For most of us, the future is never written, it has to be made. For others, the future seems to have been charted before it began, though the journey is never clear. Lewis Hamilton’s final destination in Formula One has yet to be written. But he did manage to get the trophy engraver to write his name on the 2019 Formula World driver’s title for the sixth time. That’s one record that can never be erased.
But the United States Grand Prix didn’t start well. Hamilton underperformed, qualifying 5th while his teammate, Valtteri Bottas, romped to pole position. In truth it didn’t matter, all Hamilton had to do was finish the race in 8th position and the driver’s title was secured for the third time in as many years.
All Lewis Hamilton had to do on Sunday was play the percentage game. But he decided to go for the win. Hamilton opted to stop once for a set of new tyres. This meant he would lap the circuit 32 times on the same tyre. It was a risky decision considering tyre wear was high at the Circuit of The Americas.
The Ferrari’s were off the pace and nowhere, Vettel retired two laps into the race with a broken suspension and Leclerc finished a distant 4th. The Red Bull driven by Verstappen showed more courage and was able to keep sight of the two Mercedes but never had the ultimate speed to deliver a realistic challenge.
So the race at the front fell between Hamilton vs Bottas. Bottas stopped twice and had a significant advantage over an ailing Hamilton whose tyres began to fade as the 56 lap race neared its conclusion. Hamilton did muster a defense as Bottas made his first attack, but two laps later Hamilton was unable to defend the inevitable and he finally conceded to Bottas.
Bottas drove well the entire weekend, but you have to give Hamiton credit for not playing the percentage game and going for the win. It made for a tense finale for sure. So that’s F1 drivers championship number six for Lewis Hamilton. The history books will judge his greatness within the sport, only when he has retired will we realise just how great.
2019 United States Grand Prix: Circuit of The Americas, Austin
Pos | No | Driver | Car | Laps | Time/Retired | PTS |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
1 | 77 | Mercedes | 56 | 1:33:55.653 | 25 | |
2 | 44 | Mercedes | 56 | +4.148s | 18 | |
3 | 33 | Red Bull Racing Honda | 56 | +5.002s | 15 | |
4 | 16 | Ferrari | 56 | +52.239s | 13 | |
5 | 23 | Red Bull Racing Honda | 56 | +78.038s | 10 | |
6 | 3 | Renault | 56 | +90.366s | 8 | |
7 | 4 | McLaren Renault | 56 | +90.764s | 6 | |
8 | 55 | McLaren Renault | 55 | +1 lap | 4 | |
9 | 27 | Renault | 55 | +1 lap | 2 | |
10 | 11 | Racing Point BWT Mercedes | 55 | +1 lap | 1 | |
11 | 7 | Alfa Romeo Racing Ferrari | 55 | +1 lap | 0 | |
12 | 26 | Scuderia Toro Rosso Honda | 55 | +1 lap | 0 | |
13 | 18 | Racing Point BWT Mercedes | 55 | +1 lap | 0 | |
14 | 99 | Alfa Romeo Racing Ferrari | 55 | +1 lap | 0 | |
15 | 8 | Haas Ferrari | 55 | +1 lap | 0 | |
16 | 10 | Scuderia Toro Rosso Honda | 54 | DNF | 0 | |
17 | 63 | Williams Mercedes | 54 | +2 laps | 0 | |
18 | 20 | Haas Ferrari | 52 | DNF | 0 | |
NC | 88 | Williams Mercedes | 31 | DNF | 0 | |
NC | 5 | Ferrari | 7 | DNF | 0 |
Note – Kvyat received a post-race, 5-second time penalty for causing a collision. Leclerc scored an additional point for setting the fastest lap of the race.