2018 United States F1 Grand Prix: Räikkönen wins again and Hamilton's title celebration is postponed

The 2018 United States Grand Prix was presented as the first opportunity for Lewis Hamilton to clinch this season’s F1 world title. However, the celebration in the British driver’s garage will have to be postponed, at least until the next race of the championship, as he failed to score enough points for the mathematics to hand him the definitive triumph, despite finishing once again ahead of Sebastian Vettel.

Hamilton did not win the race, even though he started from pole position and even though we were at one of his many favourite circuits. The victory went to someone who was not among the favourites, because it is not just that he had not won a race this season, it is that he had not won since five years earlier. We are talking about Kimi Räikkönen, who took his 21st victory 113 races after his 20th, and who will bow out in fine style from Ferrari, in a very bitter season for the Italian team, which had grounds to end the dominance of Mercedes.

Many things happened at the Austin circuit from the start, when Kimi Räikkönen stole the lead from Hamilton. The joy in the Ferrari garage was shared only by the Finn’s closest people, because in the same move Vettel went wide and lost positions, falling to fourteenth place. Kimi was to do a great team job and Vettel would manage to climb back up the order, but in the end Hamilton’s celebration was completely spoiled by Max Verstappen.

The Red Bull driver, who had started from the back of the grid, was running in second place, with Hamilton behind him recovering his rightful position after pitting for tyres. As always, the Dutchman was not going to be an easy overtake, and Hamilton took a big risk in trying to pass him, to the point that he went off track, losing his chances there. Had that overtake been completed, Hamilton would have been virtually champion, although in the end it would not have been entirely enough, because Vettel would overtake Bottas to finish fourth.

For the Spanish in Austin, it was a mixed bag. The good news was delivered by Carlos Sainz, who finished a respectable seventh despite being penalised with 5 seconds for an illegal manoeuvre. The bad news, on the other hand, was for Fernando Alonso, who did not finish the race and was also left in a tremendous rage, venting freely. Not because of his McLaren, as we are used to, but this time it was down to Lance Stroll, who took him out on the first lap.

The final classification of the race was as follows:

The next event of the world championship is very close by, in Mexico, although there is little time to cross the border. This Grand Prix will be next weekend, on 26, 27 and 28 October. There, Hamilton will have a new opportunity to claim the world title, and this time it depends only on himself, so it should be easier for him than this weekend in Austin.