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Raikkonen wins the United States Grand Prix

Lewis Hamilton having started in pole position was about to seal his fifth world title but thanks to amazing driving by Kimi Raikkonen, Hamilton’s chances are slowly becoming slimmer. Kimi Raikkonen didn’t have it easy as it was a 3 way battle between the Finn, Max Verstappen in the Red Bull and Lewis Hamilton in the Mercedes.

Verstappen did well since starting 18th on the grid and having been able to push his way through the pack towards a podium finish. Thanks to the results, Lewis Hamilton needs to focus on Mexico to clinch the 2018 drivers championship. Vettel who is hot on Hamilton’s tail finished 4th in the race.

“It’s not a big deal for me, it’s a much bigger deal for a lot of the people. If it comes, it comes; if it doesn’t, it really doesn’t change my life one bit. I’m happy we are here and that we win but I think the biggest difference is the way people look at you. If you look at people in a different way if they win or not, it doesn’t make a lot of difference in my mind. But obviously I’m happy, just proving some people wrong it’s enough fun for me,” said Kimi Raikkonen on winning again after a long gap.

Statistics from Formula1.com

  • Before Raikkonen won, the record for the longest gap between Grand Prix wins had stood at 99 races and was held by Riccardo Patrese (1983 to 1990)
  • Raikkonen also broke the record for the biggest gap between first and last career wins. It’s 15 years and 212 days since the Iceman’s maiden win in Malaysia in 2003. Michael Schumacher had previously held the record, having gone 14 years between first and last wins.
  • Ferrari’s victory – which gave Raikkonen his 50th podium for the Scuderia – is their first in the USA since 2006, and ends Mercedes win streak in Austin. The Silver Arrows had won every race at Circuit of The Americas since 2014.
  • Verstappen finished on the podium for the second time when starting outside the top 10. He went from P16 to P3 at China in 2017, but his journey from P18 to P2 was the lowest anyone had risen in a US Grand Prix since Teo Fabi went from 23rd to 3rd in Detroit in 1984.
  • With sixth and seventh, Renault scored 14 points – their biggest single race haul of the season
  • Magnussen gave Haas their best-ever finish in their home Grand Prix, with ninth
  • Hartley finished 11th for the third time this season, but remains stuck on two points finishes

Here are the driver standings

Pos No Driver Car Laps Time/Retired PTS
1 7 Kimi Räikkönen Ferrari 56 1:34:18.643 25
2 33 Max Verstappen Red Bull Racing TAG Heuer 56 +1.281s 18
3 44 Lewis Hamilton Mercedes 56 +2.342s 15
4 5 Sebastian Vettel Ferrari 56 +18.222s 12
5 77 Valtteri Bottas Mercedes 56 +24.744s 10
6 27 Nico Hulkenberg Renault 56 +87.210s 8
7 55 Carlos Sainz Renault 56 +94.994s 6
8 31 Esteban Ocon Force India Mercedes 56 +99.288s 4
9 20 Kevin Magnussen Haas Ferrari 56 +100.657s 2
10 11 Sergio Perez Force India Mercedes 56 +101.080s 1
11 28 Brendon Hartley Scuderia Toro Rosso Honda 55 +1 lap 0
12 9 Marcus Ericsson Sauber Ferrari 55 +1 lap 0
13 2 Stoffel Vandoorne McLaren Renault 55 +1 lap 0
14 10 Pierre Gasly Scuderia Toro Rosso Honda 55 +1 lap 0
15 35 Sergey Sirotkin Williams Mercedes 55 +1 lap 0
16 18 Lance Stroll Williams Mercedes 54 +2 laps 0
NC 16 Charles Leclerc Sauber Ferrari 31 DNF 0
NC 3 Daniel Ricciardo Red Bull Racing TAG Heuer 8 DNF 0
NC 8 Romain Grosjean Haas Ferrari 2 DNF 0
NC 14 Fernando Alonso McLaren Renault 1 DNF 0