US GP: Hamilton secures sixth title as Bottas wins in Austin
- Published on 03 Nov 2019 21:46
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- By: Fergal Walsh
Lewis Hamilton has clinched his sixth world drivers' championship at the Circuit of the Americas, becoming only the second driver to do so in Formula 1 history.
Hamilton's strategy to get to the end of the race was on one pit stop, while Valtteri Bottas, who started from pole position, made two stops during the race.
Hamilton held the lead in the late stages of the race, but came under pressure from Bottas, who made his second pit stop for the medium tyers on lap 36.
After he was passed by Bottas for the lead, the Briton came under pressure from Max Verstappen, who also drove a two-stop strategy.
However, Hamilton was able to keep Verstappen behind, with his defence being aided by double-waved yellow flags at the end of the back straight for Kevin Magnussen, who retired from the race.
Ferrari endures disaster race
After Sebastian Vettel started the grand prix from the front row, the German had a disaster start and slipped back to seventh place, complaining of understeer with the car.
As he chased the positions that he lost, Vettel's rear suspension broke in a sudden fashion which sent the Ferrari driver out of the race.
Vettel insisted after his race ended that it was unlikely a kerb caused his failure.
His teammate Charles Leclerc could not muster up the pace to fight the leaders, and had to settle for fourth place, ahead of Alexander Albon.
Albon's route to fifth place was complicated after he made contact with Carlos Sainz on the opening lap, forcing him into the pits.
The Thai-British driver cut his way through the field to record his sixth consecutive top-six finish since joining Red Bull during the summer break.
After they scrapped early on in the race for position, Daniel Ricciardo ended up crossing the line just in front of Lando Norris, with the former coming out on top in the midfield battle.
Behind them came their teammates, with the second McLaren of Carlos Sainz leading Nico Hulkenberg.
Sergio Perez picked up the final point after Daniil Kvyat received a penalty on the final lap of the race for causing a collision with Perez.
More to follow...
F1Grand Prix United States of America - Race
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DriverTeamTime/DifferenceLapsPoints
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1TimeLaps56Points25.0
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2Time+ 4.148Laps56Points18.0
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3Time+ 5.002Laps56Points15.0
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4Time+ 52.239Laps56Points13.0
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5Time+ 78.038Laps56Points10.0
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6Time+ 90.366Laps56Points8.0
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7Time+ 90.764Laps56Points6.0
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8TimeLaps55Points4.0
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9TimeLaps55Points2.0
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10TimeLaps55Points1.0
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11TimeLaps55Points0.0
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12TimeLaps55Points0.0
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13TimeLaps55Points0.0
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14TimeLaps55Points0.0
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15TimeLaps55Points0.0
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16TimeLaps54Points0.0
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17TimeLaps54Points0.0
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Did not finish
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18TimeLaps54Points0.0
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19TimeLaps0Points0.0
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20TimeLaps0Points0.0
2
Replies (11)
Login to replyabhidbgt
Posts: 283
A richly deserved championship title, a richly deserved race winner, a toasty three way battle for P1 and a horrendous race pace by Ferrari. Great drive by Albon, Ricciardo, Norris and a great opening lap by Raikkonen.
calle.itw
Posts: 8,527
Kinda a snoozefest, this one. Not at all what the quali session prepared me for.
xoya
Posts: 583
Agreed.
It was a boring race.
Americas have dissapointed this year.
ajpennypacker
Posts: 2,475
Snoozefest? We had a fair amount of overtaking. A proper fight for the win. The midfield was buzzing the entire race. Sure it was not Germany-exciting, but this was not a Snoozefest. I think these days people tend to see every Mercedes win as boring
xoya
Posts: 583
There were overtakes and a fight for the win, but it was all without substance.
Mexico and US were the only races in 25 years that I haven't watched from beggining to the end.
I even sat through the Russian GP for crying out loud...
calle.itw
Posts: 8,527
We had overtaking, but nothing really exciting. There were very few fierce midfield battles compared to what we've had for most of the year. Most importantly, nothing really happened up top. Since I watched and enjoyed Mexico, the point regarding Merc' is mute for me. I thought you knew me better than that, AJ! I don't mind whether they win or lose, I just pretend they don't exist! ;)
f1ski
Posts: 726
yes i think the bumpy track it the cause of increased tire wear with the lower track temps. Watching Lewis fight off Bottas who has been such a good teammate to lewis this year has just increased my dislike for him. If I were Bottas and i had the opportunity I would race Lewis hard to the ;point of punting him or both of them off the track to send the message.
calle.itw
Posts: 8,527
Surprised? This is what Hammy does. He only likes it when he gets what he want. If he doesn't, he takes his toys and run for it. Bottas is okay for him as long as he is a second driver. Bottas needs to become a dragon, and it's a shame he likely won't be.
Pistonhead
Posts: 556
Born winner, no such thing as second place for Hamilton. I seem to recall this was the same for Schumacher - only Hamilton doesn't ram his opponents off the track or into walls like our German friend.
calle.itw
Posts: 8,527
"Doesn't ram his opponents off the track"? I'm sure Nico begs to differ. Also Bottas this race. Though I shouldn't be harsh, Hammy is equally willing to go off the track when he finds it necessary, like when he was kind enough to help the Mexican track marshalls to mow the track lawn.
Ram Samartha
Posts: 1,172
Well done Valtteri! Criticize all you like, but Mercedes did an awesome job this season as did both Merc drivers. I expected nothing less than for Lewis to fight as hard as he could for the win and kudos to Valtteri for fighting hard and snatching the win from Hammy's grasp. All things considered a pretty good race and a solid way for Ham to win the title. The only thing I saw that might be better is if they were to widen the esses for 2021 when the cars are supposed to be able to race closer. There was some pretty great racing through that section, but if it was a little wider to allow for 2 cars width all the way through, it could bring some great battles.