Hamilton secures 6th F1 title,
Valtteri Bottas took victory in the United States Grand Prix, but second place for Lewis Hamilton was enough to give him his sixth Formula One drivers’ championship.
With Bottas winning, Hamilton only needed to finish in the top eight to guarantee the title, but an audacious onestop strategy attempt almost enabled the Briton take a remarkable victory. In the end Bottas passed him with five laps remaining after the pair went wheel-towheel, and Hamilton then held off Max Verstappen in the final laps to make it a Mercedes one-two and move clear of Juan Manuel Fangio to sit one title behind Michael Schumacher’s record.
“Right now, it’s hard to understand what I’m feeling right now,” Hamilton said. “Naturally it’s just pure happiness. I feel more humble than ever. I saw my parents as I came in and just looking at my dad’s smile just says it all. He’s supported my from day one, as did Linda (stepmother), as did my mum and they worked so hard for me to be here today.”
Hamilton won the title in style having started from fifth place, overtaking Sebastian Vettel with a beautiful move around the outside of Turn 8 on the opening lap. Vettel was struggling in the opening laps before a right rear suspension failure at Turn 9 ended his race early, while Ferrari teammate Charles Leclerc was a distant fourth.
Bottas and Verstappen ran close together in the opening stint and when Hamilton closed in on the Red Bull, Verstappen pit earlier and committed to a two-stop strategy.
Bottas responded a lap later and pulled out a good out lap to withstand pressure from Verstappen, while Hamilton ran long and only pit for hard tires once Bottas retook the lead from him.
Mercedes told Hamilton it was touch and go whether the tires would hold on until the end of the race, but he managed his pace well to put himself in contention.
Verstappen pitted for a second time on lap 34 for medium tires with Bottas again stopping a lap later, giving them just over 20 laps to chase down Hamilton. The leader used traffic well to keep the gap around five seconds to Bottas for a while before the Finn closed in, trying to pass around the outside of Turn 12 with six laps remaining and being pushed wide before getting the move done a lap later using DRS into the same corner.
Hamilton then had to turn his attentions to Verstappen, who had closed in as the front two battled, but a yellow flag after Kevin Magnussen suffered an apparent brake failure at Turn 12 ensured Verstappen couldn’t attack at the best overtaking spot for the final two laps.
An emotional Hamilton pulled into a special painted parking space under the podium and stood on the car with the Union Jack flag draped behind him to celebrate a sixth world championship, five of which have come with Mercedes including the last three in a row.
Leclerc finished over 50 seconds behind the race winner as Ferrari showed no pace during the race, although his own two-stop strategy saw him fit soft tires for the final stint and secure the extra point for the fastest lap.
Alex Albon was involved in light contact with Carlos Sainz on the exit of Turn 1 at the start of the race and was sent airborne, necessitating a first lap pit stop and a three-stop strategy, pulling off a strong recovery drive to finish fifth.
Daniel Ricciardo, sporting a special Texas Longhorns race helmet, delighted the “home” crowd with sixth place as he made a one-stop strategy work after a race-long battle with Lando Norris.