United States – Race: Bottas wins, Hamilton crowned and Ferrari struggles

It is under beautiful autumn conditions that this 19th race of the season takes place. Temperatures in Austin are 21°C in the air and 30°C on the ground, all under bright sunshine.

Let’s recall that Lewis Hamilton will be crowned world champion if he finishes in the top 8, something that seems well within the Briton’s reach, barring any problems…

Let’s note the bold choices of Nico Hülkenberg and Daniil Kvyat, respectively 11th and 13th, to start on hard tires contrary to the majority of the field.

Good start from Bottas who holds his position going into the first corner. Behind, Verstappen manages to slot in behind the Finn’s Mercedes while Vettel seems to struggle with his car. Hamilton overtakes him with a superb move on the outside as the German clearly struggles with his SF90. Leclerc overtakes him in turn and mystery surrounds his teammate’s car, which quickly slips to 7th place.

Few incidents to report in the pack apart from a collision between Albon and Sainz, resulting in a puncture for the Red Bull driver.

In the 3rd round, the leading trio Bottas-Verstappen-Hamilton precedes Leclerc already 7 seconds behind and Norris, who was able to take advantage of various mishaps to take 5th place, ahead of Daniel Ricciardo and his Renault.

Ferrari cars are suffering greatly in terms of race pace. Vettel remains at a distance without knowing the source of his difficulties, and Leclerc also notes a below-par performance.

Gasly is 8th behind the German after a good start.

In the 8th lap, yellow flag due to the suspension arm break on Vettel’s SF90. This explains his visible difficulties since the start of the race, with the damage likely causing the German’s excessive understeer. Retirement for the Ferrari driver who comes to a stop on the grass at the edge of the circuit. The numerous bumps on the circuit are probably the cause of this incident.

LAP 9/56

VET: “I think the suspension failed… yep, it’s gone” 😮#USGP 🇺🇸 #F1 pic.twitter.com/NnpoichwRA

— Formula 1 (@F1) November 3, 2019

Shortly after, Daniel Ricciardo overtakes Norris and finds himself 5th ahead of the Englishman. Behind them are Gasly, Sainz, Räikkönen, and Hülkenberg, closing the top 10. Let’s remember that the latter is equipped with hard tires while the 5 drivers ahead of him are still on soft tires.

Stop for Max Verstappen on the 14th lap to equip the white tires. The Dutchman is now aiming for the end of the race after this nevertheless early stop. Bottas covers his position by stopping as well, also equipped with white tires. Mercedes made a smart move, with the Finn just coming out ahead of Verstappen. Two laps later, Bottas overtakes a Leclerc on a different pace. The Red Bull driver follows suit, passing the Monegasque who doesn’t even put up a fight, aware of his performance deficit.

Very long pit stop for Charles Leclerc on the 21st lap. The Ferrari driver remains stationary for 7.9 seconds due to a fault with a mechanic’s gun. Nothing seems to be going well for Scuderia Ferrari in this race. Daniel Ricciardo stops in his turn and relinquishes his 4th place to his teammate Hülkenberg, who benefits from his starting strategy. The Australian comes out 7th and then regains 6th place after Perez’s stop. A great race for the French team at this stage of the race.

On the 24th lap, Hamilton, called to the pits, chose to stay on track with his medium tires, despite being closely followed by Bottas. The latter overtakes him on the straight, aided by his fresh tires and team orders permitting him to do so. Hamilton enters the pits once the lap is completed and comes out 3rd, isolated from any competitors.

Hülkenberg stops in turn after losing performance from his tires and being overtaken by the two McLarens. He emerges 15th and sets the first benchmark for the longevity of the hard tires, having completed 28 laps.

This signals a difficult end to the race for drivers aiming to reach the finish line without an additional pit stop. Most teams have revised their plans by opting for 2 stops.

Hamilton attacks to close the gap on Bottas but shows degraded hard tires, suffering from the numerous turns of the American circuit. The one-stop strategy and victory seem compromised for the Englishman.

At the 34th lap, Max Verstappen makes his second pit stop and comes out on medium tires, behind Lewis Hamilton but ahead of Leclerc. Just like in the first pit stop, Bottas follows the Red Bull driver and heads to the pits. Hamilton is now in the lead and will have to manage his tires well to reach the finish line in this position.

Albon overtakes Daniel Ricciardo and takes 5th place on the 38th lap. The Thai driver, equipped with yellow tires, has made a strong comeback from his last position at the start of the race.

At the back of the grid, the Haas team laments their usual struggle with race pace, unable to aim for a climb into the points. Magnussen is 14th while Grosjean is second to last, ahead of Russell, as Kubica had to retire in the pits.

Climb to 12th place for Hülkenberg after passing Kvyat, who misses a braking point. Albon stops and comes out in 10th position.

41st lap, and Hamilton informs his team via radio about his doubts regarding the durability of his tires. Meanwhile, Bottas is closing in and soon appears in his teammate’s mirrors. The latter chooses to stay on the track to battle with the hope of keeping the Finn behind. Leclerc stops 2 laps later and puts on the red tires, setting off in pursuit of the fastest lap point. Norris does the same by putting on the yellow tires, in the long-distance battle for 5th place with Ricciardo.

As the last 5 laps approach, Bottas gets within a second behind Hamilton while Albon manages to climb back to 5th place, after getting past the McLarens and Ricciardo. Norris overtakes Gasly to gain 7th place. Hamilton misses his braking point and squeezes Bottas to the edge of the track to avoid being overtaken. The two drivers are wheel to wheel as they start these final laps.

In trouble with his tires, Hamilton makes another mistake and Bottas easily overtakes him, aided by the DRS on the straight.

Bottas now heads towards victory and Verstappen is now targeting Hamilton, whose tires are clearly lacking in performance. The Dutchman is lapping 1.5 seconds faster and is asking his team for maximum power.

Two laps to go, yellow flag due to Magnussen’s off-track excursion. Brake failure for the Dane, further dragging his team into the depths.

At the start of the final lap, Verstappen is within one second behind Hamilton and has DRS. Hampered by the yellow flag that prevents him from overtaking at the end of the straight, Verstappen is forced to stay behind Lewis Hamilton who finishes 2nd and becomes a six-time Formula 1 world champion. Pierre Gasly retires just before the finish line, finishing 16th. Unlucky for the Frenchman after his great race.

Austin GP Standings: