Right, well how about that? Thanks for your company during a brilliant race. Bye! Tom Dart’s race report from Austin will follow here:
Sebastian Vettel talks. “At the start it was looking good but fairly quickly we realised we couldn’t go at his pace,” the German says. Then Raikkonen has his say before Hamilton asks Usain Bolt to show him “how to do the Bolt”. You know what happens next. And yes, it’s a little bit painful.
Lewis Hamilton speaks after his fifth win in Austin. “Since 2012, this crowd has been growing year-on-year. I think now this track is my favourite track. I loved the swing of the corners today. A big congratulations to the team, who have worked so hard at the factory.”
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Red Bull’s team boss, Christian Horner, is not a happy chap. “They have been driving off track all weekend, Max made a fair move,” he says. “It is an appalling decision. They have robbed all of the fans here. It was a great grand prix and they have screwed it up.”
The 20-year-old Red Bull driver is absolutely fuming as the national anthems play out on a Verstappen-less podium. Hamilton, meanwhile, beams with Bill Clinton and Usain Bolt for company. The champagne sprays off in every direction and the celebrations are in full flow for Mercedes.
Wow! Max Verstappen has lost third place to Kimi Raikkonen. He is thrown out of the podium room and demoted to fourth. Why? The Red Bull was deemed to have won an unfair advantage by leaving the track, and gets a five-second penalty for his troubles. That sees him down to fourth. It’s never dull when he’s involved, is it?
Lewis Hamilton has a splendid 66-point lead in the drivers’ championship and a fifth-placed finish in Mexico next Sunday is all he needs to wrap up an inevitable fourth title. “The team has done such an awesome job the last couple of years,” Toto Wolff says. “Now it’s about finishing the season strong for Lewis, and for Valtteri.”
Hamilton speaks down the team radio. “Great job guys,” he says. “That was so much fun out there today.” Mercedes are world champions. Meanwhile, Verstappen feels like one. “Max Verstappen. You. Are. Brilliant,” is the message from his Red Bull team.
Lewis Hamilton wins US Grand Prix!
And oh my, Max Verstappen squeezes up the inside to steal third! Mercedes have won the constructors’ championship! Vettel takes second.
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Lap 56/56: Hamilton leads Vettel. Can Verstappen nip in ahead of Raikkonen to take third? “You get one shot at it Max,” Red Bull say down the team radio. Aaah, lovely ...
Lap 55/56: Two laps remain!
Lap 54/56: Hamilton looks to have this in the bag and Ferrari are on for a double podium, with Vettel and Raikkonen. Max Verstappen, though, has had a superb evening. Can he snatch another place late on?
Lap 53/56: Vettel trails Hamilton by 14.296secs ...
Lap 52/56: Verstappen digs away at Bottas and he moves up in to fourth. A bad couple of minutes for Bottas, who falls to fifth. As it stands, Hamilton leads Vettel. Raikkonen is third, Verstappen’s fourth and Bottas is in fifth. Three to go!
Lap 52/56: Raikkonen allows Vettel past, into second. A few of the drivers, namely Bottas, seem to be getting a little nervy. But not Hamilton, who continues to dictate the pace from the front.
Lap 51/56: “It’s too late to pit now, Mercedes are going to have to hang on as best they can,” emails Stephen Cooper re: Hamilton. Another reader, Steve, simply emails “Go Hamilton!” And some heart-in-mouth drama, as Verstappen has Bottas in his sights.
Lap 50/56: Vettel is within DRS range of Bottas in the battle for third ...
Lap 49/56: Sainz continues to toy with Ocon, but the Force India has a stiff upper lip and is going nowhere. And Ericsson has been blamed for that incident with Magnussen, and he’s been slapped with a five-second penalty, which will be added at the end of this race.
Lap 48/56: Sebastian Vettel sets a new fastest lap of 1.37.957.
Lap 47/56: Raikkonen’s making lots of noise down the team radio; he’s moaning, swearing and just generally unhappy about something. Meanwhile, out in front, Hamilton extends the gap. Elsewhere, Vettel storms past the back markers, and Ericsson and Magnussen clash! The latter is left in a spin, but the Sauber ends up losing a place or two for his efforts. “He turned in on me,” he says.
Lap 46/56: Raikkonen trails the race leader, Hamilton, by 11.6secs ...
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Lap 45/56: Ricciardo is shaking his head down in the paddock. Meanwhile, Nic Hamilton’s taking a selfie or two. Quite the juxtaposition. “I hope the front left is not going to explode,” Romain Grosjean says. “There is no more rubber.” Crikey ...
Lap 44/56: “How are they so close?” Hamilton asks, told of Raikkonen’s pace. He does have a nine-second cushion at the moment, but will perhaps need to pit again.
Lap 43/56: “Nice work, nice work,” is the message from Ferrari to Raikkonen, after the Finn overtook Bottas. Further down the grid, Carlos Sainz continues to chase Sebastian Ocon. It has been a great debut. Has he got anything else left in the tank?
Lap 42/56: Raikkonen has a go at Bottas, and he has just enough grip to slide in front of the Mercedes. Bottas put up little fight and Raikkonen obliged, to take second. He’s around 8secs behind the race leader, Lewis Hamilton.
Lap 41/56: “He is effectively battling for a podium here,” Christian Horner, the Red Bull chief, says of high-flying Verstappen. “Unfortunately it was an engine failure [for Daniel Ricciardo]”. So, 15 laps to go! Hamilton leads, Bottas is second. Then its Raikkonen, Vettel and Verstappen.
Lap 40/56: Hamilton, a little nervously, checks in with his Mercedes team. “Keep me up to date with what you want me to do,” he says, “the tyres are still good”. Meanwhile, Massa is up into 10th after a little scuffle with Romain Grosjean.
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Lap 39/56: And ah, just look who it is: Sebastian Vettel. He’s out of the pits into fourth, narrowly in front of Max Verstappen, who remember started 16th on the grid.
Lap 38/56: An interesting move from Red Bull, with the worst-case scenario probably a fifth-placed finish, given how far behind sixth-placed Sebastian Ocon is.
Lap 37/56: More from Fernando Alonso. A missed opportunity for some decent points? “We were seventh, we fought for that seventh, it was not a gift,” he says. “But unfortunately we have now missed 25 or 30 points in the last few races. We have to change the engine for Mexico, and it’s probably an investment for the last two races in Abu Dhabi and Brazil. Meanwhile, Verstappen pits. “You know what we’re up to,” say Red Bull, “it’s going to be a big lap”. Mouthwatering stuff ...
Lap 36/56: “We need to think about Plan B ...” Vettel suggests down the team radio. He’s 6.5secs off Hamilton, the race leader.
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Lap 35/56: The gap between sixth-placed Ocon and fifth-placed Verstappen? Almost 46 seconds ...
Lap 33/56: Max Verstappen is in fifth, he’s had a ruddy good race so far. Meanwhile, Sainz continues to close on Perez, but the Renault cannot get the better of the Force India. Until, Sainz moves on to the kerb, on Perez’s outside and he eventually bypasses the Mexican. A wry smile from Alain Prost. A dream debut for Sainz, it seems. “Brilliant job,” is the message down the team radio.
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Lap 32/56: Perez wants to nip in ahead of Ocon, “because I have a lot more pace than this” and he has Carlos Sainz looking over his shoulder. Behind them is Danil Kvyat. “We need more management,” is the reply from Force India.
Lap 31/56: Vandoorne zooms into 13th, ahead of Hartley and Ericsson. Good stuff from him. Hamilton leads Vettel out in front, with Bottas third.
Lap 30/56: A beautiful three-way fight between Massa, Ocon and Perez very nearly ends in tears. Both Force Indias try to slip in past the Williams but Massa stands his ground before pitting. And just like that the fun is over and he’s on to those quick, ultrasoft tyres.
Lap 29/56: Ocon and Perez, the two Force Indias find themselves together. This should be good ... And, a fun fact, this is Lance Stroll’s last Grand Prix as a 18-year-old. The Canadian turns 19 next Sunday. “We need to start to pick up the pace,” Perez is told.
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Lap 27/56: Daniel Ricciardo speaks. “I was racing with a full heart, as always,” he says. “I had to try to [overtake] Valtteri. If I didn’t try, I wouldn’t be able to pass him. I was never going to sit and wonder what could have been. After so many attempts, we then pitted, and I thought I was done, because [it was] way too hot.”
Lap 26/56: So, that’s Alonso, Ricciardo, Wehrlein and Hulkenberg who are all spent and out of the race in Austin. Meanwhile, Verstappen pits and he flies back out into fifth, ahead of Felipe Massa. Hamilton leads Sebastian Vettel.
Lap 25/56: Perez zooms in front of Alonso, who looks in trouble ... “I think I have an engine issue,” he says, before his team tell him to back off. “I can’t believe it!”
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Lap 24/56: Hamilton uses the grip of those fresh tyres to re-take the lead at the US Grand Prix! Verstappen looked to have held him off but then the Mercedes came back for more, after biding his time. And the Red Bull had no reply off the next corner.
Lap 23/56: Perez is 2.4secs behind Alonso. “We will see, I don’t care,” Alonso moans. As it stands, Verstappen leads Hamilton, with Vettel in third. Bottas is fourth, ahead of Kimi Raikkonen.
Lap 22/56: Max Verstappen leads the Grand Prix, after starting 16th only half an hour or so ago. Raikkonen is in and out of the pits, and is now fifth. “Why did you allow him to get so close?” Hamilton asks, with Vettel going looming in his mirrors.
Lap 21/56: Vettel has just set a new fastest lap and he’s closed the gap between he and Hamilton. He goes for the undercut on Hamilton and, despite momentarily running wide, he is right at the base of Hamilton’s car. “It’s crazy,” Usain Bolt, of all people, says down in the pits.
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Lap 20/56: Hamilton flies into the pits, and he, too, is on to the soft tyres. For now, Raikkonen leads the US Grand Prix. Hamilton rejoins the race in third, with Vettel breathing down his neck.
Lap 19/56: Ah, and now Bottas comes into the pits. He moves on to the soft tyres and flies back out into fifth, in front of Carlos Sainz. “It would be nice to know which strategy we are doing,” Alonso says. “Are we still strategy B,” he asks. Plan B does not sound as good as Plan A, but he’s content – for now.
Lap 18/56: A gentle reminder that the front three, Hamilton, Bottas and Raikkonen are yet to pit, and are all on the supersoft tyres. Meanwhile, Ricciardo trudges back into the paddock. He and his Red Bull team are absolutely gutted.
Lap 17/56: Vettel comes into the pits, and he’s back out in no time on the soft tyres. He rejoins the race in fifth, with Bottas up into second behind his team-mate, Hamilton. “The tyres are good,” the race leader booms. He sounds very relaxed, and is driving comfortably from the front.
Lap 16/56: Daniel Ricciardo is out! He suddenly grinds to a halt during the third sector, pulling off the track as he did in Australia. “Engine’s gone,” he says, miserably. And that’s Raikkonen up into fourth.
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Lap 15/56: “100% pace,” Renault urge Alonso over the team radio. He promptly races into the pits, as does Sebastian Ocon, who moves on to the soft tyres. Meanwhile, Ricciardo has set a new, shiny fastest lap.
Lap 13/56: There will be no punishment for Ricciardo or Bottas after their hot wheel-to-wheel action earlier on a few laps back.
Lap 12/56: Raikkonen has a go at Ricciardo but the Australian drives him wide, shutting the back door in the process. Ricciardo promptly comes in to the pits. So, Raikkonen never needed to try so hard to nip in ahead of him after all. Ricciardo flies out in front of Massa, to take ninth.
Lap 11/56: “As soon as we get a gap, let’s go,” Ricciardo says. Verstappen is eight seconds behind his team-mate, whose in fourth at the moment. And, there’s some bad news for Vettel, who has some blistering on his front-left tyre. He sounds sad over the Ferrari radio.
Lap 10/56: Verstappen has a look down the inside of Ocon, and he’s really up for this now. Verstappen has a little nibble and moves up into sixth. His Red Bull has surged up the grid and he’s an early contender for driver of the day. Brilliant stuff so far. Meanwhile, Lance Stroll exits the pits after moving to a soft tyre.
Lap 9/56: Daniel Ricciardo’s not a happy bunny. Asked how the tyres on his Red Bull are treating him, he bemoans the “dirty air” and there are a few expletives to boot. Charming.
Lap 8/56: “We are Plan A, Plan A,” Hamilton is told down the team radio. It’s all going to plan at the moment. Although to take home the title tonight, Hamilton would need Vettel to tumble down the grid.
Lap 7/56: Verstappen makes another move, easily bypassing Alonso. He’s flying. The Red Bull is up to seventh, now on the tail of Sebastian Ocon. Meanwhile, Pascal Wehrlein’s race is over. It looks as though he took a reasonable whack from Magnussen, who has just pitted, during the first lap.
Lap 6/56: Hamilton jumps back into the lead! Vettel has no reply as Hamilton passes him, with a little help from the DRS. Hamilton had just set a new fastest lap of 1.40.387 and it looks as though he has a pace advantage. The 32-year-old leads the US Grand Prix!
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Lap 4/56: Can Hamilton attack Vettel? Elsewhere, a few early strategic pit-stops, while Nico Hulkenberg’s race is over. The diagnosis is not clear just yet but that’s the fourth successive year he’s not finished in the United States. Crikey.
Lap 3/56: Verstappen’s on the up again, he moves beyond Perez and he jumps into 10th. A very good start the Vs. “The pace feels pretty good,” Hamilton says. Meanwhile, it’s Ricciardo v Bottas Mk II. They are having a real tasty spat out there alongside one another.
Lap 2/56: Max Verstappen has soared through the grid up into 12th. He started down in 16th. Vettel, the race leader, has established a 1.2sec gap between he and Hamilton, who had no answer to the Ferrari’s aggressive but measured start.
Lap 1/56: Vettel has taken the lead on the first lap. Raikkonen lost out to Ocon as the drivers left the grid. Meanwhile, Ricciardo has a go at Bottas but the Mercedes fights him off. Brilliant driving from Bottas.
Lights out!
Vettel steals in to move ahead of Hamilton at turn 1, while Alonso nips in front of Carlos Sainz. Hamilton attempted to shift the Ferrari wide but Vettel has made a dream start.
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It gets better. Usain Bolt waves away the drivers for the start of this formation lap ... and here’s a gentle reminder of the permutations this evening:
JUST BEFORE LIGHTS OUT...
— Formula 1 (@F1) October 22, 2017
Here's what has to happen today for @LewisHamilton to clinch his fourth world title 👀#USGP 🇺🇸 #F1 pic.twitter.com/D0CjC7HRJr
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Buffer’s back for more. He’s just boomed “let’s get ready to rumbleeeeeee!”. It’s painful but alarmingly effective. The race, the real action, will be upon us in no time.
We are just a few minutes away from the off ... will Hamilton do it? And, no, not take a knee (he did not), but rather can he clinch a fourth title in Austin.
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After some boxing-style drivers’ introductions, it is down to business and time for the national anthem. “Your championship leader, he’s the only driver in history to win a grand prix in every year of racing,” booms MC Michael Buffer, “three-time world champion Lewissssss Hamiltoooooooooonnnnnnnnnnnnn!”
How is Hamilton feeling? “I feel the best I have ever been,” he says, before bigging up his plant-based diet. “I miss Nutella, I miss sweets.” As for Daniel Ricciardo, he’s confident too. “It has been super windy all weekend tricky,” the Red Bull driver says. “I have had a few podiums so would love to get a win here. The win is possible.”
On the grid, Carlos Sainz, the Renault driver who starts from seventh, has been chatting. “The race will be a bit of a discovery for me,” he says. “It will be a good experience.” As for his countryman, Fernando Alonso, he says: “The goal is to be in the top 10, we need some points today. We need to execute the race well today.” Alonso begins his mission from down in eighth. Kevin Magnussen talks: “points are definitely possible today.”
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So Hamilton warmed up for this race by taking Usain Bolt for a spin. He almost lost control at one corner but it seems they both had bundles of fun. “This is my first time at F1,” Bolt said. “I have seen the work Lewis has put in over the years and I am just happy he is going to make history.” Usain’s feeling confident, at least.
The grid!
1. Hamilton 2. Vettel
3. Bottas 4. Ricciardo
5. Raikkonen 6. Ocon
7. Sainz 8. Alonso
9. Perez 10. Massa
11. Kvyat 12. Grosjean
13. Ericsson 14. Wehrlein
15. Stroll 16. Verstappen
17. Magnussen 18. Hulkenberg
19. Hartley 20. Vandoorne
Preamble
The good news? It is all coming together rather nicely for Lewis Hamilton, so nicely that he could – in theory – take home a fourth championship title in a few hours time. He racked up his 72nd pole with minimum fuss in Austin yesterday, and his 11th of the season. The bad news? Valtteri Bottas, his Mercedes team-mate, lost second place on the grid late in qualifying to his foe and title rival, Sebastian Vettel. Hamilton has downplayed such an idea himself too, insisting the dream outcome is “highly unlikely”.
“Sebastian is right there and unless he makes a silly mistake, which is unlikely – he is a four-times world champion – we will see it going on,” Hamilton said. “He is going to try to win and I’m going to try the same. I expect nothing but the best from him.”
All in all, it points towards a cracker. Hamilton has a 59-point cushion over Vettel with four races to go, including this one. Put simply, a win in the United States combined with a Vettel slip-up so drastic that he would finish outside the top five and it would be a case of job done.
Before the race, Hamilton spoke about the excitement of go-kart racing, his desire to ‘race’ Vettel for the title. He almost doesn’t want to do it tonight. Anyway, elsewhere Usain Bolt has talked up his chances of becoming a footballer – once he’s got a hamstring hiccup all sorted – and Bill Clinton’s in town too. As, unsurprisingly, is Chase Carey. Strap yourselves in.
Lights out: 8pm (BST)
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