United States – Race: Strategy Summary

Winner of the last Grand Prix held in the United States, Lewis Hamilton (McLaren) won this weekend at the Circuit of the Americas during the first race held in Austin. Second, Sebastian Vettel gives Red Bull a third consecutive constructors’ title, but the drivers’ championship is yet to be decided in Brazil. Fernando Alonso (Ferrari), Vettel’s only rival in the championship, has indeed managed to keep his chances alive.

Hamilton took the lead at the end of the race ahead of Vettel, who had been the fastest in every session until then. The two drivers fought from the start to the end of the race. Hamilton and Vettel used the same single-stop strategy, switching from medium to hard tires on laps 20 and 21, respectively. Alonso adopted an identical strategy to keep his title chances intact, climbing to third place after starting in 7th position.

In qualifying, the top 10 were equipped with the medium compound, which was about half a second per lap faster than the hard compound, on a track constantly evolving due to the fresh asphalt. The threat of rain announced before the race ultimately did not materialize, and ambient temperatures hovered around 24°C.

The highest-ranked competitor after starting on hard tires was Jenson Button (McLaren), who finished fifth thanks to his one-stop strategy. Mercedes driver Nico Rosberg was the only other driver to start the race on P Zero Silver.

Paul Hembery, Director of Pirelli Motorsport: « We would like to thank the hundreds of thousands of fans who came to Austin this weekend: the level of support and the welcome we received were incredible and we look forward to returning. The two championship contenders, Sebastian Vettel and Fernando Alonso, drove magnificently today. We will have an exciting finale in Brazil next weekend. Although we could have come here with the soft and super soft compounds, in hindsight, the fact that the battle will go to the final round reinforces our decision not to introduce unknown factors on a brand-new circuit, where the title race was so tight and balanced. Degradation levels were extremely low throughout the weekend, despite the cooler than expected ambient and track temperatures. Performance and durability were extremely good with both compounds, allowing Vettel and Hamilton to fight for the victory until the checkered flag ».

[From the official press release published by Pirelli]

To better interpret this graph, you can use the lap-by-lap synthesis from the FIA by clicking here.