2017 USGP: DRAMATIC RACE, MERCEDES AMG WORLD CHAMPION

Lewis Hamilton moved one step closer to a fourth Drivers’ Championship title with a convincing sixth career US Grand Prix win at Austin’s Circuit of the Americas. The win, ahead of the Ferraris of Sebastian Vettel and Kimi Räikkönen, allied to a fifth place for Valtteri Bottas also handed Mercedes their fourth Constructors’ Championship crown in a row.

Hard-charging Vettel took the lead into Turn 1 at the start, but when Hamilton grabbed first place with a good overtake of the German on lap six and quickly opened a two-second gap there was little doubt that, barring mechanical issues, the Mercedes driver would cross the line in first place to open a 66-point lead over Vettel with a maximum of 75 points on the table from the remaining three rounds.

There was more drama at the end of the race as Red Bull Racing’s Max Verstappen was denied a podium finish. The Dutchman was handed a five-second penalty for leaving the track and gaining and advantage when passing Räikkönen for P3 in the last sector of the last lap. Verstappen was demoted to fourth and the Ferrari man took the podium alongside Hamilton and Vettel.

2017 United States Grand Prix, Austin, Texas
56 laps, 304.356km., Weather: Sunny.
CLASSIFIED:
 P.    DRIVER            TEAM        TIME/GAP 
 1. Lewis Hamilton    Mercedes AMG 1h33:50.991
 2. Sebastian Vettel  Ferrari       +   10.415
 3. Max Verstappen*   Red Bull      +   11.768
 4. Kimi Raikkonen    Ferrari       +   15.779
 5. Valtteri Bottas   Mercedes AMG  +   34.967
 6. Esteban Ocon      Force India   + 1:30.980
 7. Carlos Sainz JR.  Renault       + 1:32.944
 8. Sergio Perez      Force India   +    1 lap
 9. Felipe Massa      Williams      +    1 lap
10. Daniil Kvyat      Toro Rosso    +    1 lap
11. Lance Stroll      Williams      +    1 lap
12. Stoffel Vandoorne McLaren       +    1 lap
13. Brendon Hartley   Toro Rosso    +    1 lap
14. Romain Grosjean   Haas          +    1 lap
15. Marcus Ericsson*  Sauber        +    1 lap
16. Kevin Magnussen   Haas          +    1 lap
* Five-second penalty

2014 L.Hamilton - Mercedes AMG - 1h40:04.785
2015 L.Hamilton - Mercedes AMG - 1h50:52.703
2016 L.Hamilton - Mercedes AMG - 1h38:12.618
2017 L.Hamilton - Mercedes AMG - 1h33:50.991
FASTEST LAP: Sebastian Vettel - 1:37.766      
NOT CLASSIFIED                                
 Fernando Alonso    McLaren
 Daniel Ricciardo   Red Bull
 Pascal Wehrlein    Sauber
 Nico Hulkenberg    Renault
AFTER 17 RACES:                
 Drivers:                   Constructors:   
 1. Lewis Hamilton   331   Mercedes AMG 575
 2. Sebastian Vettel 265   Ferrari      428
 3. Valtteri Bottas  244   Red Bull     315
 4. Даниел Рикиардо  192   Force India  159
 5. Kimi Raikkonen   163   Williams      68
 6. Max Verstappen   123   Toro Rosso    53
 7. Sergio Perez      86   Renault       48
 8. Esteban Ocon      73   Haas          43
 9. Carlos Sainz JR.  54   McLaren       23
10. Felipe Massa      36   Sauber         5
11. Нико Хулкенберг   34
12. Lance Stroll      32
13. Romain Grosjean   28
14. Kevin Magnussen   15
15. Stoffel Vandoorne 13
16. Fernando Alonso   10
17. Jolyion Palmer     8
18. Pascal Wehrlein    5
19. Daniil Kvyat       5