2014 F1 U.S. Grand Prix: Mercedes is the lone star

Austin, Texas-The Lone Star State, a hot bed for NASCAR afficionados, is now welcoming Formula One for the 3rd consecutive year. In 2012 Lewis Hamilton took the glory of winning the inaugural Grand Prix. Last year, Sebastian Vettel stood on the top step in Austin, and from the 2014 attendance numbers, the fans are really coming in droves to see and appreciate the pinnacle of motorsports.

Qualifying saw familiar names on top. Rosberg beat Hamilton to take P1, while Bottas squeezed past Massa for P3, Ricciardo slotted in at 4th, with Alonso rounding up the top 5. Four-time defending champion Sebastian Vettel, who had to serve a penalty for a power unit change, one unit more than the rule book allows, started from the pits dead last. This was after both Marussia and Caterham withdrew their cars from the race due to funding issues, therfore reducing the number of cars to 18.

As the lights went out, Rosberg had a clean start and led the field in the climb into turn 1. Hamilton, who aimed to grab P1 at the start, tried in vain to angle his car to his right to get the better of his teammate. But Nico had other plans. He kept his foot down and blocked Lewis’ move. Felipe Massa got the better of Bottas, as he squeezed the Finn off the track to take third. Ricciardo was the biggest loser, dropping down a few places due to a slow start off the line.

The first lap was just about half way done, when Sergio Perez, on board his Force India, tried to cut a corner to get ahead of Adrian Sutil in the Sauber. Perez ran straight into the side of Sutil, damaging the front suspension and eventually ending Adrian’s race. Kimi Raikkonen in the Ferrari was also tapped by Sergio in the melee. This prompted race control to bring out the safety car and clean up the debris from the crash site and retrive the stricken Sauber.

During the safety car period, most mid-fielders pitted for a set of tires. The only exceptions were the front runners, who opted to stay out and maintain track position.

The safety car was brought in on lap 5, as Nico Rosberg bunched up the field to get a good re-start and maintain his position over Lewis on the resumption of the race. The fight to watch was between Alonso and Ricciardo. Daniel gambled on diving to the left of Fernando at turn 1 but Alonso didn’t waver in his resolve to maintain his position, prompting Ricciardo to take another dive a few corners down and finally making his move stick—an awesome move by Daniel.

As all of this was happening, Sebastian Vettel quietly got about his job of reeling in one car at a time, slowly but surely climbing up the ranks.

Lap 15 saw Massa and Ricciardo pit for a set of tires. Red Bull were hoping to undercut Bottas who had yet to pit. A lap later, race leader Nico Rosberg came in for his scheduled stop. This prompted a call from the Mercedes pit wall to Lewis to get a move on, and try to increase his lead. Hamilton came in the following lap, but even with a clean pit stop, Lewis came out in second place behind Nico. The Mercedes duo were on the same strategy, using prime tires for their second stint.

Rosberg and Hamilton traded personal best times, while the rest of the teams played catch up.

Fernando Alonso was battling Jenson Button for P7 on lap 24. But out in front, Rosberg, who seemingly was having tire degradation problems, was being hunted down by Lewis. Before the end of the lap, he was passed by the Brit for P1. The crowd erupted with jubilation with the overtaking move.

Vettel, who was now running 10^th, had Romain Grosjean to contend with. The Frenchman was shadowing the German and when he found an opening, overtook the four time champion to the dismay of the Red Bull faithful. But Sebastian’s suffering was not over by any means. Jean Eric Vergne on the Red Bull junior team, Toro Rosso, was also hunting down Vettel. Visibly suffering from understeer, Vettel was no match for the Toro Rosso and had to give up his position.

Lap 30 of the 56 lap race saw the teams come in for their 2nd round of pit stops. But both Mercedes stayed out, and three laps later, the team brought in Lewis, while Nico tried to undercut Hamitlon by setting a fast lap time. Nico came in a lap later but came out behind Hamilton. This was a huge blow to the challenge by German. Hamilton was just too quick for Nico today.

Sebastian Vettel, who had to take 5 pit stops in the race, finally came to grips with his RB10, and fought his way up to 7th.

Lewis Hamilton crossed the line, winning his 10^th race for 2014, his 5th in a row, win number 2 in Austin, and the 32nd in his career. This made him the most sucessful British driver in Formula One, eclipsing Nigel Mansell.

With two races to go and seventy points up for grabs, Hamilton leads the championship with Rosberg 24 points adrift in second. Daniel Ricciardo holds firm in 3rd while Valterri Bottas of Williams Martini Racing is in 4th, followed by former champions Alonso and Vettel, tied with 149 points apiece.

Barring a disaster in Brazil for Hamilton, Rosberg would need the double points scoring system in place at the Abu Dhabi GP to have any hope of winning his first ever championship.