F1 returned to America with a bang, on the brand spanking new Circuit of the Americas.
The track known colloquially as "COTA" is situated in Austin, and fans and drivers a like had high expectations of the Tilke designed circuit. They were not disappointed.
The impressive circuit boasts 20 challenging corners, with some resembling iconic corners from past and present circuits. Check out my preview of the race weekend for a track guide.
It is an impressive venue, but obviously with a new track come new challenges such as getting to grips with it, learning the circuit, gathering data and such like. The practice sessions were busy and the fans, drivers and paddock were all excited for F1's return to the States.
FP1
The first practice session was a tricky one for all. The track conditions were cold and slippery, with the F1 cars being some of the first racing machines to grace the circuit. It started with the usual installation laps before cars started to pound in the lap times.
Kobayashi was the first driver to set a lap time at the Circuit of the Americas. However due to the tentative nature of the first few laps, that was soon beaten. Kimi Raikkonen went out early because he could not find a buggy to drive the track on Thursday, so his first look was during practice.
There were the obvious mistakes made thanks to the weekend being the first outing on track. The drivers had done hour after hour in the simulator but nothing is quite like the real thing. Hamilton and Vettel looked like the racers to beat after the first 90 minutes of practice for the US GP.
Hamilton had topped the time sheets for the majority of the session, consistently bettering his own time. However a late lap from Vettel trounced that, with the German's best effort of 1m38.125 being enough to go fastest.
I say enough, Vettel had a 1.5 second lead over Hamilton with his last lap time. Fernando Alonso was 2.2 seconds back on his championship rival, with Button in fourth. Mark Webber and Felipe Massa were next up, with Hulkenberg and Kobayashi just scraping under the 3 second deficit to Vettel.
Ma Qing Hua was the only replacement driver for FP1, Narain Karthikeyan missing out on his first taste of the Austin track. The Chinese driver was 10 seconds off the pace, two seconds slower than experienced HRT driver Pedro De La Rosa.
FP2
Sebastian Vettel dominated the second practice session of the US Grand Prix. He sat out for the majority of the session with a water leak, but despite the problems he managed to come out on top.
Just 3 laps in to his run Vettel pulled in to the garage. He stayed there for part of the session but when he emerged he really dominated and show the Red Bull has the pace. His best lap of 1m37.718 was over seven tenths faster than his nearest challenger, his team mate Mark Webber.
Fernando Alonso and Lewis Hamilton were a second slower that the Red Bull, with the McLaren driver admitting he was taken aback by the pace. He escape a spin at turn 13 but continued to show some strong form, all be it a second off the fastest time.
Jenson Button, Felipe Massa and Nico Rosberg were next up, with Senna, Kobayashi and Schumacher rounding out the top 10.
Raikkonen and Grosjean were 11th and 13th, with the Frenchman trying to find the track limits and exceeding that on many occasion's. Thankfully due to the ample run off, he continued with his practice schedule.
Strangely for a practice session, Jean-Eric Vergne and Heikki Kovalainen had a slight brush. The Caterham had to limp round with a puncture. Plenty more mistakes were made as drivers continued to struggle with the low grip of the fresh tarmac.
FP3
The final practice session ahead of the penultimate Qualifying sessions of the season saw Sebastian Vettel come out on top.
The German dominated the session yet again, seemingly switching on his car in the low grip areas when others could not. His best time of 1m36.490 was two tenths faster than the McLaren of Lewis Hamilton. The margin was the closest it had been over the whole weekend.
The troublesome turn 19 caught out both Grosjean and Glock, with low grip levels thanks to cooler morning temperatures. Pastor Maldonado found some pace in his Williams, ending the 60 minute session in third. Fernando Alonso was next up, ahead of Rosberg and Massa. Red Bull's Mark Webber and the Sauber of Sergio Perez ended the session just within the one second deficit to Vettel in seventh and eighth. However the Mexican came under critisism after an early session collision with Charles Pic at turn seven. Replay's showed the McLaren bound racer misjudged the closing speed and collided with the rear of Pic's Marussia. Both continued on after stopping for repairs.
Jean-Eric Vergne's session was also cut short after he suffered front suspension damage. The Frenchman hit the kerbs, with no choice but to pull off on to the side of the track. Grosjean also lost track time with a gearbox problem, which meant it needed to be replaced. He was given a 5 place grid penalty for changing the gearbox.
Vettel looked dominant out front, with McLaren and Ferrari chasing. In the fight for 10th in the constructors, Caterham had a clear lead over Marussia. It was likewise for the Banbury based team when comparing them to HRT, who are apparently on their last legs as a team.
Qualifying
With the challenging corners limiting overtaking, qualifying was key to get a good spot on the grid. It was the penultimate session of the season, all eyes were on Austin.
Q1
It was another quiet opening to qualifying, with just the HRT and Marussia's venturing out early on. The 20 minute session soon livened up, with drivers needing to get some running in after track conditions changed.
The temperatures had risen, as had the noise levels. De La Rosa was the first driver to set a qualifying lap time on the Circuit of the Americas, with a 1m45.674. It was easily beaten by first Glock and then Raikkonen.
Interestingly, the majority of the midfield drivers chose to head out straight on the option tyre. This was thanks to the tyres needing a number of laps to get the temperature in, with some drivers and F1 paddock members wondering if Pirelli's choice of the Hard and Medium tyre compound was too conservative.
We saw a number of off track excursions before the yellow flag came out for Narain Karthikeyan. He pulled his HRT car off the track with a mechanical problem, but it affected drivers lap times.
By the chequered flag it was Vettel who topped the time sheets, with Hamilton and Webber rounding out the top three. The mixed up order came next thanks to the tyre strategies, with Grosjean, Senna, Maldonado and Button finishing a second adrift of the double world champion's time.
Further back, Daniel Ricciardo was moved down to 18th by Nico Rosberg. The Aussie could not better his lap time and was out, along with Glock and Pic. Both Marussia's out qualified the Caterham's, with Petrov and Kovalainen qualifying 21st and 22nd. Both drivers were frustrated with traffic. De La Rosa and Karthikeyan both made it within the 107% rule.
Q2
The second qualifying session for the returning United States Grand Prix was a busy 15 minutes, with huge amounts of pressure being piled on the midfield teams to make it in to the top 10 shoot out.
Everyone went out on the medium compound tyre, the option for the race weekend. This leveled out the playing field, meaning the true running order was shown.
Kimi Raikkonen kicked off the lap times with a 1m37.672. The track was evolving all the time, so the time was soon beaten. The majority of drivers were fueled up for longer runs, with some setting five times laps.
Hamilton and Webber both made it into the 1m36's, before Vettel smashed their previous best times with a 1m35.971. In contrast his title rival Fernando Alonso was struggling slightly. Jenson Button radioed his team explaining a loss of power, with a short throttle pedal. He fell down the order and into the drop zone, with his session ending rather abruptly.
By flag fall, Vettel was out front with a 1m35.796. Mark Webber cemented Red Bull's pace by moving up to second, ahead of a charging Felipe Massa in third. Lewis Hamilton and Romain Grosjean were safely in to the top 10 shoot out, with Hulkenberg also impressing in sixth. Schumacher and Alonso were next up, with Maldonado and Raikkonen just making it in to the final 10 minute qualifying session.
Out in Q2 were Bruno Senna, Jenson Button after he suffered a loss of power and Paul Di Resta. The Scott pitted before the chequered flag. Vergne was next up, outqualifying his team mate, while Sergio Perez failed to impress in front of his sponsors at his "home race". Kobayashi and Rosberg were the slowest in the second session.
Q3
This was it. It was the penultimate qualifying session of the F1 2012 season and all eyes were on title rivals Alonso and Vettel.
Schumacher, the two Ferrari's and the sole McLaren of Lewis Hamilton were the first drivers out on track. Michael Schumacher set the opening benchmark of 1m51.627, which was way off the pace. Predictably, the two Ferrari's soon displaced that time. First Maldonado and then Grosjean moved to the top, the Lotus driver taking five seconds off the provisional best time.
Drivers were backing off, warming tyres and building up throughout the laps. Grosjean backed off his lap time, but Webber moved to the front with his first effort. Hamilton jumped ahead but Vettel duly smashed that.
It was a pleasant change in pace for the final qualifying session, with fans being treated to constant Formula 1 action in comparison to the moments of silence before second runs.
The final laps saw Hulkenberg improve to sixth fastest, while behind Hamilton went second. All eyes were on the struggling Fernando Alonso who could only go seventh. The focus switched to Vettel, Webber and Hamilton. The latter had an extra lap, but could he beat Vettel? The Red Bull's went first and third, with Vettel improving his time. It was a last gasp effort but Hamilton just missed out on pole. Alonso dropped down to ninth, but he moved up to eighth with Grosjean's penalty.
It was Sebastian Vettel on pole position for the US Grand Prix.
Pos Driver Team Time Gap
1. Sebastian Vettel Red Bull-Renault 1m35.657s
The Race
Would the new Austin circuit produce the goods? Could Vettel clinch his third world title in a row? These were both questions circulating the F1 world, so here's the answer.
Stunning sunshine bathed the slippery Austin track, with packed grandstands showing F1 had a welcome return to America.
The drama had already started before the cars left the grid. Ferrari confirmed they have changes the gearbox seal on Felipe Massa's car. This meant the Brazilian would get a 5 place grid penalty, but unusually Ferrari were vocal about the reason. They did this to give Alonso the advantage, so he could move up a place and start on the clean side of the grid.
The revs rose and echoed around the brand new circuit, the lights went out and we were racing in Austin Texas. Off the line, it was an uneven start from the front. It was a good start for Alonso who moved to fourth, and it was a clean first corner.
Moving in to the sweeping turn two to nine complex there was contact, cars scattered on to the run off but not too much damage. Jenson Button had dropped to 16th place after a poor start, while in contrast Nico Rosberg had advanced to 14th.
Nico Hulkenberg challenged Michael Schumacher and comfortably passed him for fifth. Kimi Raikkonen soon swept past too, after a late lunge. Moving on to the back straight Grosjean used the slipstream to pass them both. Further back Button pinched 15th off Rosberg. They were both on the same strategy, starting on the hard tyre compound.
The DRS was activated on lap three and Hamilton used that to his advantage, passing him under braking for turn 12. He out braked himself and ran off the track, gifting Webber back his place. It did not last for long, with Lewis perfecting the move and flying past the Aussie. His McLaren team mate was also on the move, displacing Maldonado. However the Williams used DRS to his advantage and grabbed his place back.
The midfield was closely fought, with gaps rarely extending to a second. The DRS zone was proving to be a success, with cars squabbling up and down the field. Button managed to get past Maldonado without the help of DRS, meanwhile Grosjean had a spin at turn 19. He dropped behind Massa and Schumacher.
Out front and as Vettel moved on to lap seven, Hamilton was closing in. He set fastest lap after fastest lap, proving Red Bull did not have a clear advantage. Turn 1 was proving to be another good overtaking place, as Jenson swept past Grosjean. The Frenchman was still recovering from his earlier spin.
Up front Hamilton had continued to close the gap on Vettel, but was the Red Bull driver racing at his full potential? Lewis seemingly had the advantage in comparison to the Red Bull as the lap counter went in to double figures, with the Brit closing to within 1.5 seconds of the German.
The yellow flags were out on lap 16 after Jean-Eric Vergne pulled off with a steering problem. Both McLaren's were flying, with Button switching on the hard tyres in the midfield and Hamilton closing to within a second of Vettel. Behind the leading two, Webber was having a quiet race as he continued to drop behind. Alonso was hanging on to the Red Bull, but Webber had some bad news. His KERS had failed yet again, with Alonso moving in.
The problem looked terminal after the Aussie pulled off to the side of the track in the final sector, reportedly an alternator problem. This promoted Alonso up into third place and aided his title challenge. Raikkonen moved closer to the podium in fourth, with Massa impressing in fifth. The pit stop window opened on lap 18, with Nico Hulkenberg being the first of the top 10 to pit for fresh rubber.
Interestingly on lap 18 Hamilton dropped back on the leader, as those behind started to push. Felipe Massa and then Romain Grosjean, who had made a quiet first pit stop earlier on in the race, set the fastest lap times. Had the leaders overheated their tyres? Hamilton had certainly lost some pace, with Vettel extending the lead to over 3 seconds by lap 20. The McLaren guys were out in the pits for Lewis Hamilton. He movd on to the hard tyres after a clean stop. Ferrari reacted to the McLaren stop but it was not so clean, Alonso losing two or three seconds.
The reactions continued, with Vettel pitting on lap 21. They moved on to the hard tyres, the Pirelli rubber proving to be the more favourable compound. After Alonso's slow stop, he fed out just ahead of Jenson Button. The Ferrari struggled to warm up the tyres and the Brit moved ahead of him. The McLaren drivers team mate was also on the move, sweeping past the out of position Raikkonen.
Felipe Massa pitted on lap 27 and impressively rejoined just behind his team mate, despite dropping back five places on the grid. Moving focus to the front, Hamilton had closed in to within 1.5 seconds of Vettel as his McLaren crossed the line to start lap 28. By lap 31, Button and Rosberg were the only cars yet to stop.
Romain Grosjean had been quietly moving up the field. He pitted early after his spin at turn 19 and was placed eighth on lap 32. The battle at the back between Caterham and Marussia was also hotting up. Petrov led from Kovalainen, after they both disposed of the Marussia's. However the gaps were small and the fight was still on for best "new" team. HRT were no where as expected.
Paul Di Resta had to make an unexpected second stop after he spun at turn 19, flat spotting his tyres. He fell to the back of the midfield, but out in front Vettel's advantage was being chipped in to by Hamilton. As the leading battle heated up, Jenson Button pitted from third place. He emerged in seventh place, just behind the Lotus of Romain Grosjean.
Button used his fresh Pirelli tyres to his advantage and squeezed past Romain Grosjean on lap 39. Kimi Raikkonen lost fourth place to Massa at turn 2, after getting some wheel spin on the exit of the first turn. The tension was building at the front, and on lap 41 Lewis Hamilton moved past Sebastian Vettel to take the lead of the race.
As soon as the Brit was in clean air, he moved swiftly away from the two time world champion. McLaren were impressing, with Button moving up to fifth. However the fight for the win was still on. Hamilton lost out on lap 48, losing four tenths to Vettel. The laps counted down but the gap out front was stabilised.
Further back, Grosjean's charge towards his team mate was ended by a lock up at turn 15. Meanwhile the Williams cars got a little too close for comfort after a late braking over on Bruno Senna. The predicted battle between Massa and Button had fizzled out.
Sebastian Vettel took a well deserved second place. He dominated practice but the gap was slashed in qualifying. The poor straight line speed in his Red Bull meant he was a sitting duck for Hamilton, but prior to that he had driven well. Like Hamilton, it was a largely mistake free Grand Prix and he gained welcome points on Alonso. The Spaniard was a distant third. The Ferrari did not have the pace to challenge Hamilton and Vettel, who were in a league of their own. After starting seventh thanks to his team mates sacrifice, his start was fantastic and he was consistent through out.
It was a 3-4 finish for Ferrari, with Massa moving from 11th to fourth. He thoroughly deserved the strong result after the grid penalty and cemented the thought that it was a good move by Ferrari to keep him for 2013. Button crossed the line behind Massa. It was an impressive result for the McLaren driver after his qualifying problems. The Frome born racer dropped to 16th on the opening lap, so his drive through the field was very good indeed. Raikkonen and Grosjean got important points for Lotus, the latter would have finished higher had it not been for the early spin.
Hulkenberg yet again impressed in his penultimate race for Force India. He scored more important points as he yet again beat his team mate. Maldonado and Senna rounded out the points scoring finishes, a rare double points finish for the legendary squad.
Perez and Ricciardo had decent races in a very competitive midfield, while Rosberg failed to make the most of a similar strategy to Button. Kobayashi and Di Resta also had quiet races, the latter having to stop twice. It would have been a certain points finish for the Scott, meanwhile Schumacher rounded out the midfield runners after a poor showing by Mercedes.
Petrov won the inter "new team" battle in 17th, with Kovalainen in 18th and Glock in 19th. Marussia dropped back after their qualifying triumph with Pic finishing ahead of De La Rosa and Karthikeyan.
So the championship battle is still to be decided in Brazil, but it was Lewis Hamilton's day in Austin as the top three wore their cowboy hats on the podium with pride. A rather successful first race at the Circuit of the Americas, and the return of the United States Grand Prix.
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| (c) Octane Photographic |
The impressive circuit boasts 20 challenging corners, with some resembling iconic corners from past and present circuits. Check out my preview of the race weekend for a track guide.
It is an impressive venue, but obviously with a new track come new challenges such as getting to grips with it, learning the circuit, gathering data and such like. The practice sessions were busy and the fans, drivers and paddock were all excited for F1's return to the States.
FP1
The first practice session was a tricky one for all. The track conditions were cold and slippery, with the F1 cars being some of the first racing machines to grace the circuit. It started with the usual installation laps before cars started to pound in the lap times.
Kobayashi was the first driver to set a lap time at the Circuit of the Americas. However due to the tentative nature of the first few laps, that was soon beaten. Kimi Raikkonen went out early because he could not find a buggy to drive the track on Thursday, so his first look was during practice.
There were the obvious mistakes made thanks to the weekend being the first outing on track. The drivers had done hour after hour in the simulator but nothing is quite like the real thing. Hamilton and Vettel looked like the racers to beat after the first 90 minutes of practice for the US GP.
Hamilton had topped the time sheets for the majority of the session, consistently bettering his own time. However a late lap from Vettel trounced that, with the German's best effort of 1m38.125 being enough to go fastest.
I say enough, Vettel had a 1.5 second lead over Hamilton with his last lap time. Fernando Alonso was 2.2 seconds back on his championship rival, with Button in fourth. Mark Webber and Felipe Massa were next up, with Hulkenberg and Kobayashi just scraping under the 3 second deficit to Vettel.
Ma Qing Hua was the only replacement driver for FP1, Narain Karthikeyan missing out on his first taste of the Austin track. The Chinese driver was 10 seconds off the pace, two seconds slower than experienced HRT driver Pedro De La Rosa.
FP2
Sebastian Vettel dominated the second practice session of the US Grand Prix. He sat out for the majority of the session with a water leak, but despite the problems he managed to come out on top.
Just 3 laps in to his run Vettel pulled in to the garage. He stayed there for part of the session but when he emerged he really dominated and show the Red Bull has the pace. His best lap of 1m37.718 was over seven tenths faster than his nearest challenger, his team mate Mark Webber.
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| (c) Octane Photographic |
Fernando Alonso and Lewis Hamilton were a second slower that the Red Bull, with the McLaren driver admitting he was taken aback by the pace. He escape a spin at turn 13 but continued to show some strong form, all be it a second off the fastest time.
Jenson Button, Felipe Massa and Nico Rosberg were next up, with Senna, Kobayashi and Schumacher rounding out the top 10.
Raikkonen and Grosjean were 11th and 13th, with the Frenchman trying to find the track limits and exceeding that on many occasion's. Thankfully due to the ample run off, he continued with his practice schedule.
Strangely for a practice session, Jean-Eric Vergne and Heikki Kovalainen had a slight brush. The Caterham had to limp round with a puncture. Plenty more mistakes were made as drivers continued to struggle with the low grip of the fresh tarmac.
FP3
The final practice session ahead of the penultimate Qualifying sessions of the season saw Sebastian Vettel come out on top.
The German dominated the session yet again, seemingly switching on his car in the low grip areas when others could not. His best time of 1m36.490 was two tenths faster than the McLaren of Lewis Hamilton. The margin was the closest it had been over the whole weekend.
The troublesome turn 19 caught out both Grosjean and Glock, with low grip levels thanks to cooler morning temperatures. Pastor Maldonado found some pace in his Williams, ending the 60 minute session in third. Fernando Alonso was next up, ahead of Rosberg and Massa. Red Bull's Mark Webber and the Sauber of Sergio Perez ended the session just within the one second deficit to Vettel in seventh and eighth. However the Mexican came under critisism after an early session collision with Charles Pic at turn seven. Replay's showed the McLaren bound racer misjudged the closing speed and collided with the rear of Pic's Marussia. Both continued on after stopping for repairs.
Jean-Eric Vergne's session was also cut short after he suffered front suspension damage. The Frenchman hit the kerbs, with no choice but to pull off on to the side of the track. Grosjean also lost track time with a gearbox problem, which meant it needed to be replaced. He was given a 5 place grid penalty for changing the gearbox.
Vettel looked dominant out front, with McLaren and Ferrari chasing. In the fight for 10th in the constructors, Caterham had a clear lead over Marussia. It was likewise for the Banbury based team when comparing them to HRT, who are apparently on their last legs as a team.
Qualifying
With the challenging corners limiting overtaking, qualifying was key to get a good spot on the grid. It was the penultimate session of the season, all eyes were on Austin.
Q1
It was another quiet opening to qualifying, with just the HRT and Marussia's venturing out early on. The 20 minute session soon livened up, with drivers needing to get some running in after track conditions changed.
The temperatures had risen, as had the noise levels. De La Rosa was the first driver to set a qualifying lap time on the Circuit of the Americas, with a 1m45.674. It was easily beaten by first Glock and then Raikkonen.
Interestingly, the majority of the midfield drivers chose to head out straight on the option tyre. This was thanks to the tyres needing a number of laps to get the temperature in, with some drivers and F1 paddock members wondering if Pirelli's choice of the Hard and Medium tyre compound was too conservative.
We saw a number of off track excursions before the yellow flag came out for Narain Karthikeyan. He pulled his HRT car off the track with a mechanical problem, but it affected drivers lap times.
By the chequered flag it was Vettel who topped the time sheets, with Hamilton and Webber rounding out the top three. The mixed up order came next thanks to the tyre strategies, with Grosjean, Senna, Maldonado and Button finishing a second adrift of the double world champion's time.
Further back, Daniel Ricciardo was moved down to 18th by Nico Rosberg. The Aussie could not better his lap time and was out, along with Glock and Pic. Both Marussia's out qualified the Caterham's, with Petrov and Kovalainen qualifying 21st and 22nd. Both drivers were frustrated with traffic. De La Rosa and Karthikeyan both made it within the 107% rule.
Q2
The second qualifying session for the returning United States Grand Prix was a busy 15 minutes, with huge amounts of pressure being piled on the midfield teams to make it in to the top 10 shoot out.
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| (c) Octane Photographic |
Kimi Raikkonen kicked off the lap times with a 1m37.672. The track was evolving all the time, so the time was soon beaten. The majority of drivers were fueled up for longer runs, with some setting five times laps.
Hamilton and Webber both made it into the 1m36's, before Vettel smashed their previous best times with a 1m35.971. In contrast his title rival Fernando Alonso was struggling slightly. Jenson Button radioed his team explaining a loss of power, with a short throttle pedal. He fell down the order and into the drop zone, with his session ending rather abruptly.
By flag fall, Vettel was out front with a 1m35.796. Mark Webber cemented Red Bull's pace by moving up to second, ahead of a charging Felipe Massa in third. Lewis Hamilton and Romain Grosjean were safely in to the top 10 shoot out, with Hulkenberg also impressing in sixth. Schumacher and Alonso were next up, with Maldonado and Raikkonen just making it in to the final 10 minute qualifying session.
Out in Q2 were Bruno Senna, Jenson Button after he suffered a loss of power and Paul Di Resta. The Scott pitted before the chequered flag. Vergne was next up, outqualifying his team mate, while Sergio Perez failed to impress in front of his sponsors at his "home race". Kobayashi and Rosberg were the slowest in the second session.
Q3
This was it. It was the penultimate qualifying session of the F1 2012 season and all eyes were on title rivals Alonso and Vettel.
Schumacher, the two Ferrari's and the sole McLaren of Lewis Hamilton were the first drivers out on track. Michael Schumacher set the opening benchmark of 1m51.627, which was way off the pace. Predictably, the two Ferrari's soon displaced that time. First Maldonado and then Grosjean moved to the top, the Lotus driver taking five seconds off the provisional best time.
Drivers were backing off, warming tyres and building up throughout the laps. Grosjean backed off his lap time, but Webber moved to the front with his first effort. Hamilton jumped ahead but Vettel duly smashed that.
It was a pleasant change in pace for the final qualifying session, with fans being treated to constant Formula 1 action in comparison to the moments of silence before second runs.
The final laps saw Hulkenberg improve to sixth fastest, while behind Hamilton went second. All eyes were on the struggling Fernando Alonso who could only go seventh. The focus switched to Vettel, Webber and Hamilton. The latter had an extra lap, but could he beat Vettel? The Red Bull's went first and third, with Vettel improving his time. It was a last gasp effort but Hamilton just missed out on pole. Alonso dropped down to ninth, but he moved up to eighth with Grosjean's penalty.
It was Sebastian Vettel on pole position for the US Grand Prix.
Pos Driver Team Time Gap
1. Sebastian Vettel Red Bull-Renault 1m35.657s
2. Lewis Hamilton McLaren-Mercedes 1m35.766s + 0.109
3. Mark Webber Red Bull-Renault 1m36.174s + 0.517
4. Romain Grosjean Lotus-Renault 1m36.587s + 1.051
5. Kimi Raikkonen Lotus-Renault 1m36.708s + 1.137
6. Michael Schumacher Mercedes 1m36.794s + 1.280
7. Felipe Massa Ferrari 1m36.937s + 1.484
8. Nico Hulkenberg Force India-Mercedes 1m37.141s + 1.643
9. Fernando Alonso Ferrari 1m37.300s + 0.930
10. Pastor Maldonado Williams-Renault 1m37.842s + 2.185
Q2 cut-off time: 1m37.404s Gap **
11. Bruno Senna Williams-Renault 1m37.604s + 1.808
12. Jenson Button McLaren-Mercedes 1m37.616s + 1.820
13. Paul di Resta Force India-Mercedes 1m37.665s + 1.869
14. Jean-Eric Vergne Toro Rosso-Ferrari 1m37.879s + 2.083
15. Sergio Perez Sauber-Ferrari 1m38.206s + 2.410
16. Kamui Kobayashi Sauber-Ferrari 1m38.437s + 2.641
17. Nico Rosberg Mercedes 1m38.501s + 2.705
Q1 cut-off time: 1m38.862s Gap *
18. Daniel Ricciardo Toro Rosso-Ferrari 1m39.114s + 2.556
19. Timo Glock Marussia-Cosworth 1m40.056s + 3.498
20. Charles Pic Marussia-Cosworth 1m40.664s + 4.106
21. Vitaly Petrov Caterham-Renault 1m40.809s + 4.251
22. Heikki Kovalainen Caterham-Renault 1m41.166s + 4.608
23. Pedro de la Rosa HRT-Cosworth 1m42.011s + 5.453
24. Narain Karthikeyan HRT-Cosworth 1m42.740s + 6.182
107% time: 1m43.317s
The Race
Would the new Austin circuit produce the goods? Could Vettel clinch his third world title in a row? These were both questions circulating the F1 world, so here's the answer.
Stunning sunshine bathed the slippery Austin track, with packed grandstands showing F1 had a welcome return to America.
The drama had already started before the cars left the grid. Ferrari confirmed they have changes the gearbox seal on Felipe Massa's car. This meant the Brazilian would get a 5 place grid penalty, but unusually Ferrari were vocal about the reason. They did this to give Alonso the advantage, so he could move up a place and start on the clean side of the grid.
The revs rose and echoed around the brand new circuit, the lights went out and we were racing in Austin Texas. Off the line, it was an uneven start from the front. It was a good start for Alonso who moved to fourth, and it was a clean first corner.
Moving in to the sweeping turn two to nine complex there was contact, cars scattered on to the run off but not too much damage. Jenson Button had dropped to 16th place after a poor start, while in contrast Nico Rosberg had advanced to 14th.
Nico Hulkenberg challenged Michael Schumacher and comfortably passed him for fifth. Kimi Raikkonen soon swept past too, after a late lunge. Moving on to the back straight Grosjean used the slipstream to pass them both. Further back Button pinched 15th off Rosberg. They were both on the same strategy, starting on the hard tyre compound.
The DRS was activated on lap three and Hamilton used that to his advantage, passing him under braking for turn 12. He out braked himself and ran off the track, gifting Webber back his place. It did not last for long, with Lewis perfecting the move and flying past the Aussie. His McLaren team mate was also on the move, displacing Maldonado. However the Williams used DRS to his advantage and grabbed his place back.
The midfield was closely fought, with gaps rarely extending to a second. The DRS zone was proving to be a success, with cars squabbling up and down the field. Button managed to get past Maldonado without the help of DRS, meanwhile Grosjean had a spin at turn 19. He dropped behind Massa and Schumacher.
Out front and as Vettel moved on to lap seven, Hamilton was closing in. He set fastest lap after fastest lap, proving Red Bull did not have a clear advantage. Turn 1 was proving to be another good overtaking place, as Jenson swept past Grosjean. The Frenchman was still recovering from his earlier spin.
Up front Hamilton had continued to close the gap on Vettel, but was the Red Bull driver racing at his full potential? Lewis seemingly had the advantage in comparison to the Red Bull as the lap counter went in to double figures, with the Brit closing to within 1.5 seconds of the German.
The yellow flags were out on lap 16 after Jean-Eric Vergne pulled off with a steering problem. Both McLaren's were flying, with Button switching on the hard tyres in the midfield and Hamilton closing to within a second of Vettel. Behind the leading two, Webber was having a quiet race as he continued to drop behind. Alonso was hanging on to the Red Bull, but Webber had some bad news. His KERS had failed yet again, with Alonso moving in.
The problem looked terminal after the Aussie pulled off to the side of the track in the final sector, reportedly an alternator problem. This promoted Alonso up into third place and aided his title challenge. Raikkonen moved closer to the podium in fourth, with Massa impressing in fifth. The pit stop window opened on lap 18, with Nico Hulkenberg being the first of the top 10 to pit for fresh rubber.
Interestingly on lap 18 Hamilton dropped back on the leader, as those behind started to push. Felipe Massa and then Romain Grosjean, who had made a quiet first pit stop earlier on in the race, set the fastest lap times. Had the leaders overheated their tyres? Hamilton had certainly lost some pace, with Vettel extending the lead to over 3 seconds by lap 20. The McLaren guys were out in the pits for Lewis Hamilton. He movd on to the hard tyres after a clean stop. Ferrari reacted to the McLaren stop but it was not so clean, Alonso losing two or three seconds.
The reactions continued, with Vettel pitting on lap 21. They moved on to the hard tyres, the Pirelli rubber proving to be the more favourable compound. After Alonso's slow stop, he fed out just ahead of Jenson Button. The Ferrari struggled to warm up the tyres and the Brit moved ahead of him. The McLaren drivers team mate was also on the move, sweeping past the out of position Raikkonen.
Felipe Massa pitted on lap 27 and impressively rejoined just behind his team mate, despite dropping back five places on the grid. Moving focus to the front, Hamilton had closed in to within 1.5 seconds of Vettel as his McLaren crossed the line to start lap 28. By lap 31, Button and Rosberg were the only cars yet to stop.
Romain Grosjean had been quietly moving up the field. He pitted early after his spin at turn 19 and was placed eighth on lap 32. The battle at the back between Caterham and Marussia was also hotting up. Petrov led from Kovalainen, after they both disposed of the Marussia's. However the gaps were small and the fight was still on for best "new" team. HRT were no where as expected.
Paul Di Resta had to make an unexpected second stop after he spun at turn 19, flat spotting his tyres. He fell to the back of the midfield, but out in front Vettel's advantage was being chipped in to by Hamilton. As the leading battle heated up, Jenson Button pitted from third place. He emerged in seventh place, just behind the Lotus of Romain Grosjean.
Button used his fresh Pirelli tyres to his advantage and squeezed past Romain Grosjean on lap 39. Kimi Raikkonen lost fourth place to Massa at turn 2, after getting some wheel spin on the exit of the first turn. The tension was building at the front, and on lap 41 Lewis Hamilton moved past Sebastian Vettel to take the lead of the race.
As soon as the Brit was in clean air, he moved swiftly away from the two time world champion. McLaren were impressing, with Button moving up to fifth. However the fight for the win was still on. Hamilton lost out on lap 48, losing four tenths to Vettel. The laps counted down but the gap out front was stabilised.
Further back, Grosjean's charge towards his team mate was ended by a lock up at turn 15. Meanwhile the Williams cars got a little too close for comfort after a late braking over on Bruno Senna. The predicted battle between Massa and Button had fizzled out.
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| (c) Octane Photographic |
Lewis Hamilton wins the Unites States Grand Prix in Austin.
Lewis Hamilton clinched his second United States Grand Prix victory, the first coming 5 years earlier. He had lost out at the start on the dirty side of the grid but managed to get back his second place from Webber. He was always in Vettel's mirrors but strangely whenever he closed in on the German he would then fall back. However a rather close overtaking on the double world champion cemented the win for him. The race win had been taken away from him in Singapore and Abu Dhabi, but this time it was Lewis who was on top.Sebastian Vettel took a well deserved second place. He dominated practice but the gap was slashed in qualifying. The poor straight line speed in his Red Bull meant he was a sitting duck for Hamilton, but prior to that he had driven well. Like Hamilton, it was a largely mistake free Grand Prix and he gained welcome points on Alonso. The Spaniard was a distant third. The Ferrari did not have the pace to challenge Hamilton and Vettel, who were in a league of their own. After starting seventh thanks to his team mates sacrifice, his start was fantastic and he was consistent through out.
It was a 3-4 finish for Ferrari, with Massa moving from 11th to fourth. He thoroughly deserved the strong result after the grid penalty and cemented the thought that it was a good move by Ferrari to keep him for 2013. Button crossed the line behind Massa. It was an impressive result for the McLaren driver after his qualifying problems. The Frome born racer dropped to 16th on the opening lap, so his drive through the field was very good indeed. Raikkonen and Grosjean got important points for Lotus, the latter would have finished higher had it not been for the early spin.
Hulkenberg yet again impressed in his penultimate race for Force India. He scored more important points as he yet again beat his team mate. Maldonado and Senna rounded out the points scoring finishes, a rare double points finish for the legendary squad.
Perez and Ricciardo had decent races in a very competitive midfield, while Rosberg failed to make the most of a similar strategy to Button. Kobayashi and Di Resta also had quiet races, the latter having to stop twice. It would have been a certain points finish for the Scott, meanwhile Schumacher rounded out the midfield runners after a poor showing by Mercedes.Petrov won the inter "new team" battle in 17th, with Kovalainen in 18th and Glock in 19th. Marussia dropped back after their qualifying triumph with Pic finishing ahead of De La Rosa and Karthikeyan.
So the championship battle is still to be decided in Brazil, but it was Lewis Hamilton's day in Austin as the top three wore their cowboy hats on the podium with pride. A rather successful first race at the Circuit of the Americas, and the return of the United States Grand Prix.
Classified:
Pos Driver Team Time
1. Hamilton McLaren-Mercedes 1h35:55.269
2. Vettel Red Bull-Renault + 0.600
3. Alonso Ferrari + 39.200
4. Massa Ferrari + 46.000
5. Button McLaren-Mercedes + 56.400
6. Raikkonen Lotus-Renault + 1:04.400
7. Grosjean Lotus-Renault + 1:10.300
8. Hulkenberg Force India-Mercedes + 1:13.700
9. Maldonado Williams-Renault + 1:14.500
10. Senna Williams-Renault + 1:15.100
11. Perez Sauber-Ferrari + 1:24.300
12. Ricciardo Toro Rosso-Ferrari + 1:24.800
13. Rosberg Mercedes + 1:25.500
14. Kobayashi Sauber-Ferrari + 1 lap
15. Di Resta Force India-Mercedes + 1 lap
16. Schumacher Mercedes + 1 lap
17. Petrov Caterham-Renault + 1 lap
18. Kovalainen Caterham-Renault + 1 lap
19. Glock Marussia-Cosworth + 1 lap
20. Pic Marussia-Cosworth + 2 laps
21. De la Rosa HRT-Cosworth + 2 laps
22. Karthikeyan HRT-Cosworth + 2 laps
Fastest lap: Vettel, 1:39.347
Not classified/retirements:
Driver Team On lap
Webber Red Bull-Renault 17
Vergne Toro Rosso-Ferrari 15
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