Summary
That’s Hamilton’s fifth consecutive win and the 32nd F1 victory of his career, more than any other Brit, surpassing Nigel Mansell’s record. Hamilton is now 24 points ahead, but this tussle with Rosberg will definitely go to the final race in Abu Dhabi, where there is double points remember.
YEEEHHHAAAWWW!!! @LewisHamilton WINS the #USGP! What a drive! #F1 pic.twitter.com/NwyqNA0OEI
— MERCEDES AMG F1 (@MercedesAMGF1) November 2, 2014
A good day for Red Bull in the end, Ricciardo in third, and Vettel coming late through the field to grab sixth!
Provisional classification for the #USGP - Hamilton triumphs, while Maldonado scores his first point of 2014 #F1 pic.twitter.com/UPH0WCB2zT
— Formula1.com (@F1) November 2, 2014
Thanks for reading and for your emails and tweets. Race report from Paul Weaver to follow. Bye!
Updated
LEWIS HAMILTON WINS THE US GRAND PRIX!
Lap 56: Great driving from Hamilton, he’s swerves left and right in celebration as he comes down the home straight, hand pumping the air.
“Get in there Lewis, epic drive, epic,” says Mercedes over the radio.
“Sorry guys, didn’t work out,” says Rosberg.
Updated
Lap 55: Penultimate lap for Hamilton, he’s lapping the back of the field and has been told to be careful not to get involved in the battle involving Button and co.
Lap 54: Huge move from Vettel who moves into ninth! He’s moving closer to his target of seventh. Maldonaldo, Vergne both suffer as a result.
Lap 53: Vergne eventually passes Button. The Brit has defended stoutly for a number of laps but is helpless to prevent the Frenchman going to eighth.
Lap 52: Vettel is past Raikkonen and chasing down 12th, he’s less than two seconds off tenth, not out of the points.
Lap 51: There’s debris on the track from that collision, Grosjean thinks that merits a penalty. Looks like he might be right. Hamilton maintains his lead over Rosberg at the front.
Lap 50: Disaster for Grosjean. With all the cars bunched, Vergne makes a move on Grosjean and the two cars touch on turn one! Quite a heavy collision as Vergne cuts inside Grosjean, who is forced wide, also allowing Maldonaldo past. “What was that?” Grosjean desperately asks. Button somehow stayed out of that, he’s still in eighth.
Lap 49: Button is holding on here, great defence, which has slowed up all the field. Vettel and Kvyat still in with a sniff at the back, not out of it yet.
Lap 48: Everyone is queuing up behind Button in ninth, who is still worried about that damage he sustained in Lap 1. They’re just waiting for the straight and a chance to use DRS. Button is looking like a sitting duck. Grosjean, Verge, Maldonaldo, Kvyat all chasing.
Updated
Lap 47: Maldonado giving Vergne a bit of grief. Hamilton meanwhile is still flying up front, he’s two seconds ahead of Rosberg.
Lap 46: Vettel still looks to be struggling on those tyres.
Great battles throughout the field, as Vettel attacks Magnussen and Button locks horns with Grosjean #USGP #F1 pic.twitter.com/RzZBGcQ63u
— Formula1.com (@F1) November 2, 2014
Lap 45: It is these three – Vettel, Alonso and Magnussen – that are going at it at the moment, but there’s no change in the standings. Alonso is not able to get the straight-line speed on the back straight.
Lap 44: Alonso is onto his final sets of soft tyres, but Vettel carries much more speed and is able to take sixth! Alonso hits back on turn seven but the Spaniard locks up with braking. Magnussen is just behind the pair, he’s not out of it either at this stage.
Lap 43: Alonso heading into the pit stops, can Vettel overtake him?
Lap 42: Button does pass Grosjean on turn one! Using the DRS he goes up the inside. Grosjean juts left but it’s too late, and is forced wide into turn two.
Jenson showing us he's got moves too there. It's ok JB, we know you can dance. We know.
— Lotus F1 Team (@Lotus_F1Team) November 2, 2014
Updated
Lap 41: Hamilton sets a fastest lap 1 min 42.3 seconds. Surely he can’t throw it away now?
Lap 40: Button looking threatening on the back of Grosjean in 11th. We’ll keep an eye on that one.
Lap 39: Hamilton still comfortably in front. Remember he could win here and in Brazil, and still be overturned for the drivers championship, due to double points being in effect in the final race in Abu Dhabi.
Lap 38: Maldonado, who is in 13th, is under investigation for speeding in the pit lane.He’s been given a five-second stop penalty.
Hi Pastor, bye Pastor. #Pitstop pic.twitter.com/VrlZwyjM0w
— Lotus F1 Team (@Lotus_F1Team) November 2, 2014
Updated
Lap 37: Bottas is running comfortably in fifth, I can’t see him giving up anything to Alonso, who is a way back.
Lap 36: Rosberg hits back! The German sets a new fastest lap, he’s still a way off Hamilton: 2.7 seconds. Vettel is up into the points in tenth, able to pass Grosjean on the inside after that back straight.
What a stonker! @nico_rosberg takes a big beefy bite out of @LewisHamilton's lead to cut the gap to 2.7secs - dont touch that dial folks!#F1
— MERCEDES AMG F1 (@MercedesAMGF1) November 2, 2014
Excellent use of the word ‘stonker’ there.
Updated
Lap 35: Hamilton is now 3.6 seconds ahead at the front – increasingly looking like he will increase his lead in the drivers championship!
Lap 34: Hamilton and Rosberg both makes their stops, briefly trading places, before Hamiton carries his speed into turn one to retake the lead. Ricciardo sets a fastest lap of the race: 1 minute 42.8 seconds!
Updated
Lap 33: The question is whether Ricciardo can last now on the end of the race on these tyres. It appears that Mercedes are concerned by the presence of the Australian – they have told both Hamilton and Rosberg to pit. Managing the race and worried about the Red Bull car?
Lap 32: Ricciardo is up into third! His early pit once again proves dividends, Massa took longer to get onto his medium tyre and is passed on turn one!
Lap 31: Massa is looking like he’s going to need to pit. Vettel remains in 13th.
Lap 30: Hamilton now has building a two second lead. Meanwhile …
P10 for Pastor now! Stop the race, stop the race!
— Lotus F1 Team (@Lotus_F1Team) November 2, 2014
Lap 29: Hamilton now has a 1.4 second lead over Rosberg in front. Button makes his overdue pit, he comes back into the field in 13th.
Lap 28: Button asks to come in but has been told to stay out of the pit lane – it proves to be a wrong decision, with Vergne passing him. “Ok Jenson, box this lap,” say the team over the radio.
“Are you sure? Are you sure?!” Jenson replies sarcastically. The cheek! He’s obviously fuming that he wasn’t allowed to pit sooner.
Updated
Lap 27: Alonso is flying! Taking the outside on turn one, he is then able to carry greater speed over Magnussen on turn two. There are so many different lines to take into that turn one!
Lap 26: It’s all happening at turn one! Grosjean runs in behind Vettel and past the German, who is really struggling with both understeer and grip. He’s have to pit surely, as his teammate Ricciardo also gets past him. Grosjean safely runs through 3/4/5/6 where he spun out in qualifying remember.
Lap 26/56, and Hamilton leads Rosberg and Massa - while Vettel has already made three pit stops #USGP #F1 pic.twitter.com/p6JO2p4Nm1
— Formula1.com (@F1) November 2, 2014
Updated
Lap 25: Alonso meanwhile has one his personal battle with Button, he’s up into seventh now.
HAMILTON LEADS!
Lap 24: That is magnificent driving from Hamilton. He was way back coming down the back straight, but a combination of DRS and late braking means he is able to get down on the inside. Rosberg tries to block him off but realises it’s too late, and is forced to yield. The Texan crowd go nuts! We have a new leader!
Updated
Lap 23: Hamilton has dramatically closed the gap, no more than a car’s length as the pair turn off the back straight! Rosberg holds him off, just!
Updated
Lap 22: Alonso and Button having an absolute hum-dinger of a battle for seventh. Alonso twice creeps up on the Button’s inside, but twice is forced to lock the brakes, allowing the Brit to retake the lead. Great driving, the two are wheel-to-wheel!
Lap 21: Rosberg now has a one second advantage over Hamilton.
Both drivers on the white marked medium compound @pirellisport tyres after the first stops - for all you rubber fans out there... #F1 #USGP
— MERCEDES AMG F1 (@MercedesAMGF1) November 2, 2014
Lap 20: 12-placed Gutierrez has had a shocker, going way to wide and allowing both Grosjean and Vergne inside him. It was a bit cheeky for Grosjean on the inside, but that’s simply not aggressive enough from the Mexican.
Lap 19: Significant improvement for those on their newer tyres.
John McEnerney on the email.
“Evening Michael, it’s time for Bernie to go maybe then the sport will be run properly but as long as he’s at the helm the little man won’t be treated fairly by the little man. A coup is needed but who’ll lead it I hear u ask. On the racing side of things Lewis has too much of everything over Nico & he’ll win the title without too much drama, only the car can stop him not Nico!”
Lap 18: Hulkenburg has been forced to a halt on the back straight, both Force India are now out. Alonso and Vettel are scrapping it out for ninth, Alonso is able to open the DRS and race past the German. That new engine doesn’t look to have had a great improvement for the Red Bull man.
Lap 18/56, and Rosberg leads by 1.4s from Hamilton, Massa and Ricciardo. Three retirements #USGP #F1 pic.twitter.com/u2j4z0xEmw
— Formula1.com (@F1) November 2, 2014
Updated
Lap 17: Hamilton makes his stop – 3.1 seconds to change those tyres – and Rosberg retakes the lead, cruising up that hill on turn one.
Updated
Lap 16: That earlier pit-stop from Ricciardo looks to have given him an advantage, with Bottas’ later pit meaning that he drives back into traffic. Ricciardo zooms down the straight, and is able to take a faster outside line. They are seventh and eighth respectively.
Lap 15: Both Ricciardo and Massa both pit to change their tyres. Rosberg follows, and he’s added a medium tyre. He’s emerges back into second, Hamilton will pit next lap.
Updated
Lap 14: Massa meanwhile is over six seconds behind the Mercedes duo in third, so already a substantial break between them and the rest of the field.
Lap 13: Hamilton’s tyres appear to be holding up slightly better. He’s 0.4 seconds behind Rosberg now.
Lap 12: Rosberg says that his “front left is finished”, which means he’s likely to come in for his pit to change the soft tyre as soon as possible. Expect to see a change in the next lap or so, another refresh of soft tyres around the Lap 25 mark, and a change to medium tyres at around Lap 35.
Lap 11: Vettel on the Red Bull radio: “The car is really struggling. I have very little grip.”
Lap 10: Button has been told he is clear of speeding behind the safety car, but Verge and Gutierrez have both been handed a five-second penalty, which will come into force the next time they pit.
Lap 9: DRS is obviously going to play a big part in this race, with turn one a particular hot zone. Grosjean is taking it to Vergne in tenth, but Vergne manages to hold him off.
Lap 8: Hamilton has been told he is safe on fuel, which effectively means he doesn’t need to hold back from hereon in. Interesting to see if that affects how aggressive he is at the end of the race. He’s 0.5 seconds behind.
Lap 7: Maldonado, Vergne and Button are under investigation for speeding behind the safety car. More to follow on what punishment they might get.
Updated
Lap 6: That safety car has definitely played into the hands of Vettel, who is up from the back of the grid to 15th. Pastor Maldonado is up to the heady heights of eighth. Hamilton and Rosberg are trading fastest laps at the front of the front, German still ahead.
Lap 5: After a terrible start in fifth, in which he was overtaken by three of four cars, Ricciardo deliciously tucks himself on the inside of Alonso on turn one and makes his way back to fifth. Turns on the DRS and burnt Alonso, but nearly collided with Bottas, much in the same way that Sutil and Perez came together. That is a fantastically brave move from the Australian.
Updated
Lap 4: Finally, we’re underway at the end of Lap 4! Race!
Lap 3: Safety car still out, will get out of the way at the end of this lap.
Lap 2: Still under the safety car here. None of the top 10 have pitted. Button did, and asks McLaren about his car hitting some of that debris. McLaren are fairly sure that there is “nothing obviously wrong.”
Updated
Lap 1: Rosberg gets off to an excellent start, and uses that to block off Hamilton who tries to surge up the inside. The German holds his position through the narrow turns of 3/4/5/6! Meanwhile Massa leapfrogs his Williams teammate Bottas into third. Sutil collides with Perez, and the safety car is out! There is debris all over the track, Sutil’s car is in bits, while Perez’s is able to get his car back to the pits. Game over for both, I’m afraid, and a blow for all the Mexican fans that have made their way to Texas to support Perez.
There is a lot of debris on the track following that crash between Sutil and Perez, who have both retired #USGP #F1 pic.twitter.com/FCixXUlhJL
— Formula1.com (@F1) November 2, 2014
Updated
Cars are set. Lights are on. Wait for it, we’re off!
Rosberg has talked about the importance of a good start, he starts on the cleaner side of the grid that should give his car greater grip than Hamilton’s. The first corner is a wide one, with lots of room for overtaking, not just on the first lap. It’s also a massive climb into that first corner, Rosberg has described it as “like driving into the sky.”
Jenson Button, who starts today in 12th after a five-place penalty, has mentioned how strong the wind is today. Lots of drivers, Button included, struggled with controlling the rear of their car in similar conditions in qualifying.
Updated
Bernie is in less apologetic mood today on the track, regarding the financial issues.
“The problem with these people is that they spend more than they earn. The world has moved on. We’ll get it sorted.”
Updated
We’re 15 minutes away, this is how the drivers line up on the grid today.
1 Nico Rosberg, Mercedes
2 Lewis Hamilton, Mercedes
3 Valtteri Bottas, Williams
4 Felipe Massa, Williams
5 Daniel Ricciardo, Red Bull
6 Fernando Alonso, Ferrari
7 Kevin Magnussen, McLaren
8 Kimi Raikkonen, Ferrari
9 Adrian Sutil, Sauber
10 Pastor Maldonado, Lotus
11 Sergio Perez, Force India
12 Jenson Button, McLaren
13 Nico Hulkenberg, Force India
14 Jean-Eric Vergne, Toro Rosso
15 Esteban Gutierrez, Sauber
16 Romain Grosjean, Lotus
17 Daniil Kvyat, Toro Rosso
18 Sebastian Vettel, Red Bull
Updated
He won this race last year, and he is still the reigning world champion, but Sebastian Vettel has had a pretty indifferent year. Following his sixth power unit change of the season, he will start at the very back in the pit lane (!) this race, but should make his way up the field. When asked where would be a good finish, he replied seventh. Interesting to see if that is a realistic goal.
Updated
More good news! Hooray!
The three teams who were ready to boycott Sunday’s United States Grand Prix, Force India, Sauber and Lotus, have just announced that they will be taking part!
Nothing long-term has been resolved of course and a boycott could still happen in the final two races in Brazil and Abu Dhabi, but for the next two hours or so, we can blissfully stick our heads in the sand.
Updated
Preamble
Look everyone, an actual race! Something to distract us all from the miserable mire that Formula One finds itself in: issues over driver safety and the sport’s finances have dominated the headlines over recent weeks – with good reason – but for a short period of time to lift your Sunday blues we can focus on answering a fairly simple question: who can drive a load of carbon fibre round a few corners in the shortest time?
It’s a huge shame that one of the finest races of the season – Austin’s Circuit of the Americas is expertly laid out with a 40-metre elevation change, challenging corners in front of a knowledgeable and enthusiastic crowd – is overshadowed by the crisis over team contracts that has lead to both Marussia and Caterham going into administration – both teams will be absent today as a result. Bernie has taken the blame but doesn’t seem to have the foggiest as to what to do. Excellent.
So instead, for a short while, let’s FOCUS ON FUN. Tyres on tarmac, chequered flags, Lewis Hamilton losing his cool over the radio, all the good stuff. The race is really only about two drivers – Hamilton and Nico Rosberg – and technical issues/crashes aside, nobody else should get close to winning.
Neutrals will surely be cheering Rosberg on, not only because he’s been dressing up as Chewbacca in the build-up to the race (whereas Hamilton has been sporting a blingtastically awful chain around his neck), but also because a victory here for the German would close his 17-point deficit at the top of the drivers’ championship with two races after Austin, and hopefully spark more excitement about what is happening on the track, rather than off it.
Lights out: 8pm GMT
Updated
