Lewis Hamilton played spoiler to an otherwise dominant weekend by Red Bull’s Sebastian Vettel, who hoped to secure the 2012 Formula 1 drivers’ championship in front of Ferrari’s Fernando Alonso.
Hamilton took the inaugural victory at The Circuit of the Americas (COTA), patiently scraping away for an opportunity to pounce on Vettel, when he was finally able to make a DRS pass on lap 42. Vettel was caught on team radio complaining of being held up by Narain Karthikeyan’s HRT, although no penalty was given.
The circuit was fast and the action tight as drivers took advantage of numerous passing zones on the United States first purpose-built Grand Prix track.
The start saw Vettel take his pole position into turn one, where teammate Mark Webber slipped passed Hamilton from third into second, until the Briton was able to regain his position on lap four. A tactical move by Ferrari to open Felipe Massa’s gearbox penalized him five places to 11th, allowing Alonso to move up to seventh, in a race where he needed to stay within 15 points of Vettel. The decision paid off when Alonso jumped three positions to fourth after Kimi Räikkönen was slow getting his Lotus off the line.
Red Bull suffered an all-to-familiar problem when Webber’s alternator failed on lap 16, moving Alonso up even further to third, a position he held until the finish. It gave him necessary points to keep his title hopes alive, finishing just over 39 seconds behind Vettel, and within 13 points going into the final round.
Felipe Massa also had a strong showing for the Scuderia team, finishing fourth behind his teammate. Not to be outdone, McLaren’s Jenson Button powered his way through the field to fifth after starting back in 12th. He was one of a few drivers to take advantage of the new circuit’s twisty and technical sections, powering his car past a number of opponents in the corners.
While Red Bull was upset at the HRT they feel contributed to Hamilton’s pass, Hamilton was just elated to claim victory, especially after some recent struggles with his McLaren.
“When Vettel was delayed by a backmarker, I knew I had to grab my chance, so I turned the engine up to maximum revs and pushed like crazy. I won the last United States Grand Prix in 2007, so to come back and win it again – in front of such a great crowd - feels very special indeed. It’s brilliant to be finishing the season on a high. Hopefully we’ll go into Brazil next week with the same level of performance – I’d love to win my final two races for Vodafone McLaren Mercedes.”
Vettel meanwhile, was able to capture Red Bull’s third consecutive constructors’ championship despite Webber’s DNF, and gave the team credit for keeping him in a strong position for the drivers’ championship with only one race remaining. With a 13 point lead ahead of Alonso, the German just needs to keep within that gap for the title.
“I’m very, very happy for the team to win a third Constructors’. It’s been a tough year so far and they have been pushing incredibly hard; they deserve to win, as we have been the best team. Obviously Mark and I were pushing throughout the year. It was a shame for Mark not to finish today. It was a very good race and we did everything we could, but unfortunately we ran into traffic at the wrong time and lost the gap to Lewis. He used his chance well, I tried to cover the inside but he had more speed down the straight. I respect the positions; Lewis beat us fair and square. We showed we had the pace today and now it’s full steam ahead to the next race.”
Looking forward to the final round in Sao Paolo, the race will feature a number of headlines for the end of the season.
Along with being the deciding race for Vettel and Alonso, it also marks the retirement of Mercedes driver and seven-time World Champion Michael Schumacher, who made his inaugural Formula 1 start at the 1991 Belgian Grand Prix. Lewis Hamilton will take over his seat, ending a relationship with the McLaren squad since he was 13 years old. Sergio Perez will move from Sauber to McLaren, while Nico Hulkenberg will leave the Force India team to take the vacant Sauber seat.
Results Team Points
1. Lewis Hamilton McLaren-Mercedes 25
2. Sebastian Vettel Red Bull Racing-Renault 18
3. Fernando Alonso Ferrari 15
4. Felipe Massa Ferrari 12
5. Jenson Button McLaren-Mercedes 10
6. Kimi Räikkönen Lotus-Renault 8
7. Romain Grosjean Lotus-Renault 6
8. Nico Hulkenberg Force India-Mercedes 4
9. Pastor Maldonado Williams-Renault 2
10. Bruno Senna Williams-Renault 1
11. Sergio Perez Sauber-Ferrari
12. Daniel Ricciardo STR-Ferrari
13. Nico Rosberg Mercedes
14. Kamui Kobayashi Sauber-Ferrari
15. Paul di Resta Force India-Mercedes
16. Michael Schumacher Mercedes
17. Vitaly Petrov Caterham-Renault
18. Heikki Kovalainen Caterham-Renault
19. Timo Glock Marussia-Cosworth
20. Charles Pic Marussia-Cosworth
21. Pedro de la Rosa HRT-Cosworth
22. Narain Karthikeyan HRT-Cosworth
Ret. Mark Webber Red Bull Racing-Renault (Lap 16)
Ret. Jean-Eric Vergne STR-Ferrari (Lap 14)
Photo: Vodafone McLaren-Mercedes
