Hamilton comfortably wins the US Grand Prix, edges closer to his fourth World Championship

Lewis Hamilton took a comfortable victory at the United States Grand Prix edging closer to his fourth title as Mercedes secured the Constructors Championship for the fourth consecutive time since the 1.6L V6 Turbocharged Hybrid era began in 2014 while Ferrari duo Sebastian Vettel and Kimi Räikkönen came home second and third respectively.

Pole-sitter Hamilton slipped behind title-rival Vettel on the run down into the first corner at the Circuit of the Americas as the pairing touched wheels as they battled for the lead.

Vettel commanded the early proceedings while Hamilton regrouped and charged towards the German, taking back the lead with a great DRS-assisted lunge down the long back straight into turn 12.

Hamilton ran comfortably ahead for the rest of the race, as he and Vettel used alternate strategies, to claim his 62^nd career victory and his fifth at the Circuit of the Americas.

The Briton will head to Mexico next weekend with a huge 66 points advantage over Vettel with 75 points on the table over the final three races in Mexico, Brazil and Abu Dhabi.

Red Bull’s Max Verstappen, who started from 16^th on the grid due to power-unit penalties, grabbed the final podium from Räikkönen with a courageous pass on the last lap.

But the Dutchman was swiftly handed a five-second time penalty for leaving the track after cutting the corner through the fast-sweeping turn 18 and gaining an advantage, meaning Hamilton, Vettel and Räikkönen were the top three.

When the 56 lap United States Grand Prix began in the hot Texas conditions, second-placed Vettel made a clean great launch alongside Hamilton and kept close as they charged towards turn one and grabbed the lead.

Vettel confident with the pace of his SF70H racer, started pulling a gap over Hamilton, as Valtteri Bottas and Daniel Ricciardo battled side-by-side for third place.

Hamilton however, picked up his pace as the race settled down and got within DRS range and put a great overtake on Vettel along the back straight into turn 12 to reclaim the lead.

After the move, the front-runner’s strategy were variant with Vettel opting for a two stopper (Ultra Soft, Soft, Super Soft) and Hamilton running a one-stop strategy (Ultra Soft, Soft).

Hamilton emerged just in-front of Vettel after the first pit-stop window, questioning Mercedes’ plan over the radio, though the Briton pulled away once more.

Hamilton built a solid lead as the race went on, but second was settled near the end, as different strategies took place.

Bottas held third for the most the race, after Ricciardo retired due to an engine failure and Vettel fell back to fourth on his two-stop strategy.

But Bottas got jumped by Räikkönen, who made an impressive overtake on his Finnish compatriot at turn 12, before being passed swiftly by Vettel and the recovering Verstappen.

Bottas’ woes continued as he suffered a huge lock-up into the final corner and made another stop for the faster Ultra Soft rubber to hold fifth with a comfortable gap over the next pack of cars.

Vettel was given second place by team-mate Räikkönen to limit the damage in the championship hunt shortly after passing Bottas, but was unable to cut down Hamilton’s advantage.

“We had a beautiful day. I love this track. I think this track is now my favourite track!” Hamilton said on the podium after winning the United States Grand Prix for the sixth time.

Räikkönen struggling with older tyres, became under intense pressure from Verstappen, another who ran a two-stop strategy late in the race, with the Finn being jumped into the sweeping turn 17 on the last lap.

However, Verstappen’s four wheels were off the track and was promptly given with a five-second time penalty after the race and relegated to fourth.

Although the Drivers’ Championship fight continues for likely one more round in Mexico, the Silver Arrows clinched their fourth-successive Constructors’ title with Ferrari unable to outscore Mercedes.

Behind the top five, Force India’s Esteban Ocon came home sixth and ahead of Renault’s Carlos Sainz who was contesting his first race for the Enstone-squad taking seventh and Force India team-mate Sergio Pérez who was eighth.

Williams Martini Racing’s Felipe Massa placed ninth and in-front of the returning Toro Rosso driver Daniil Kvyat who rounded out the top 10.

The other Williams of Lance Stroll settled for 11^th place followed by 12^th placed McLaren of Stoffel Vandoorne and the 13^th-placed Toro Rosso debutant Brendon Hartley.

Both Haas VF-17 racers failed to score points on home soil with Romain Grosjean and Kevin Magnussen finishing in 14^th and 16^th respectively, with Sauber’s Marcus Ericsson sandwiching the pairing in 15^th.

The other Sauber of Pascal Wehrlein suffered damage in his first-lap collision with Magnussen, while McLaren’s Fernando Alonso suffered an engine failure and Renault’s Nico Hülkenberg also failed to finish due to a loss of oil pressure.

2017 Formula 1 United States Grand Prix Full Race Results Classification (After 56 laps)

2017 World Drivers Championship Standings – Top 10

1. Lewis Hamilton – 331 Points
2. Sebastian Vettel – 265 Points
3. Valtteri Bottas – 244 Points
4. Daniel Ricciardo – 192 Points
5. Kimi Räikkönen – 160 Points
6. Max Verstappen – 126 Points
7. Sergio Pérez – 86 Points
8. Esteban Ocon – 73 Points
9. Carlos Sainz – 54 Points
10. Felipe Massa – 36 Points

2017 World Constructors Championship Standings

1. Mercedes AMG F1 – 575 Points
2. Scuderia Ferrari – 428 Points
3. Red Bull Racing – 315 Points
4. Force India F1 Team – 159 Points
5. Williams Martini Racing – 68 Points
6. Scuderia Toro Rosso – 53 Points
7. Renault Sport F1 – 48 Points
8. Haas F1 Team – 43 Points
9. McLaren-Honda F1 – 23 Points
10. Sauber F1 Team – 5 Points

Round 18 of the 2017 FIA Formula 1 World Championship heads straight to the historic Autodromo Hermanos Rodriguez in Mexico next weekend for the 2017 Formula 1 Gran Premio De Mexico from October 27-29.