Lewis Hamilton questioned his team’s tactics after his third-place finish at the US Grand Prix, coupled with Sebastian Vettel finishing fourth, prolonged the title fight for at least another week.
“As a team we didn’t perform that great today and that’s not something we usually do – so we’ll go back to the drawing board, we’ll regroup,” the Mercedes driver said. “We’ve had some incredible performances, really good and consistent. For us, this was like a double bogey [in golf]”
Ferrari have made crucial errors in recent races while Mercedes have looked solid, but here Hamilton was called into the pits for a tyre change on the 11th lap during a virtual safety car period but the new tyres did not last and began to blister late on, requiring a second stop, while the race winner, Kimi Räikkönen, stopped only once. Though Hamilton was gaining ground at the end, the deficit was too much to make up and he finished behind the Finn’s Ferrari and the Red Bull of Max Verstappen.
He had begun the race in pole position but immediately surrendered his lead as Räikkönen, on the front row and using softer tyres with better grip though less durability, made a superior start.
• Lewis Hamilton has a 70-point lead over Sebastian Vettel and there are a maximum of 75 points available from the final three races, so Hamilton needs just five points to secure the F1 title (Hamilton wins if the pair finish level on points as the British driver has won more races).
• Vettel must win all three races to claim the title, so if he fails to win at the next grand prix in Mexico, Hamilton will win the championship – even if he does not finish the race.
• If Vettel does win in Mexico, Hamilton can still win if he finishes seventh or higher.
“It was a bit of a surprise but you can’t always get it right,” Hamilton said. “It was a difficult day, not our best, but congratulations to Kimi. I know it’s been a while but he drove fantastically well today.”
It was Räikkönen’s first win since his triumph in Melbourne in 2013. “I was pretty confident that we had the speed,” the Finn said. “Obviously the tires is an unknown. It doesn’t really change my life one bit.” Since he is joining Sauber in 2019, it might prove the 39-year-old’s last victory of a Formula One career that began in 2001.
Hamilton will get another chance to wrap up his fifth title next Sunday in Mexico City. He finished only ninth there in 2017 but that result was enough to seal overall victory. After Sunday’s race he made his determination clear: “For me it doesn’t matter when you win the championship as long as you get it done.”
