Lewis Hamilton today took his 50th career victory - his 3rd in a row at the Circuit of the Americas and 7th of the 2016 season so far. Nico Rosberg completed a 5th Silver Arrows 1-2 of the season in P2. Nico Rosberg (331) leads the Drivers' Championship by 26 points from Lewis Hamilton (305) in P2.
Mercedes AMG Petronas (636) lead Red Bull (400) by 236 points in the Constructors' Championship.
Toto Wolff, Head of Mercedes-Benz Motorsport: This race in Austin in becoming real Lewis Hamilton country: three wins in a row, and four in total, after a perfect and really controlled drive today. We have had some pretty dramatic races in recent weeks, including what happened in Malaysia of course, so it was good to have a drama-free afternoon today and see Lewis put in such a strong drive. As for Nico, he's in a tricky situation right now because he knows he cannot afford to have a DNF. Probably that was part of why he lost position in Turn One, but then he was looking good to get back to P2 with an offset tyre strategy before the VSC meant we could pit and gain the position in that way. It was also great to see our pace today: things looked much closer with Red Bull in practice but our engineering team did some good work on Friday night and we had a nice advantage in qualifying and the race. We move on to Mexico now and our focus, like this weekend, will be on providing the boys with two reliable cars so that they can continue this championship battle in the right sportsmanlike way, between them out on track.
Paddy Lowe, Executive Director (Technical): It's a terrific result at what's becoming a really special race on the calendar and Lewis Hamilton is proving to be a popular winner here. It was a really well controlled race from Lewis, he didn't put a single foot wrong and keeps the drivers' championship battle alive going into the final three races. For Nico it was slightly more difficult, losing position to Daniel Riccardo at the start. We had strategic opportunities to move him back up to second but it was made a lot easier by the virtual safety car at a very convenient moment: good for us although it denied the fans an exciting battle. That's another fantastic job from the team here in Austin and back in Brackley, Brixworth and Stuttgart and we look forward to Mexico in just a few days, where yet more great racing is to be expected.
Maurizio Arrivabene: Obviously, we had hoped for a better result this weekend. Once again, though, we paid a heavy price for our qualifying position. In the race, our pace was definitely better than yesterday, and we could have fought for a podium finish. Now we move to Mexico straight away, and we will put our maximum effort and concentration into the next racing weekend.
Felipe Massa finished seventh and Valtteri Bottas 16th in the United States Grand Prix. Felipe had an excellent start, gaining two positons at the first corner and was running P6. However, a virtual safety car was deployed due to Verstappen's retirement allowing Sainz an advantage to move ahead into P5. In the final stint, in a battle for P5, Felipe and Alonso came together to Felipe's detriment, dropping him to seventh and causing puncture which resulted in a penultimate lap pitstop. Felipe was able to maintain track positon and finish the race in seventh, ahead of Perez.
At turn one, Valtteri suffered a puncture following a collision with Hulkenberg, forcing him to pit on the first lap. His battle was then at the back of the grid for P15 with Nasr, which he led until the closing stages of the race when Nasr was able to get ahead. The team stays fifth in the Constructors' Championship, closing the gap to Force India to eight points.
Rob Smedley, Head of Performance Engineering: The key factor today was that Valtteri was out of the race effectively from the first corner after having to limp back to the pits with a puncture after an incident with Hulkenberg. After that, we just tried to concentrate on Felipe. He had got himself into a good position and we created a decent gap to Sainz in the first stint. We then had a good pitstop and strategy, and kept a good gap to Sainz on the option tyre, so we were in control of our race. However, the virtual safety car caused by Verstappen put us at a disadvantage and allowed Sainz to get ahead. We were then just waiting for his tyres to degrade when Alonso caught up, and collided with Felipe as he tried to get through. The car could have secured fifth today but circumstances went against us. However, we will be back in seven days' time and will continue to close the gap to Force India in the championship.
Christian Horner: "Taking away a podium finish and extending our lead over Ferrari in the Constructors' Championship to 53 points are positives. A DNF on Max's car due to a gearbox failure is a negative out of today. But Daniel drove an excellent race, he did everything he could, he got the track position at the start with the softer tyre and held that through the first round of pit stops. Unfortunately the Virtual Safety Car (VSC), ironically caused by the issues with Max's car, gave Nico a free stop and track position on Daniel. Without that we would have had track position on Nico, who would have had a softer tyre available to him, but it would have been a fight on the circuit between the two guys rather than dictated through the VSC. So all in all, positives to take out of this race and we look forward to the Mexican Grand Prix in one week's time."
Sahara Force India scored four points in today's United States Grand Prix with Sergio Perez recovering to eighth place after contact on lap one dropped him to P17. Nico Hulkenberg's race ended after contact at turn one, breaking the car's steering arm.
Robert Fernley, Deputy Team Principal: "We had a pretty disastrous first lap - not for the first time this year. Nico was eliminated in turn one as he got squeezed between Bottas and Vettel. The resulting contact broke the steering arm and forced us to retire the car. Later in the lap, Sergio was hit by Kvyat going into turn 11 and he dropped to the back of the field. Despite picking up damage to the floor, he staged a remarkable recovery drive to finish eighth. To be leaving Austin with just four points is disappointing, especially considering the speed we had in the car this weekend. That said, we've only dropped a couple of points in the fight for fourth place in the constructors' championship and we take encouragement from the car's competitiveness across the weekend. It means we can go to Mexico confident of delivering a similar level of performance."
Renault Sport Formula One Team's Kevin Magnussen made a late charge to take P11 on track and thus finished just shy of the points in today's United States Grand Prix. Kevin started from P18 on a planned one-stop strategy but as the race played out this was adapted to a two and finally a three-stop. Post-race Kevin was given a five-second penalty, placing him twelfth in the final classification. Jolyon Palmer finished in P13 using a two-stop strategy.
Kevin started the race from P18 with new set of Pirelli's soft compound tyres. He stopped on lap 13 for another new set of soft tyres, switched to new medium compound tyres on lap 27 and then new super soft tyres on lap 43.
Jolyon started the race in P15 on new soft tyres. He stopped on lap 15 for a new set of soft compound tyres and on lap 26 for a final set of new medium tyres.
Fred Vasseur, Team Principal: "I'm in two minds about today's Grand Prix. I'm happy we were able to adapt our strategy well as the race evolved, however at times our race pace was not as consistent as we'd like. In our first stint we didn't seem to make good progress, yet at times we did see both cars deliver decent lap times considering their respective tyre conditions. We will be very vigilant in our post-race analysis to understand where we can better maximise our opportunities in the future. We finished just shy of the points today, but in the points is where we want to be."
Franz Tost (Team Principal): "Carlos started from P10 and was very clever in the first corner, defending against others very well - especially Alonso - and at the end of the first lap he was already P8. From then on he drove a very clean and competitive race as well as managing the tyres in a very impressive way. Towards the end of the race he was racing in P5 and was able to defend this position until the very last laps against Alonso. In the end the McLaren driver was able to get past him, but we can't forget that we are much slower on the straights and therefore Carlos had no chance to defend himself. Today he also did a great job when Massa was attacking him, so Carlos really showed a solid performance: he deserves this P6, it's one of his strongest races with the team. Regarding Daniil, after the start he collided with Perez, resulting in his front-left wing endplate getting damaged. He therefore lost downforce and, consequently, performance. He was also given a ten-second penalty for this, which compromised his race and was only able to finish P12. Generally speaking, the team did a very good job and the cars were more competitive than expected. We are now looking forward to the race in Mexico in seven days' time."
The Sauber F1 Team finished the United States Grand Prix in Austin in P14 (Marcus Ericsson) and P15 (Felipe Nasr). Both drivers were on a one stop strategy during the 56 lap race at the Circuit of the Americas. Now Formula One travels from the capital of Texas to Mexico City, where the Mexican Grand Prix will take place next weekend.
Monisha Kaltenborn, Team Principal: "We have to choose different ways to get us in a position to score points. The strategy as well as the performance of our drivers was good. The team faced the difficult challenges well and put in a solid performance. Although we haven't scored a point yet, we are heading the right way. I want to thank the whole team for their efforts."
Today was a solid and encouraging day at the office for McLaren-Honda. Both cars had a trouble-free race, despite Fernando Alonso starting in 12th position and Jenson Button in 19th. Both drivers made up valuable places off the start-line, narrowly avoiding collisions, and were running in ninth and 11th positions respectively after only a few short laps.
As he did in Malaysia, Fernando lucked in to a free pit-stop during a Virtual Safety Car deployment, and was duly able to move his way up the field to seventh. Two sterling overtaking manouvres in the last five laps cemented a sensational drive for him, and he crossed the finish-line in fifth place.
Jenson also had a very strong race, making up a number of places in the first few laps and spending much of the first half of the race on the fringes of the top 10. He was unlucky once again to miss out on the Virtual Safety Car window by one lap, dropping him back a place, but he drove faultlessly thereafter and maintained his position throughout the second half of the race, ultimately finishing in ninth for two points.
Eric Boullier, Racing Director: "It's always very satisfying when a great grand prix takes place in a country in which it's important that Formula 1 increases its following, and that's exactly what happened here in Austin, Texas, today.
"We saw exciting wheel-to-wheel battles up and down the field all afternoon, many of them involving our drivers. Fernando drove a storming race from 12th on the grid to fifth at the flag, forcing his way through the field with a series of brilliant passing manoeuvres; and if he has a rival for the 'driver of the day' accolade, it can only be Jenson, who blasted his way from P19 at the start to P9 at the finish. I'm proud of both of them, as are all of us at McLaren-Honda.
"It was gratifying to see that, despite our disappointing qualifying form yesterday, today, as we'd hoped and indeed predicted, our race pace was significantly more impressive, allowing our drivers to enjoy themselves enormously. You only had to look at the way our car changed direction to see how good its chassis is becoming. I also want to commend our partners Honda, whose power units ran flawlessly all afternoon.
"So today was a good day, undoubtedly. And I hope it was enjoyed by not only the tens of thousands of race fans who packed the grandstands to the rafters, but also by the tens of millions of race fans who watched the race at home, presumably on the edges of their seats."
Yusuke Hasegawa, Honda R&D Co Ltd Head of F1 Project & Executive Chief Engineer: "It was a good United States Grand Prix for us today. Before the start it was extremely difficult for us to predict where we would be at the end of the race based on the qualifying results yesterday, but we knew that our race pace would be better and stable.
"Today, both of our drivers proved why they're worthy world champions. It was good to see such strong driving, and undying racing spirit from both. Fernando pushed hard until the last lap, enabling him to finish in P5 behind the Ferrari, and a brilliant push from Jenson saw him gain 10 places to finish in P9. A double points finish is a great result to bring momentum back to the team."
After a good start, Esteban picked up damage that compromised the balance of his MRT05 and made for a difficult 3-stop race. Pascal, on a 2-stop strategy, finished ahead in P17. Another two-car finish to carry into Mexico next weekend.
Dave Ryan, Racing Director: "A strong performance from both drivers today to achieve another two-car finish and manage our championship position. Pascal carried the momentum of a good qualifying forward into today and drove a tidy race. With Esteban, he did really well at the start and it was such a shame that the rest of the race was made difficult when he picked up some damage. Another back-to-back turnaround now and on to Mexico next weekend."
Haas F1 Team, the first American Formula One team in 30 years, came away with a point-paying result in its first race in America care of Romain Grosjean.
In his 100th Formula One start, Grosjean drove his Haas VF-16 to a 10th-place finish in the United States Grand Prix on Sunday at Circuit of the Americas in Austin, Texas. It was Grosjean's fifth point-paying result this season and his first since the July 3 Austrian Grand Prix where he finished seventh.
Grosjean got a good jump when the race went green, advancing from his 17th-place starting spot to 14th on the first lap. His teammate, Esteban Gutierrez, started 14th and also made his presence known by rising to 10th.
Gutierrez engaged in a spirited duel with McLaren's Jenson Button on lap three that saw them trade 10th place before Button eventually emerged on top. Grosjean, meanwhile, continued his charge to the front, and after five laps he was directly behind Gutierrez in 12th.
Grosjean passed his teammate for 11th on lap seven as they entered turn 12 and held the spot until his first pit stop at the end of lap 10. A set of new Pirelli P Zero Yellow soft tires replaced the Red supersofts he used to start the race and Grosjean quickly resumed his attack. He passed the Toro Rosso of Daniil Kyvatt for 12th on lap 22 and then gave chase to the Force India of Sergio Perez.
Grosjean made his second and final pit stop at the end of lap 27 for a new set of White medium tires that would carry him to the end of the race. Quick work by the crew allowed Grosjean to maintain his 12th-place standing.
Soon, preparation met opportunity. When the Red Bull of Max Verstappen dropped out of the race on lap 29, Grosjean moved up to 11th. And when Kimi Räikkönen's Ferrari retired on lap 39, Grosjean inherited 10th. It was a spot Grosjean would not relinquish.
While Grosjean enjoyed a strong run in the United States Grand Prix, Gutierrez's run was cut short after 16 laps around the 5.513-kilometer (3.426-mile), 20-turn circuit. A left-front brake failure sidelined his promising drive and left him instead with a 21st-place finish.
Lewis Hamilton won the United States Grand Prix to collect his milestone 50th Formula One victory. It was also his seventh win this season and his fourth victory in the five Formula One races held at Circuit of the Americas. Hamilton's margin of victory was 4.520 seconds over his Mercedes teammate and championship leader Nico Rosberg. The victory cut Rosberg's advantage from 33 points to 26 points with only three races remaining.
Eighteen rounds into the 21-race Formula One schedule, Haas F1 Team remains eighth in the constructor standings with 29 points. Seventh-place Toro Rosso widened its gap on the American squad to 26 points, as Carlos Sainz Jr. finished sixth in the United States Grand Prix. But the point scored by Grosjean allowed Haas F1 Team to further distance itself from ninth-place Renault, as the works team did not finish in the points. Haas F1 Team's margin is now 21 points over Renault.
Three races remain on the 2016 Formula One schedule, with the series heading to Gutierrez's home race next week - the Mexican Grand Prix Oct. 30 at the Autódromo Hermanos Rodríguez in Mexico City.
Guenther Steiner: "Half a happy ending to a tough U.S Grand Prix. Romain in the points is fantastic, especially from where we started and how we were struggling at the beginning of the weekend. Very unfortunate race for Esteban. He was doing a good job when he experienced a brake disc failure again. We'll be investigating what happened and see how we can move forward and sort these problems out, as they are not acceptable. Romain couldn't race any better with the car we had, so congrats to him. The strategy, which the guys worked on overnight, was just right and it certainly paid off. The team worked hard and really pulled together. We had a difficult Friday and Saturday but we don't give up. We are racers."
Mercedes driver Lewis Hamilton won his fourth United States Grand Prix in Austin with a two-stop strategy as predicted, after a race that developed into an extremely varied tactical battle. Six different strategies were seen in the top 10, with the leaders closely matched on race pace from start to finish, despite the big variations in tactics. Four drivers in the top 10 used all three compounds during the grand prix, but Hamilton was the only one in the top 10 to opt for a soft-soft-medium run plan.
All three compounds were seen at the beginning of the race, with only the two Mercedes drivers and Max Verstappen's Red Bull starting on the soft tyre in the top 10, after scoring with this compound there Q2 best time yesterday. Rosberg was the only one of the frontrunners to choose the medium tyres for his middle stint before using this compound again for his final stint. Both Hamilton and Rosberg made their final stops under the virtual safety car with 24 laps to go, which could have influenced their choice towards the medium tyre to get to the end.
Most drivers completed two stops, although before his retirement Ferrari's Kimi Raikkonen completed a three-stopper and also Vettel opted for the same choice with just three laps to go. Both Saubers, plus Toro Rosso's Daniil Kvyat, stopped just once.
The race was run in warm and dry conditions, getting underway in track temperatures of 34 degrees: similar to conditions for qualifying yesterday.
Paul Hembery: "With six different strategies within the top 10 positions, tyre strategies were working hard. The virtual Safety Car also made an impact notably on Daniel Ricciardo's race, and allowing some drivers taking advantage of it to make a final pit stop and gain track position."
Truthometer
We predicted that two-stops was theoretically the best solution for the 56-lap race and this turned out to be the case. Lewis Hamilton started on the soft, then stopped for soft again on lap 11 and finally medium under the virtual safety car on lap 31.
