2018 United States Grand Prix - Austin, 19-21 October

[Juzh]

He can. Funny how Hamilton can go head to head with a Red Bull without spinning/crashing in to it...

by staying behind and letting go.

that's exactly what he did.

[Restomaniac]

but Ferrari were not even on their pit box at that time....Merc pitbox could clearly see they were just fooling themselves

I think Mercedes underestimated Kimi. They felt they had the pace on him and also on the tires too. Ferrari though was fast and had better tire deg. Underestimating this, they took the gamble to drive for thr win rather than go for the safe 2nd. I am happy they did. Really happy for Ferrari and Kimi.

As toto said; if Vettel didnt have that spin, he would have been a strong contender for the win...

True however it happened really early on so they already knew the score by then.

[RZS10]

Did Vettel just blame Ricciardo for it?

Essentially...yea ... it's also totally everyone elses fault and not his own mistakes that cost him at least the equivalent of the points he is behind in the championship

[MtthsMlw]

Apologies to Ferrari I was 100% sure it was wrong to not pit Kimi. Assumed Hamilton was on a one stop. I guess he pushed too hard at the beginning damaging his tyres. Ferrari is truly back in the game pace wise and there are updates still to the come. Also Verstappens 2nd stint on the SS was quite impressive.

[bauc]

KIMI BRAVO! After so many years, its good to see you back on the top podium spot, well deserved

[LM10]

Did Vettel just blame Ricciardo for it?

Essentially...yea ... it's also totally everyone elses fault and not his own mistakes that cost him at least the equivalent of the points he is behind in the championship

I’ve watched a post-race interview with him and there he didn’t blame Ricciardo.

[PlatinumZealot]

Congratzs to kimi.
Champions drive fdom Max. He is the real Mackoy.
Hamilton did what he could.. Nice scrap with Max. Onto Mexico!

[zibby43]

Jesus the sky commentators are morons, they said Lewis has to outscore Vettel by 5 Points for the remainder of the season.

No Dumb Dumbs he just has to score
5 points.

Thanks for pointing this out. So much misinformation flying around with all of the journalists right now.

So if Hamilton gets 5 points, period, in Mexico, he will be the champion?

If Hamilton gets 5 points only there, and Vettel wins out, they'd be tied at 351, and the tiebreaker goes to Hamilton based on overall wins?

[Wynters]

Go Kimi! So happy to see him win! I wonder how many other races he could've been competitive at if he was given the right strategy? I hope he racks up another couple before the end of the season.

Great race for Verstappen as well. Very mature and controlled drive. I almost wondered if Kimi was slowing down to give him DRS against Hamilton but, on review, I don't think so, I think Max was holding off Hamilton and pushing Kimi at the same time. He must also be feeling pretty happy. Hamilton treated him with kid gloves, that's quite an advantage to take into next season.

Lap 1 Vettel...*sigh* The rest of the race he drove exceptionally well but...he just makes such poor decisions when overtaking competitive cars and won't seem to learn.

As for Mercedes, they really blow hot and cold on strategy. I can't blame them for going for the race win given the intrinsic speed of the Ferrari's and Bottas' struggles but they really should've just bitten the bullet and pitted Hamilton for a 2nd time when he would've fed back in between Kimi and Vertstappen. If Bottas managed to keep Vettel behind then Mission Accomplished. If he didn't then Hamilton still takes home a bucket of points. Still, I suspect it's part of their 'We're here to win every race!' philosophy.

Renaults were quick here, particularly Sainz. That start was well worth the 5 second penalty at T1. As for Grosjean...he's got speed but just no finesse. It's such a shame.

Roll on Mexico!

P.S. What are peoples' view on Alonso/Stroll?

[Restomaniac]

Did Vettel just blame Ricciardo for it?

Essentially...yea ... it's also totally everyone elses fault and not his own mistakes that cost him at least the equivalent of the points he is behind in the championship

I’ve watched a post-race interview with him and there he didn’t blame Ricciardo.

‘Maybe he couldn’t see me in his mirrors’. Sure he wasn’t

[GrandAxe]

@NathanOlder.
I thought Vettel used DRS on the first lap, but watching the replays now he didn't. The white band across the Ferrari rear wing should we say, caused the "perception error".

[Wynters]

I'll have to double-check but I also think this result increases the performance gap between Kimi and Vettel in the latter 2/3rds of the season and puts 'alternate' Max's' into second in the WDC.

Obviously 'ifs' and 'buts' are worth exactly zero but it's interesting to speculate that, had Max not made so many impetous errors earlier in the season, he'd be the one giving Hamilton sleepless nights. Considering the dog of an egine they have, I once more doff my cap to Mr Newey et al.

[search]

Its all hindsight but Mercedes should've boxed Lewis for the undercut the moment he was stuck behind Kimi who was on used Ultras, undercut would've been huge then he could've just managed a new set of softs until the end.

maybe, but stopping again after 10 laps doen't usually happen - and if the softs hadn't lasted for 35 laps then, he would have had nothing left but used US

[NathanOlder]

Jesus the sky commentators are morons, they said Lewis has to outscore Vettel by 5 Points for the remainder of the season.

No Dumb Dumbs he just has to score
5 points.

Thanks for pointing this out. So much misinformation flying around with all of the journalists right now.

So if Hamilton gets 5 points, period, in Mexico, he will be the champion?

If Hamilton gets 5 points only there, and Vettel wins out, they'd be tied at 351, and the tiebreaker goes to Hamilton based on overall wins?

There is no 5pts. Its 1pt 2pts 4pts 6pts.

So Lewis needs 7th in Mexico. But if Vettel wins the last 3 races, then Hamilton needs a total of 5pts. So a 10th and 2 × 9th places will do it

[Restomaniac]

Anyone else sick of the now fake hype.

The WDC effectively is over. Anyone with a functioning brain can clearly see that. Yet SKY F1 are still pushing it.

It’s like Homer J Simpson chasing a hog roast ‘It’s still good!’.