Hamilton’s title hopes stalled as Ferrari frustrate
Red Bull of Verstappen, he came off worse and was sent spinning off the track, dropping back to 14th spot and facing another charge back through the field.
That left Hamilton knowing second place would be enough to seal the title if his foe – who once held a 17-point lead in the standings – finished lower than fourth.
Vettel, though, was quickly making inroads, and 11 laps into the 56-lap Circuit of the Americas course in Texas he was back up to sixth, after one potential road block was removed when Ricciardo parked on the edge of the track with an engine problem.
That allowed the teams a ‘free’ pit-stop but Ferrari mysteriously bringing in drivers.
Raikkonen feigned a late dart into the pits but stayed out, while Mercedes took the bait as Hamilton went in for fresh tyres.
With team-mate Valtteri Bottas told to move over, Hamilton quickly regained second and soon caught Raikkonen but could not get past the Finn, who eked out as many laps as possible on his wearing rubber to try to slow the Brit.
It allowed Vettel to regain some of the time he had lost at the start, while Hamilton was left trying to nurse his tyres for 41 laps without making a second stop if he was going to opted either against of their win the race. That proved too tough a task and Hamilton had to pit with 19 laps left.
He dropped to fourth place and came out just ahead of Vettel, but with Bottas moving over again he soon caught up with Raikkonen and Verstappen.
But catching the pair was one thing, getting past them in modern F1 cars was another. Knowing that Not Classified: even second place would be enough to clinch the title if Vettel failed to get past Bottas and into fourth, Hamilton tried his best in the final laps against Verstappen – who had started 18th – and the duo had a terrific scrap behind Raikonnen.
That battle was what the fans had waited all race for, but winning it would not have been enough for Hamilton anyway, as Vettel got past Bottas to prolong the contest for another week.