At the start of the race, Vettel defended from Grosjean in to Turn 1 as both the Lotus and Hamilton went round the outside of Webber. The safety car was deployed before the end of the lap though, as Adrian Sutil speared sideways into the barriers having been tagged by Pastor Maldonado. On the restart Vettel led away and built a comfortable gap, while Hamilton's tyres went off more quickly than those around him and Webber pounced under braking around the outside in to Turn 12 to take third place. In the second stints, Alonso found his way past Hulkenberg out of Turn 1 and set off after Hamilton, but the Mercedes had enough pace in hand to keep the Ferrari at bay.
It was a big day for rookie Valtteri Bottas who scored his first ever grand prix points at a circuit he had never driven on until FP1 on Friday. The young Williams driver never put a foot wrong all weekend, and eighth place was his reward. Heikki Kovalainen's first appearance in the ex-Kimi Raikkonen Lotus proved very disappointing. He lost ground at the start, had to make an extra pitstop for a new front wing, then struggled with KERS issues on the way to 15th. The top 12 finishers all used a one-stop strategy, with Ferrari’s Felipe Massa the highest-placed finisher to adopt a two-stop strategy, ending up 13th.
UNITED STATES GRAND PRIX, AUSTIN, TEXAS;
56 laps, 308.896km., Weather: Sunny.
CLASSIFIED:
P. DRIVER TEAM TIME
1. Sebastian Vettel Red Bull 1h39m17.148
2. Romain Grosjean Lotus + 6.284
3. Mark Webber Red Bull + 8.396
4. Lewis Hamilton Mercedes AMG + 27.358
5. Fernando Alonso Ferrari + 29.592
6. Nico Hulkenberg Sauber + 30.400
7. Sergio Perez McLaren + 46.692
8. Valtteri Bottas Williams + 54.509
9. Nico Rosberg Mercedes AMG + 59.141
10. Jenson Button McLaren + 1:17.278
11. Daniel Ricciardo Toro Rosso + 1:21.004
12. Jean-Eric Vergne Toro Rosso + 1:24.574
13. Felipe Massa Ferrari + 1:26.914
14. Esteban Gutierrez Sauber + 1:31.707
15. Heikki Kovalainen Lotus + 1:35.063
16. Paul di Resta Force India + 1:36.853
17. Pastor Maldonado Williams + 1 lap
18. Jules Bianchi Marussia + 1 lap
19. Giedo van der Garde Caterham + 1 lap
20. Charles Pic Caterham + 1 lap
21. Max Chilton Marussia + 2 laps
Fastest Lap: Sebastian Vettel - 1:39.856
NOT CLASSIFIED:
DRIVER TEAM On Lap
Adrian Sutil Force India 1
After 18 Races:
Drivers: Constructors:
1. S.Vettel 372 1. Red Bull 553
2. F.Alonso 227 2. Mercedes AMG 348
3. L.Hamilton 187 3. Ferrari 333
4. K.Raikkonen 183 4. Lotus 315
5. M.Webber 171 5. McLaren 102
6. N.Rosberg 161 6. Force India 77
7. R.Grosjean 132 7. Saube 53
8. F.Massa 106 8. Toro Rosso 32
9. J.Button 61 9. Williams 5
10. P.Di Resta 48
11. N.Hulkenberg 47
12. S.Perez 41
13. A.Sutil 29
14. D.Ricciardo 19
15. J.Vergne 13
16. E.Gutierrez 6
17. V.Bottas 4
18. P.Maldonado 1
