Mercedes had on this track that Vettel wasn’t able to keep up with Hamilton, who raced away.
Max Verstappen was the standout driver. He started 16th due to engine penalties but was up into 10th place after just 5 laps. He executed some scintillating overtakes on Bottas and Raikkonen. He finished in 3rd place, but was given a 5 second time penalty for going off track while overtaking Raikkonen on the last lap, and so was classified 4th.
The penalty system has been coming into question far too often, with the outrageous amount of penalties that drivers are awarded for engine and gearbox changes. It’s funny, because Stroll qualified 18th, but started in 16th after he himself had a 3 place penalty for impeding Grosjean in qualifying. This was because many other drivers had bigger 25-place or 30-place grid penalties for engine changes. Some decisions by the stewards also came into question. They gave Verstappen a 5-second time penalty for leaving the track and gaining an advantage, but there were numerous drivers who did that throughout the race. Ricciardo was essentially cutting a corner during his battle with Bottas in the early part of the race.
Renault debutante Carlos Sainz finished in 7th place after some intriguing battles with the Force India and Williams drivers. The circuit is wide and has long straights and so we got to see some great racing. Sainz’s battle with Perez was epic.
It’s worrying times for Bottas, because he struggled to match Hamilton’s searing pace all through the weekend. He was overtaken by both Ferrari drivers and Verstappen later in the race, and ultimately finished 5th. As a result, however Mercedes were crowned constructors’ champions for the 4th year in a row.
Hamilton now needs to finish only 5th in the next race in Mexico to win the title.
Straights and Chicanes: The Motor Sports Blog 