The United States Grand Prix is in the books and Mercedes’ Lewis Hamilton won easily with Ferrari’s Sebastian Vettel in second and his Ferrari teammate, Kimi Raikkonen, in the third and final podium position.
Hamilton was the pole-sitter but Vettel was alongside him in the first row and managed to grab the lead on the first corner and hold the lead for five laps before Hamilton and his superior-powered car was able to get by. From there, Hamilton gradually pulled away for an easy win. The race for third place held more drama as Raikkonen on deteriorating tires had to fend off a hard-charging Max Verstappen from Red Bull on fresher tires. Verstappen seemingly passed Raikkonen on the final corners of the final lap – only to be handed a post-race five-second penalty by race stewards for driving off-track [cutting corners]. ASN awards top points to Hamilton for the win, Vettel for staying as close as his car would allow and Raikkonen for the final point – barely – over Verstappen [who we would have given the point to had he not been penalized] and McLaren-Honda’s Stoffel Vandoorne, who continues to get good results out of a woefully underpowered engine.
The Pastor Maldonado Driving School Award goes to Marcus Ericsson from Sauber, who clobbered his fellow Maldonado Ward competitor, Kevin Magnussen, and successfully incurred a penalty for his troubles. With his point, Ericsson moves into fourth place behind leader Sergio Perez.
The Kimi Raikkonen “Leave Me Alone! I Know What I’m Doing!” Award goes to Fernando Alonso for his in-race remark to his pit about holding off Perez – “We will see. I don’t care.” Not surprisingly, Alonso holds a commanding lead in this category.
The Bernie Ecclestone Doofus Moment Award goes to the United States Grand Prix officials for a variety of reasons but mostly Michael Buffer’s over-the-top announcing schtick which got old 20 or 30 years ago, depending on your age. The collective officials from various Grands Prix lead over Ecclestone.
The 2017 ASN Formula One Driver’s Standings [after U.S. Grand Prix]
1] Sebastian Vettel – 31 points
2] Lewis Hamilton – 24
3] Valtteri Bottas – 12
4] Daniel Ricciardo – 10
5] Esteban Ocon/Max Verstappen – six
7] Kimi Raikkonen – five
8] Fernando Alonso/Stoffel Vandoorne – four
10] Sergio Perez – two
11] Romain Grosjean/Lance Stroll – one
2017 Pastor Maldonado Driving School Award – [after U.S. Grand Prix]
1] Perez – three
2] Carlos Sainz, Jr. – 2.5
3] Daniil Kvyat/Verstappen/Vettel – two
6] Marcus Ericsson – 1.5
7] Grosjean/Kevin Magnussen/Jolyon Palmer/Stroll/Vandoorne – one
2017 Kimi Raikkonen “Leave Me Alone! I Know What I’m Doing! Award – [after U.S. Grand Prix]
1] Alonso – four
2] Magnussen/Vettel – two
4] Bottas/Jenson Button/Grosjean/Hamilton/Mercedes [Bottas pit]/Ocon/Red Bull [Verstappen pit]/Ricciardo/Verstappen – one
2017 Bernie Ecclestone Doofus Moment Award – [after U.S. Grand Prix]
1] Bernie Ecclestone – three
2] Australian Grand Prix officials/British Grand Prix officials/Canadian Grand Prix officials/Ferrari pit [Vettel]/Force India/Goodwood/Hamilton/Mercedes marketing/Singapore Grand prix officials/Stroll/Williams/U.S. Grand Prix officials – one