Lewis Hamilton wins in US Grand Prix ahead of Rosberg and Ricciardo in third
Austin, November 2, 2014 – Mercedes driver Lewis Hamilton used a two-stop strategy to seal victory from second place on the grid at the United States Grand Prix and ensure that only he or his team mate Nico Rosberg will win the 2014 drivers’ title. Hamilton’s 32nd victory means that he is now fifth on the list of all-time winners, equalling Fernando Alonso, and has the highest number of Formula One wins of any British driver. Lewis and Nico achieved the team’s tenth one-two finish of the season to equal the record set by McLaren in 1988.
Hamilton started on the soft tyres and then completed two stints on the medium tyres to win the race by four seconds: a strategy that was echoed by his team mate. All the drivers apart from Nico Hulkenberg (Force India), Daniil Kvyat (Toro Rosso) and Sebastian Vettel (Red Bull) started on the soft tyrse, with Vettel in particular hoping that a diverse strategy would help him make progress following a pit lane start.
Lewis Hamilton, Winner –What an incredible place this is to go racing. We have such great support here and I have to say a massive thanks to the fans who have been awesome all weekend. I’m really grateful to have had the opportunity to be out front here. It’s a very special feeling to have such an amazing car, an amazing team and to be on this incredible run. It’s been an unbelievable job from the team all year so a big thanks to everyone here at the track and at the factories back home. We managed to correct the problems from qualifying today which was great and I pushed as hard as I could. For the overtake, I just stayed as close as possible to Nico and waited for the moment to be just close enough to throw it up the inside. This is a good circuit to be able to follow another car but it’s still not easy. You have to judge the risk in these situations but I felt confident I could pull it off. Once I got past Nico, it was just about controlling the race. I’m very, very proud to now hold the record for the most Formula One wins for a British driver. I have to say, though, it’s all thanks to the team and the car we have this year that I’ve been able to reach that landmark so quickly. Ten wins in a season is just… well, wow!
Nico Rosberg Second-It was a tough day for me and it feels horrible to finish second after starting from pole. The conditions were very different compared to yesterday and it took me too long to find my rhythm at the beginning. In Formula One it is all about adapting quickly, but it just took me too long. Only 10 laps after Lewis passed me, I got it right and was able to push much more. Lewis just did a better job today, so congratulations to him. It’s getting tougher but there is still a chance for the title and everything can happen. I’m still going to be pushing flat out just as I always have. I never give up.Daniel Ricciardo Third-“I’m happy with that. I could see the Mercedes for the first part of the race which was really cool, I don’t know if they were just chilling, but we seemed to have good pace. It was great to get ahead of the Williams and to get onto the podium. The start wasn’t very good, I have to put my hand up to that one, but the recovery was good so we didn’t really lose out. The pit stops were really good, Red Bull is known for being awesome in the pits and they showed it today.”
Both Williams drivers used a different two-stop strategy to the cars in front of them, completing two opening stints on the soft tyres to maximise their speed early in the race and a final stint on the medium. Red Bull’s Daniel Ricciardo also made the most of the opportunities available by stopping earlier than his direct rivals and pushing hard during his in and out laps to claim his eighth podium in Formula One. The Ferrari of Alonso had a different school of thought: the only top-10 finisher going for a soft-medium-soft strategy.
A safety car on the opening lap prompted a number of drivers to come into the pits, changing their strategies, including both McLarens. The most interesting tactic was from Vettel, who did only one lap on the soft tyres under the safety car – potentially allowing him to run all the way to the end of the 56-lap race without stopping again. In the end he stopped four times in total, eventually ending up in a points scoring seventh place.
