Highlights of the US Grand Prix

Hamilton secures sixth world championship

It may have been a foregone conclusion going into the US Grand Prix, but Lewis Hamilton secured his sixth drivers’ title at the Austin circuit on Sunday afternoon. The Mercedes driver only needed four points to win the championship, and had to finish in eighth place or ninth with fastest lap. Having qualified a disappointing fifth, with championship rival and teammate Valttero Bottas on pole, Hamilton could have spent the 56 laps proceeding with caution. But by the exit of the first corner the Briton had passed Charles Leclerc for fourth, and then made short work of passing an ailing Sebastian Vettel. By the end of the first lap, Hamilton was running in a solid third place, and the rest of the race became about holding position, not advancing. Crossing the finish line in second place, Hamilton was crowned world champion for the fifth time in six years.

Ferrari struggle in Austin

It was a disappointing US Grand Prix for the Scuderia, who saw Sebastian Vettel retire from the race with broken suspension on lap 8, while Charles Leclerc finished the race in fourth place, his position on the start. Prior to his retirement Vettel had been struggling for grip, losing places over the opening laps to Hamilton, Leclerc, Lando Norris, and Daniel Ricciardo, running in seventh from a second-place starting position when his car failed. Prior to Vettel’s retirement, Ferrari had struggled for pace throughout the weekend, their former straight-line speed advantage nowhere to be seen. For a second consecutive weekend, a slow pitstop for Leclerc affected the Monegasque’s race, with 7.7 seconds taken to fit the left rear tyre the first time he entered the pits. A second stop from fourth took only 2.5 seconds, with no positions lost.

Albon’s turn for a fightback

After Max Verstappen recovered from the back of the pack in Mexico, eventually finishing in sixth place, in Austin it was the turn of Red Bull teammate Alexander Albon to fight through the field after a first lap incident. Albon and Carlos Sainz made contact on the first lap, in an incident the stewards determined needed no further action, and the Thai driver was running in last place after a trip to the pits. Despite incurring damage to the car, including a cracked front-wing endplate, Albon was able to fight his way back up through the field, overtaking nemesis Sainz for seventh by lap 32. When all was said and done, Albon crossed the line in fifth place.