AUSTIN – Lewis Hamilton’s march to the 2014 Formula 1 drivers’ championship continued at the Circuit of The Americas today as he managed to catch and pass title rival Nico Rosberg to clinch his third victory in the United States.
Yet again, Rosberg was made to look decidedly average by his teammate. The German driver simply had no answer for Hamilton’s pace, failing to hold a candle to him once he had been overtaken on lap 25 of the race. The margin at the line may only have been four seconds, but the impact of this victory is far, far greater.
This was perhaps the best of the three United States Grands Prix that have been held at the Circuit of The Americas (in terms of on-track action, that is). Not only did we have a close and well-fought fight for the race win, but throughout the field there were a number of great battles. Although the grid was two teams light, Austin still threw up a fantastic grand prix weekend that saw the tide take yet another turn in the favor of Lewis Hamilton.
RACE REPORT
NEWS FROM THE PADDOCK
- Lewis Hamilton has left Simon Fuller’s XIX Entertainment management company
- Is F1’s financial crisis Bernie Ecclestone’s fault? He thinks so
- Mario Andretti thinks moves for both Fernando Alonso and Sebastian Vettel will be good for their careers
- Hamilton was chasing history in Austin today
- Here was the starting grid for today’s race at COTA
- Sebastian Vettel was anticipating a difficult race in Austin today
- Adrian Sutil retired from today’s US GP after being crashed into on lap one
- Hamilton completed a 2012 encore by winning at COTA
- Rosberg said he lacked rhythm in today’s race
- The F1 title race will now definitely be decided in Abu Dhabi
- Marco Mattiacci spoke to NBCSN’s Leigh Diffey about his plans for Ferrari
- Sebastian Vettel fought back from a pit lane start to finish seventh
- #3 Daniel Ricciardo finished third at a race where that number means a lot more
- Pastor Maldonado picked up his first point in over a year today
- P4 and P5 were both frustrating and successful results for Williams today in Austin
- Sergio Perez has been handed a seven place grid penalty for Brazil
THOUGHTS FROM THE TRACK
Five stars for Lewis in the Lone Star State
With five wins on the bounce, Lewis Hamilton has entered unchartered territory. Only six other drivers have won five in a row before, and only two – Sebastian Vettel and Michael Schumacher – have won more than 10 across the course of a season. Quite simply, Lewis is making history.
Once again in Austin, he proved his champion credentials, overhauling Rosberg after lagging behind at the start as the medium tire came towards him. Ultimately, Rosberg was rather forgettable today. He kept Hamilton is sight, but lacked that extra gusto that the Briton has in abundance. Nico is yet to come from behind to win a race against Lewis this year.
The falsity of double points is clear
Without the utterly ridiculous double points race in Abu Dhabi at the end of the year, Hamilton would be poised to sew up the drivers’ championship in Brazil next weekend. He leads by 24 points, and would ordinarily need to carry a lead of 25 into the final race of the year to be champion.
Of course, now that figure is 50, even if he wins in Brazil and Rosberg retires, he could still end up losing the title. Nico’s only hope is that Lewis hits reliability problems late in the season – he’s got little else going for him at the moment.
Ricciardo continues to show Seb up
Another great display from Daniel Ricciardo in Austin today. The Australian driver rallied from a poor start to pass Kevin Magnussen, Fernando Alonso, Valtteri Bottas and Felipe Massa en route to his eighth podium finish of the season. It was another vintage display of great racecraft from Ricciardo, who is showing experience far beyond his three years in the sport.
As for Vettel? On paper, it seems that he did a good job, jumping from the pit lane at the start to P7 at the flag and overtaking seven cars in the final four laps. However, the German driver was still in a miserable mood after the race, complaining that he was too slow in the first stint and that his late overtaking spree was “fake”. The agitation at Red Bull is perhaps beginning to show as their glorious marriage enters its final three races in 2014.
Where is Kimi?
That was the question Lotus asked last year, and it’s very true once again in 2014. Kimi Raikkonen was nowhere today for Ferrari, finishing 13th out of 15 finishers behind both Lotus drivers and a Toro Rosso. The Ferrari F14 T may not be a good car, but still – his performance was simply terrible.
Fernando Alonso kept the Maranello flag flying, albeit barely in sixth place, but he rejected the idea of it being a “disaster” in the post-race media session. Instead, he was very unflustered about it – sixth was all they could do, so fair enough. The team will hope for better in Brazil next weekend, although any hopes of catching Williams are all but over.
Thank you, COTA
Ahead of the race start, I took some time to venture out into the general admission areas and meet some of the fans who had come to this weekend’s race in Austin. As I wrote in my three features earlier this week, the American market is being cracked with this race, and the wonderful turnout proved it. The sport is being embraced in the United States, and the wonderful facility that is the Circuit of The Americas put on a show once again. So thank you, COTA, for rocking it once again this weekend.
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That’s all from the paddock in Austin. We’ll be bringing you more reports and features as the fallout continues over the next few days, and the Paddock Notebook will return for the final race of the season in Abu Dhabi.
