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2018 United States Grand Prix

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2018 United States Grand Prix
Race 18 of 21 in the 2018 Formula One World Championship
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Layout of the Circuit of the Americas
Layout of the Circuit of the Americas
Race details[1]
Date October 21, 2018 (2018-10-21)
Official name Formula 1 Pirelli 2018 United States Grand Prix
Location Circuit of the Americas
Austin, Texas, United States
Course Permanent racing facility
Course length 5.513 km (3.426 miles)
Distance 56 laps, 308.405 km (191.634 miles)
Weather Partly cloudy
Pole position
Driver
Mercedes
Time 1:32.237
Fastest lap
Driver United Kingdom Lewis Hamilton Mercedes
Time 1:37.392 on lap 40
Podium
First
Ferrari
Second
Red Bull Racing-TAG Heuer
Third
Mercedes
Lap leaders

The 2018 United States Grand Prix (officially known as the Formula 1 Pirelli 2018 United States Grand Prix) was a Formula One motor race held on October 21, 2018, at the Circuit of the Americas near Austin, Texas. It served as the eighteenth round of the 2018 Formula One World Championship and marked the forty-eighth running of the United States Grand Prix, the fortieth time that the race ran as a World Championship event, and the seventh time that it was held at this circuit.

Kimi Räikkönen won the race after starting from second place on the grid, earning his first Grand Prix win since the 2013 Australian Grand Prix and ending a record 114-race winless streak.[a] It was his first victory with Ferrari since the 2009 Belgian Grand Prix, as well as the team's first win in the United States since 2006. The race would be the final victory of Räikkönen's F1 career, and was Ferrari's most recent win in the United States until the 2024 United States Grand Prix.[4]

Background

[edit]
Further information: 2018 Formula One World Championship § Entries, and 2018 Formula One World Championship § Closing rounds

Mercedes driver Lewis Hamilton entered the round with a 67-point lead over Ferrari's Sebastian Vettel in the World Drivers' Championship, having widened his advantage in the championship considerably by winning the previous four races. He was eligible to secure the Drivers' Championship at this race if he outscored Vettel by a minimum of eight points.[5] Hamilton's teammate, Valtteri Bottas, was third in the championship, 57 points behind Vettel.[6] In the World Constructors' Championship, Mercedes held a lead of 78 points over Ferrari, with Red Bull Racing a further 141 points behind in third place.[7]

Hamilton entered the weekend holding the record for the most Formula One wins at the Circuit of the Americas, having won every race at the track since it joined the calendar but one—the 2013 event, won by Sebastian Vettel.[8] He was vying to become the second driver to win a Grand Prix five years in a row, after Ayrton Senna, who won the Monaco Grand Prix every year between 1989 and 1993. Hamilton and Vettel were the only drivers on the grid for the 2018 race that had previously won the United States Grand Prix.[9] While Hamilton had won more races, Vettel had taken the fastest lap at all but one F1 event at the track. Mercedes were the dominant constructor at the circuit, with an ongoing streak of four consecutive wins.[8]

Lando Norris and Sean Gelael drove in the first practice session instead of Stoffel Vandoorne and Brendon Hartley for McLaren and Toro Rosso respectively. Nicholas Latifi was supposed to drive in the same session in place of Esteban Ocon at Force India, but this plan was cancelled ahead of the session.[10][11] This race was the first time Charles Leclerc, Sergey Sirotkin, and Pierre Gasly had driven at the track.[8]

The Circuit of the Americas was one of five tracks in the 2018 F1 calendar to run in an anticlockwise format.[9] The track has a mainly smooth surface with two drag reduction system (DRS) zones, and for the 2018 race, new kerbs were installed at turns 16 and 17 along with new bumps at turn 1. Sole tyre supplier Pirelli brought the soft, supersoft and ultrasoft tyres for use at the event; the same as the previous year.[9]

Free practice

[edit]

The first free practice session (FP1) began under rainy conditions, at 16:00 local time.[12] Lewis Hamilton was fastest, setting a lap time over a second quicker than the second-placed driver, his teammate Valtteri Bottas. Ferrari used the session to test a floor upgrade, and resulting struggles meant Sebastian Vettel and Kimi Räikkönen placed fifth and sixth, behind the two Red Bulls.[13] Lando Norris replaced Stoffel Vandoorne for McLaren and placed twelfth, two-tenths of a second behind Vandoorne's teammate Fernando Alonso. Toro Rosso's Brendon Hartley was replaced by Sean Gelael, who placed twentieth by a margin of eight-tenths.[14] The session was briefly red-flagged when Charles Leclerc ran off the track into the gravel; Vettel was later given a three-place grid penalty for failing to slow sufficiently for the red flags.[15]

The second session of free practice (FP2), scheduled to begin at 19:00, was delayed by 45 minutes because of heavy rain. Hartley, returning for FP2, was the first driver to leave his garage, followed soon after by Vandoorne. Most of the grid only completed a handful of laps, and five drivers (Carlos Sainz, Daniel Ricciardo, Romain Grosjean, Kevin Magnussen, and Valtteri Bottas) did not set a time. Hamilton was quickest again, over a second ahead of Pierre Gasly of Toro Rosso in second.[16][17]

Ferrari were fastest in the third free practice session (FP3), which took place at 19:00 the next day under dry conditions.[12] Vettel led the field ahead of Räikkönen, who was closely followed by Hamilton—the top three were separated by only seventy-three thousandths of a second. Bottas was behind them, and the two Red Bulls were fifth and sixth.[18] FP3 was the only practice session of the weekend during which all race drivers set lap times.

Qualifying

[edit]
Further information: Formula One § Qualifying

Qualifying began at 16:00 local time on October 20 and consisted of three sessions lasting 18, 15, and 12 minutes, with five drivers being eliminated in each of the first two sessions.[12] Both McLarens were eliminated in the first qualifying session (Q1) for the third consecutive race, along with the two Williams drivers and Sauber's Marcus Ericsson. Max Verstappen placed third in Q1, but was forced to end his qualifying early after an impact with a kerb damaged his car's suspension.[19]

Only twelve of the eligible fifteen cars participated in the second qualifying session (Q2). Pierre Gasly and Brendon Hartley of Toro Rosso had chosen to fit new power units for the race, thereby incurring grid penalties that would start them from the back of the grid regardless of their qualifying position. They did not set a time in Q2. As a result of his suspension damage in Q1, Verstappen was unable to participate in the session and also did not set a time. Therefore, only two cars were eliminated on track—the Haas of Kevin Magnussen and the Renault of Carlos Sainz, the latter of whom missed out on Q3 by two-thousandths of a second.[20]

Lewis Hamilton took pole position in Q3, narrowly ahead of Sebastian Vettel and Kimi Räikkönen. Six-hundredths of a second separated the top three, while Valtteri Bottas qualified in fourth, three-tenths behind Räikkönen. Daniel Ricciardo and Esteban Ocon were fifth and sixth, and Nico Hülkenberg placed seventh—his joint-best qualifying result of the season. Romain Grosjean, Charles Leclerc, and Sergio Pérez completed the top ten.[21]

As grid penalties are only applied after qualifying is complete, the final grid order was different from the qualifying classification. Vettel was penalised three places after failing to slow for red flags in FP1; he moved from second to fifth on the starting grid.[22] Verstappen was given a five-place grid penalty for an unscheduled gearbox change.[23] Gasly and Hartley both received 35-place grid penalties for using more than the maximum number of power units allowed. Hartley was also penalised a further five places for an unscheduled gearbox change.[24]

Qualifying classification

[edit]
Pos. No. Driver Constructor Qualifying times Final
grid
Q1 Q2 Q3
1 44 United Kingdom Lewis Hamilton Mercedes 1:34.130 1:33.480 1:32.237 1
2 5 Germany Sebastian Vettel Ferrari 1:34.569 1:33.079 1:32.298 51
3 7 Finland Kimi Räikkönen Ferrari 1:34.703 1:32.884 1:32.307 2
4 77 Finland Valtteri Bottas Mercedes 1:34.518 1:33.702 1:32.616 3
5 3 Australia Daniel Ricciardo Red Bull Racing-TAG Heuer 1:34.755 1:34.185 1:33.494 4
6 31 France Esteban Ocon Force India-Mercedes 1:34.876 1:34.522 1:34.145 6
7 27 Germany Nico Hülkenberg Renault 1:34.932 1:34.564 1:34.215 7
8 8 France Romain Grosjean Haas-Ferrari 1:34.892 1:34.419 1:34.250 8
9 16 Monaco Charles Leclerc Sauber-Ferrari 1:35.069 1:34.255 1:34.420 9
10 11 Mexico Sergio Pérez Force India-Mercedes 1:35.193 1:34.525 1:34.594 10
11 55 Spain Carlos Sainz Jr. Renault 1:34.891 1:34.566 11
12 20 Denmark Kevin Magnussen Haas-Ferrari 1:34.972 1:34.732 12
13 10 France Pierre Gasly Scuderia Toro Rosso-Honda 1:34.850 No time 192
14 28 New Zealand Brendon Hartley Scuderia Toro Rosso-Honda 1:35.206 No time 203
15 33 Netherlands Max Verstappen Red Bull Racing-TAG Heuer 1:34.766 No time 184
16 14 Spain Fernando Alonso McLaren-Renault 1:35.294 13
17 35 Russia Sergey Sirotkin Williams-Mercedes 1:35.362 14
18 18 Canada Lance Stroll Williams-Mercedes 1:35.480 15
19 9 Sweden Marcus Ericsson Sauber-Ferrari 1:35.536 16
20 2 Belgium Stoffel Vandoorne McLaren-Renault 1:35.735 17
107% time: 1:40.719
Source:[20]
Notes
  • ^1 – Sebastian Vettel received a three-place grid penalty for failing to slow sufficiently during a red flag period in Free Practice 1.[22]
  • ^2 – Pierre Gasly received a 35-place grid penalty for exceeding his quota of power unit elements.[24]
  • ^3 – Brendon Hartley received a 40-place grid penalty: 35 places for exceeding his quota of power unit elements and 5 places for an unscheduled gearbox change.[24]
  • ^4 – Max Verstappen received a five-place grid penalty for an unscheduled gearbox change.[23]

Race

[edit]
Kimi Räikkönen (pictured in 2017) won what would be the final victory of his Formula One career, after starting from second on the grid.

The race began at 13:10 local time on October 21 and lasted for 56 laps.[12] Lewis Hamilton started the on pole position, but was overtaken before the first corner by Kimi Räikkönen, who was on softer tyres. A chaotic start saw multiple early collisions, with yellow flags waved for a first-lap incident between Lance Stroll and Fernando Alonso, the latter of whom was forced to retire with chassis damage. Stroll was handed a five-second drive-through penalty for causing the crash.[25] Further up the grid, Romain Grosjean braked early while challenging Esteban Ocon, locking up and driving into Charles Leclerc. Grosjean retired his car, and was later given one penalty point and a three-place grid drop at the next race for his role in the incident.[26]

Sebastian Vettel was also impacted on lap one, being spun by Daniel Ricciardo while competing for fourth position. His spin dropped him to fifteenth, boosting Hamilton's chances of securing the Drivers' Championship at the end of the race. Räikkönen was able to maintain his lead over Hamilton through the first lap; the first time he had gained a position on the opening lap of a Grand Prix since the 2016 Abu Dhabi Grand Prix.[27]

On lap eight, Ricciardo retired with a power unit failure, causing the Virtual Safety Car to be deployed. Hamilton pitted under the safety car on lap 11, allowing him to swap tyres with less time lost to Räikkönen, who was instructed by the Ferrari pit wall to stay out. Räikkönen led the race from the resumption of racing until he entered the pit lane on lap 21, giving Hamilton the lead and rejoining the race in second. Max Verstappen, having fought his way up the field after starting eighteenth, undercut Valtteri Bottas for third position with a stop on lap 23; Bottas pitted a lap later. Following his early spin, Vettel had managed to return near to the top of the grid and pitted on lap 27, emerging fifth behind Hamilton, Räikkönen, Verstappen, and Bottas. Leclerc retired to the pits on lap 31, as a result of the damage sustained from his earlier collision with Grosjean.[27]

Hamilton was eventually forced to make a second stop on lap 38 due to tyre wear, surrendering his lead and rejoining the race in fourth, ahead of Vettel. He overtook Bottas soon after his stop, but was unable to find a way past Verstappen, who defended aggressively. By lap 54, Hamilton was side-by-side with Verstappen, but ran wide at turn 18 with just over one lap left. On the penultimate lap, Vettel capitalised on Bottas' tyre wear, taking fourth position as the Mercedes driver ran wide at turn 12.[28]

Räikkönen crossed the line first, having successfully orchestrated a one-stop strategy. Hamilton was unable to complete his overtake and finished behind Verstappen, who took second. Vettel and Bottas finished fourth and fifth, followed by the Renaults of Nico Hülkenberg and Carlos Sainz over a minute behind. Esteban Ocon, Kevin Magnussen, and Sergio Pérez rounded out the top ten.[27]

Post-race

[edit]

By winning, Räikkönen ended his record 114-race winless streak which had lasted since the 2013 Australian Grand Prix and included 14 second place finishes.[29][30] On his cooldown lap, Räikkönen thanked his engineers over the radio, noting his wait for the win with "fucking finally". In the post-race media conference, he was characteristically reserved, remarking "it doesn't change my life one bit" and that the victory "hadn't really been a big deal", but that he was pleased to have improved the record of his second Ferrari stint and delivered a win for the team.[31]

Hamilton expressed his surprise and frustration at Mercedes' performance, saying they "made it so hard for [them]selves", and that he did not fully understand the team's race strategy.[32] He pointed to the early first pit stop as being the source of his difficulties and that "once we had done a stop on [lap] 11, we knew that we would be doing a two stop", but praised Räikkönen's winning drive.[33] Mercedes team principal Toto Wolff was also skeptical of the team's strategy and said it required them to "rethink whether [they] could have done something better".[32]

Vettel was disappointed with his race, apologising for "letting the team down" and saying he "had the speed to win", but that he did not blame Ricciardo for the first-lap collision, which was later deemed a racing incident by the stewards.[34] Sky Sports F1 commentator Martin Brundle was critical of Vettel's performance and said he "seems to be on the receiving end of contact every single time he gets into a squabble" and that he had "forgotten how to do wheel-to-wheel combat". Vettel's recovery from the spin and fifth place finish meant that Hamilton only outscored him by three points (out of a necessary eight), extending the fight for the Drivers' Championship to the next race, the Mexican Grand Prix, where Hamilton eventually secured his fifth title with a fourth place finish.[35]

Two hours after the race had ended, Ocon and Kevin Magnussen were disqualified for fuel-related breaches of the technical regulations. Ocon's car was found to have exceeded the maximum fuel flow rate on the first lap, and Magnussen had exceeded the 105 kg fuel limit for the race. Their disqualifications meant all drivers finishing below them were promoted two places; Sergio Pérez was reclassified eighth, and Brendon Hartley and Marcus Ericsson were ninth and tenth, the latter two moving into the points after having finished outside them on track.[36]

Race classification

[edit]
Pos. No. Driver Constructor Laps Time/Retired Grid Points
1 7 Finland Kimi Räikkönen Ferrari 56 1:34:18.643 2 25
2 33 Netherlands Max Verstappen Red Bull Racing-TAG Heuer 56 +1.281 18 18
3 44 United Kingdom Lewis Hamilton Mercedes 56 +2.342 1 15
4 5 Germany Sebastian Vettel Ferrari 56 +18.222 5 12
5 77 Finland Valtteri Bottas Mercedes 56 +24.744 3 10
6 27 Germany Nico Hülkenberg Renault 56 +1:27.210 7 8
7 55 Spain Carlos Sainz Jr. Renault 56 +1:34.994 11 6
8 11 Mexico Sergio Pérez Force India-Mercedes 56 +1:41.080 10 4
9 28 New Zealand Brendon Hartley Scuderia Toro Rosso-Honda 55 +1 lap 20 2
10 9 Sweden Marcus Ericsson Sauber-Ferrari 55 +1 lap 16 1
11 2 Belgium Stoffel Vandoorne McLaren-Renault 55 +1 lap 17
12 10 France Pierre Gasly Scuderia Toro Rosso-Honda 55 +1 lap 19
13 35 Russia Sergey Sirotkin Williams-Mercedes 55 +1 lap 14
14 18 Canada Lance Stroll Williams-Mercedes 54 +2 laps 15
Ret 16 Monaco Charles Leclerc Sauber-Ferrari 31 Collision damage 9
Ret 3 Australia Daniel Ricciardo Red Bull Racing-TAG Heuer 8 Battery 4
Ret 8 France Romain Grosjean Haas-Ferrari 2 Collision 8
Ret 14 Spain Fernando Alonso McLaren-Renault 1 Collision 13
DSQ 31 France Esteban Ocon Force India-Mercedes 56 Fuel1 6
DSQ 20 Denmark Kevin Magnussen Haas-Ferrari 56 Fuel2 12
Source:[37]
Notes
  • ^1 – Esteban Ocon originally finished eighth, but was disqualified for exceeding fuel flow limits on lap 1.[38]
  • ^2 – Kevin Magnussen originally finished ninth, but was disqualified for consuming more than 105 kg of fuel during the race.[39]

Championship standings after the race

[edit]
  • Note: Only the top five positions are included for both sets of standings.
  • Bold text and an asterisk indicates competitors who still had a theoretical chance of becoming World Champion.

Notes

[edit]
  1. ^ 114 Grands Prix took place between the 2013 Australian Grand Prix and this race. Räikkönen started 111 of these, as he was forced to miss the 2013 United States and Brazilian Grands Prix to undergo back surgery, and entered but did not start the 2017 Malaysian Grand Prix, due to a power unit issue.[2][3]

References

[edit]
  1. ^ "United States 2018". Formula One. Retrieved October 9, 2024.
  2. ^ "Kimi Raikkonen set to miss final F1 races for Lotus after back surgery". The Guardian. November 10, 2013. Retrieved September 16, 2024.
  3. ^ Michaels, Jake (October 1, 2017). "Kimi Raikkonen: Engine issue wasted big opportunity". ESPN. Retrieved September 16, 2024.
  4. ^ "United States GP: Charles Leclerc leads dominant Ferrari 1-2 in Austin as Lando Norris penalty hands Max Verstappen third". Sky Sports. October 20, 2024. Retrieved October 20, 2024.
  5. ^ "THE TITLE PERMUTATIONS: What Hamilton needs to do to be crowned F1 champion in Austin". Formula One. October 17, 2018. Retrieved August 29, 2024.
  6. ^ "Formula 1 results and standings for top drivers". Motorsport.com. 2018. Retrieved August 29, 2024.
  7. ^ "Formula 1 results and standings for top teams". Motorsport.com. 2018. Retrieved August 29, 2024.
  8. ^ a b c "Race Preview – 2018 United States Grand Prix" (PDF). Federation Internationale de l'Automobile. Retrieved October 22, 2024.
  9. ^ a b c "United States Preview: The stats and info you need to know". Formula One. October 17, 2018. Retrieved November 4, 2022.
  10. ^ "2018 United States Grand Prix – Entry List" (PDF). Federation Internationale de l'Automobile. October 18, 2018. Retrieved October 9, 2024.
  11. ^ "2018 United States Grand Prix – Racing Point Force India" (PDF). Federation Internationale de l'Automobile. October 19, 2018. Retrieved October 22, 2024.
  12. ^ a b c d "Formula 1 Schedule season 2018". Motorsport.com. 2018. Retrieved August 29, 2024.
  13. ^ "United States GP, Practice One: Lewis Hamilton sets the pace". Sky Sports. December 4, 2018. Retrieved October 8, 2024.
  14. ^ "FP1: Hamilton heads Bottas in wet US practice". Formula One. October 19, 2018. Retrieved October 8, 2024.
  15. ^ Gill, Pete; Galloway, James (December 4, 2018). "US GP: Sebastian Vettel demoted three grid places". Sky Sports. Retrieved October 8, 2024.
  16. ^ "FP2: Untouchable Hamilton leads Gasly in rain-hit Austin". Formula One. October 19, 2018. Retrieved October 8, 2024.
  17. ^ Morlidge, Matt; Galloway, James (December 4, 2018). "US GP: Heavy rain in Practice Two but Lewis Hamilton dominates". Sky Sports. Retrieved October 8, 2024.
  18. ^ "FP3: Vettel leads Ferrari one-two as rain stays away". Formula One. October 20, 2018. Retrieved October 8, 2024.
  19. ^ "QUALIFYING: Hamilton pinches US pole with Vettel to start fifth". Formula One. October 20, 2018. Retrieved September 23, 2024.
  20. ^ a b "Formula 1 Pirelli 2018 United States Grand Prix – Qualifying". Formula One. Formula One World Championship Limited. October 20, 2018. Retrieved October 20, 2018.
  21. ^ "United States GP Qualifying: Lewis Hamilton beats Ferrari to pole". Sky Sports. December 4, 2018. Retrieved September 23, 2024.
  22. ^ a b Gill, Peter; Galloway, James (October 19, 2018). "US GP: Sebastian Vettel demoted three grid places". Sky Sports. Archived from the original on June 5, 2019. Retrieved December 6, 2021.
  23. ^ a b "Verstappen takes gearbox penalty for US GP". TNT Sports. October 21, 2018. Retrieved September 23, 2024.
  24. ^ a b c "Formula 1 Pirelli 2018 United States Grand Prix – Austin – Final Starting Grid" (PDF). Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile. October 21, 2018. Archived (PDF) from the original on December 6, 2021. Retrieved December 6, 2021.
  25. ^ "Lewis Hamilton must wait for fifth world title as Kimi Raikkonen wins in United States". BBC Sport. October 21, 2018. Retrieved August 29, 2024.
  26. ^ "Grosjean escapes race ban after penalty for Leclerc clash". Formula One. October 21, 2018. Retrieved August 29, 2024.
  27. ^ a b c "REPORT: Raikkonen keeps Hamilton's title hopes on ice with superb USA victory". Formula One. October 21, 2018. Retrieved August 29, 2024.
  28. ^ Gill, Pete (December 4, 2018). "United States GP: Kimi Raikkonen wins to delay Lewis Hamilton's title bid". Sky Sports. Retrieved August 29, 2024.
  29. ^ "Interval between two wins". StatsF1. Retrieved August 29, 2024.
  30. ^ "Kimi Räikkönen – Involvement". StatsF1. Retrieved September 20, 2024.
  31. ^ Smith, Luke (May 9, 2020). "F1 US GP 2018: The day an F1 champion proved his doubters wrong". Autosport. Retrieved September 20, 2024.
  32. ^ a b Morlidge, Matt; Galloway, James (December 4, 2018). "US GP: Lewis Hamilton puzzled as Mercedes strategy backfires". Sky Sports. Retrieved September 16, 2024.
  33. ^ Dart, Tom (October 22, 2018). "Lewis Hamilton unhappy with Mercedes tactics at US Grand Prix". The Guardian. Retrieved September 16, 2024.
  34. ^ Jonathan, Noble; Cooper, Adam (October 21, 2018). "Ferrari's Vettel: I had the speed to win 2018 F1 US GP in Austin". Autosport. Retrieved September 16, 2024.
  35. ^ Richards, Giles (October 28, 2018). "Lewis Hamilton wins fifth Formula One world title at Mexico Grand Prix". The Guardian. Retrieved September 16, 2024.
  36. ^ Galloway, James (December 4, 2018). "US GP: Esteban Ocon and Kevin Magnussen disqualified". Sky Sports F1. Retrieved September 20, 2024.
  37. ^ "Formula 1 Pirelli 2018 United States Grand Prix – Race Result". Formula One. Formula One World Championship Limited. October 21, 2018. Retrieved October 21, 2018.
  38. ^ Noble, Jonathan (October 21, 2018). "Ocon disqualified from US GP for fuel infringement". Motorsport.com. Archived from the original on November 9, 2020. Retrieved September 20, 2024.
  39. ^ Khorounzhiy, Valentin (October 21, 2018). "Kevin Magnussen excluded from F1 United States Grand Prix". Autosport. Archived from the original on April 11, 2021. Retrieved December 6, 2021.
  40. ^ a b "2018 United States Grand Prix – Championship Points" (PDF). Federation Internationale de l'Automobile. October 21, 2018. Retrieved October 22, 2024.


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