It took five years, but Kimi Raikkonen finally won another Formula One race, winning the United States Grand Prix in Austin, Texas, for Ferrari. Red Bull’s Max Verstappen charged all the way back from 18th to snag the second spot on the podium while the imminent 2018 F1 world champion, Mercedes’ Lewis Hamilton, will have to wait until next week to officially claim that title as he was relegated to the third and final podium position.
Hamilton started on pole position but it was a tenuous spot as Ferrari had improved their speed from the past three races and Raikkonen sat in the second spot on the front row alongside Hamilton and was also sporting the ultrasoft tires to Hamilton’s supersoft tires. That decision by Ferrari paid off immediately as Raikkonen beat Hamilton to the first corner and proceeded to lead the first 22 laps of the 56-lap race before diving into the pits. But Hamilton only led the race for 15 laps before having to make a pit stop and ceding the lead back to Raikkonen, who held on to it for the remainder of the race to get his first F1 victory since the Australian Grand Prix in 2013.
Verstappen came from starting in the 18th spot on the grid to grab second – taking advantage of a mistake by Ferrari’s Sebastian Vettel when he touched wheels with Verstappen’s Red Bull teammate, Daniel Ricciardo, and spun out on the first lap and Ricciardo’s subsequent departure from the race in the ninth lap due to a mechanical issue – with Vettel eventually finishing fourth to temporarily stave off elimination from the world championship race with Hamilton.
With a commanding lead in the overall points, Hamilton is expected to win his fifth world championship next week at the Mexican Grand Prix.
2018 US Grand Prix Top 10
1 Kimi Räikkönen Ferrari
2 Max Verstappen Red Bull
3 Lewis Hamilton Mercedes
4 Sebastian Vettel Ferrari
5 Valtteri Bottas Mercedes
6 Nico Hülkenberg Renault
7 Carlos Sainz, Jr. Renault
8 Esteban Ocon Force India
9 Kevin Magnussen Haas
10 Sergio Pérez Force India