What looked to become an easy victory for Lewis Hamilton turned out into a very tight battle between 3 teams and drivers until the finish line.
After 5 years of racing without any win, Kimi Raikkonen at last got his very well deserved victory in a grand prix that was one of the most exciting races in a long time.
The start of the race was very important for his victory. The tyre compound drivers use in Q2 of qualifying is very important, because the compound they drive their quickest lap time on is the tyre compound they have to start the race on.
Raikkonen was the only driver in the top 5 that started the race on the Ultrasoft purple tyres. Because Vettel had a penalty, Raikkonen also moved up 1 place to 2nd next to Hamilton on the front row of the grid.
Raikkonen had a very good start. Because his tyres had more grip than Hamilton's, he was able to come alongside the Mercedes of Hamilton to dive in turn 1 as first and pulled a gap right away. Hamilton's early pitstop during the virtual safety car in lap 11 didn't turn out very well, because of the warm COTA tarmac his tyres blistered heavily during the race and a second pitstop was inevitable and decisive.
Max Verstappen also drove an epic race by starting 18th and finishing 2nd! After lap one he already had passed 9 cars and with his pitstop he even overtook the Mercedes of Valtteri Bottas for P3. In the last laps he had a great and fair fight with Hamilton who wanted to overtake him. The young Dutchman gave it all he got and was able to hold off the almost 5 times champ for P2.
Did you know Raikkonen didn't score a single win after he returned to Ferrari in 2014? His last win before yesterday was with Lotus back in 2013! He did score a lot of podium with Ferrari and even has, with 43 the most 3rd place trophies of all drivers. In the all time list of most podium finishes he even holds 5th place with 101 podiums.
Below you can see the top 5 drivers who scored the most podiums in F1. It's great to see that 3 of the 5 names are drivers that participate in current 2018 F1 season.
We summed up all the driver post-race United States GP comments for you of all 20 Formula 1 drivers that participated in the race. Some of the comments were written before the news came out that Esteban Ocon (Force India) and Kevin Magnussen (Haas( were disqualified and lost their points for exceeding fuel related regulations.
Ferrari United States 2018 comments
Kimi Raikkonen wins
“Obviously it’s a great feeling to win this race.
It’s nice to prove to all the people that we can still win; that’s the reason we are here for, try to win races and Championships.
It was an exciting race, not only for us but also for all those who were watching. We had a very solid weekend, I felt confident and I’m glad about that especially because lately we’ve had rough weekends for the team. I’m glad we had a fight and it’s nice to see that we still have the speed to go for it and fight has hard as we can. This weekend we found the car that we expected to have.
The start was a key moment; In the first part of the race we had the speed, I tried to take care of the tires and saved fuel. Then the Mercedes stopped and came back on fresher tires: at that time, my target was to keep them behind before we, too, stopped for tyres. If Hamilton had passed us before our stop, it would have been a different story.
We are still in the fight for both Championships and this is a good thing. We’re off to Mexico now, where we’ll try do the best we can and hopefully we can get a great result for both teams. We’ll keep fighting until the end.”
Sebastian Vettel
”I am really, really happy for Kimi and his result today, but I am not happy with my race and I am disappointed for letting the team down today.
I had a contact with Ricciardo on lap one, I am not sure he saw me when I was getting closer to him. I wanted to put him under pressure for the next corner, I wasn’t thinking about passing in that point at any rate, but I had nowhere to go, we touched wheels and I span around.
I think this has been an important race for us as a team and it’s nice to see that we had a good pace during the race, even though there are still many things we need to learn and to understand. It has not been an easy time for me lately and bad results are part of the game, but I believe it’s always possible to overcome issues.”
Red Bull Racing United States 2018 comments
Max Verstappen
“It is safe to say today went a lot better than expected. I managed to stay out of trouble on the first lap while progressing up the field as the pace of my car was really strong. This was crucial as it allowed me to settle into my own rhythm and catch the cars ahead. I didn’t think the Soft compound was the best out there, once I pitted I felt more comfortable and able to control the Supersofts. The undercut on Valtteri was ideal and probably the key to achieving the podium, a great call from the team.
In fact, our entire strategy was spot on and once we stopped we were able to manage the Supersofts all the way to the end. The last 10 laps were pretty exciting, especially being the only car on the softer compound fighting at the front. I was trying to get close to Kimi but at the same time keeping an eye on Lewis in my mirror, it was close but we managed to hang on to second. Lewis had a go but we both gave each other plenty of room and thankfully he ran a bit wide and onto a dirty part of the track. I think I started to run out of traction towards the end so attacking Kimi was not on the table. The team have certainly earnt a little celebration tonight before we head to Mexico, where we will try to do even better.”
Daniel Ricciardo
“It’s incredibly frustrating to retire so early in the race and I just don’t seem to have any luck at the moment. Everything just switched off and it seemed pretty much identical to the issue I had in Bahrain at the beginning of the year. I couldn’t even communicate with anyone on the radio so it looks like a battery failure. Now, seeing how the race played out makes it even harder to take as it could have been pretty interesting and it was a great afternoon for Max. There’s not much more to say about it to be honest.
A lot of times this year there have been things out of my control but I can only keep trying. The biggest shame is that I only have a handful of races left with Red Bull and I want to have more highs than we’ve had. I want to be able to celebrate with the Team at least one more time and be on the podium to enjoy that feeling, but we’re running out of races which is pretty tough to take at the moment.”
Mercedes United States 2018 comments
Lewis Hamilton
"There are a lot of things we could've done better, There were certain things that weren't optimum for us, which made it look even worse that it was.
Not an ideal Sunday, but I think up until today it'd been a good, solid weekend. I think the decisions and the steps that we have taken were good.
However, Ferrari gained a bit of pace, we seemed to lose a bit of pace. But, we will go back to the drawing board and that's why we are the best as a team.
No one is to blame, we all take the blame together. We will kick ourselves in the backside and keep working, keep pushing.
I know that the guys will do a great analysis from the weekend over the next couple of days and we will come back stronger the next race."
Valtteri Bottas
"There were a lot of question marks because of the limited running in the dry, so making predictions on the set-up and the tyres was very tricky,"
For me, the SuperSoft worked well in the first stint. Some people were stopping, but I was still feeling comfortable with the tyres.
Initially, I had some issues with overheating, but it got better and better. When the tyre was wearing, I pushed it a bit more and the feeling was good with the SuperSoft.
The Soft tyre was always going to be an unknown. Normally, it's been the better tyre on long runs but for some reason it didn't quite work."
Renault United States 2018 comments
Nico Hulkenberg
“Today saw the best team result since I’ve been with Renault so I’m happy for that, it was a very good job from everyone involved with the team.
We demonstrated that the race pace of our car is very decent and we’re still very competitive. It also illustrated how important it is to have a strong qualifying position and a clean first lap.
Everything is still possible for us and we took a great bunch of points. It was a very satisfying feeling today, but we have three races left so we need to keep the good work coming.”
Carlos Sainz (started P6 - finished P7)
Carlos Sainz Jr
“In general I’m happy with how we finished the weekend. It was a very good result for the team, which is exactly what was needed. To finish sixth and seventh here gives us strong points so congratulations for a fantastic team effort.
On my side, I did a great start and arrived in the first corner ahead of the three cars previously in front. I did run wide behind the Ferrari but re-joined the track safely, letting Esteban by. I then overtook him cleanly round the outside in turn six, so I still can’t understand the penalty. After that, it was all about tyre management and fuel saving.
I’m happy for the seventh position and happy to see the great efforts from the whole team paid off today.”
Racing Point Force India United States 2018 comments
Esteban Ocon (started P6 - finished P8)
Esteban Ocon
“It was a tough race this afternoon after a difficult first lap. I lost a few positions at the start because the cars behind me took some big risks. I decided to let them go because the risks were too big in my opinion. After that it was difficult to fight back because the cars we were racing [the Renaults] had already gotten ahead.
After the pit stop, I had Kevin [Magnussen] behind me for the rest of the race. He was quick and it wasn’t easy keeping him behind. I’m pleased we still picked up some decent points, but we definitely need to review our weekend and see where we can improve for the races to come.”
*Esteban was excluded from the results post-race for a technical infringement."
Sergio Pérez (started P10 - finished P10)
Sergio Pérez
“I made a good start, managed to stay out of trouble and benefited from the chaos around me. We tried to extend the first stint but perhaps we stopped a bit too late.
Our pit-stop wasn’t the best and I ended up in a lot of traffic, which caused me to lose out to Magnussen. I was able to overtake him in turn one as he was leaving the pits, but he passed me on the back straight. I followed him for the rest of the race and although I got close, I ran out of laps to make a move.
I don’t think we would have been able to challenge the Renaults today, but I’m disappointed we lost out to Magnussen.”
*Sergio moved from P10 to P8 following the disqualifications of Ocon and Magnussen."
Haas United States 2018 comments
Kevin Magnussen
“I would say it was a steady race. The car was very good. We had good pace and I was able to put pressure on the Force Indias.
I passed Perez just after the pit stop and I was faster than Ocon, but I had to save so much fuel that I couldn’t afford to attack him.
It’s a shame that we have fuel saving in Formula One and not being able to attack. At the end of the day, what the fans want to see is great racing. We can’t do it because we have to save fuel. It’s disappointing.”
Romain Grosjean
“I had a decent start. There was a lot of action going on. I was fighting with Charles (Leclerc) and Esteban (Ocon).
I got to turn 12 and I braked early because I was behind them. I didn’t want to take much risk, but I ended up in the dirty air and I couldn’t stop the car. I tried to avoid the contact as much as I could, but Charles was trying to get a good exit and I hit him.
I feel sorry for Charles and I’m frustrated for the team. This being our home race, we wanted to do well. It’s not been a great afternoon.”
Toro Rosso United States 2018 comments
Brendon Hartley
"Really happy with my performance and race today which was rewarded with two points. I was aggressive when I needed to be and did a good job with tyres, the team gave me good info from the pits and the mechanics did a good pit stop - a team effort!
From last on the grid to P9 was the max we could do today, and I'm happy with the aggression I showed and how the race went. Even if the points haven't come, I have been very strong in all the last races and am very motivated and optimistic for the rest of the season and beyond."
Pierre Gasly
"It was a long and difficult Sunday. Starting from P19 we knew it would be a difficult race. We took some debris after the chaotic first lap and that damaged the floor a bit, after that I was just trying to do everything I could from inside the car, but there was a massive loss of grip for the rest of the race.
We decided for a two stop strategy but there wasn't much we could do today. The pace over one lap in Qualifying was really good so there's positives to take away from the weekend. It's just a shame we couldn't fight properly this time, but I'm really hoping we can carry the pace into Mexico and have a clean Qualifying there to get a good result for the team."
Sauber United States 2018 comments
Marcus Ericsson
“It was a decent race for me. It was tough to start on the hardest compound, which made it more difficult to challenge my competitors. However, I was able to move up the field step by step, which was a good effort. Still, the target is to score points, so I am not fully satisfied with the original result, which was P12. Our performance this weekend was solid and I look forward to our next opportunity in Mexico City.”
Charles Leclerc
“It is frustrating to finish the race like this. It was clear that the potential was there to achieve a good result, especially after starting from P9 today.
After the incident on the first lap, the car was just too damaged for us to extract enough performance to allow us to be competitive enough to race properly – even after changing the nose and tyres just after it happened. In the end, I had to retire from the race early, which is a shame.
Our performance was strong this weekend, and we will take that with us to Mexico and build on it.”
McLaren United States 2018 comments
Stoffel Vandoorne
“In the end today’s result wasn’t too bad, especially under the circumstances. We made a reasonable start with all the carnage that happened around us – we got touched left, right and centre on the first lap which wasn’t ideal.
“We finished 13th, after deciding to go for a two-stop strategy, and pitted under the Virtual Safety Car. A few of the cars around us did a one-stop – it’s hard to say which was best, but we were quick when it mattered, and we beat a couple of cars again.
“In the end, I think it was the maximum possible for us today.”
Fernando Alonso
“My race today lasted only a few hundred meters.
“There was a lot of action in Turn Four, which was a surprise, because it’s not normal to overtake into that high-speed section. Three cars were trying to overtake each other and a couple of guys around me were very optimistic, misjudging their position and manoeuvres a bit, and the result was that some cars ended up in the wall and one of those was mine.
“It’s always the same story, it just keeps happening. At the start, people are trying to bump everyone else, the same as when you have a rental car! No one does it on purpose, but today they played bowling with my car again, like they did in Spa.
“It’s a shame. We came out here early to prepare for this race and it only lasted a couple of corners.”
Williams United States 2018 comments
Sergey Sirotkin
"It was a tough race. I had a very good start and gained quite a lot of places. I got some damage on the rear-side of the floor in one of the incidents with a McLaren through the first-lap, but everything was ok whilst we were in dirty air and there was a lot of inconsistency in the things happening around the track.
I had good pace considering the damage and I could keep up with the cars ahead and everything looked good. After the pitstop it just didn’t work. When everyone got into their rhythm and got into their pace we just didn’t have the performance to compete and keep the people behind. The damage on the floor that I had was probably painful for us in clean air when everyone could use their performance a bit more.
I was just basically trying to get to the end without losing too many places which was not the best feeling either. I don’t think we could have done much better."
Lance Stroll (started P15 - finished P16)
Lance Stroll
"It was a terrible day. I had contact with Alonso on the first lap in turn five. I saw a gap and went for it, but I don't think he really saw me and turned in. After that my race was finished as I got the drive through and that was that. I haven't seen the footage, but I think it was a racing incident.
I am just disappointed about the result."
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What looked to become an easy victory for Lewis Hamilton turned out into a very tight battle between 3 teams and drivers until the finish line.
After 5 years of racing without any win, Kimi Raikkonen at last got his very well deserved victory in a grand prix that was one of the most exciting races in a long time.
The start of the race was very important for his victory. The tyre compound drivers use in Q2 of qualifying is very important, because the compound they drive their quickest lap time on is the tyre compound they have to start the race on.
Raikkonen was the only driver in the top 5 that started the race on the Ultrasoft purple tyres. Because Vettel had a penalty, Raikkonen also moved up 1 place to 2nd next to Hamilton on the front row of the grid.
Raikkonen had a very good start. Because his tyres had more grip than Hamilton's, he was able to come alongside the Mercedes of Hamilton to dive in turn 1 as first and pulled a gap right away. Hamilton's early pitstop during the virtual safety car in lap 11 didn't turn out very well, because of the warm COTA tarmac his tyres blistered heavily during the race and a second pitstop was inevitable and decisive.
Max Verstappen also drove an epic race by starting 18th and finishing 2nd! After lap one he already had passed 9 cars and with his pitstop he even overtook the Mercedes of Valtteri Bottas for P3. In the last laps he had a great and fair fight with Hamilton who wanted to overtake him. The young Dutchman gave it all he got and was able to hold off the almost 5 times champ for P2.
Did you know Raikkonen didn't score a single win after he returned to Ferrari in 2014? His last win before yesterday was with Lotus back in 2013! He did score a lot of podium with Ferrari and even has, with 43 the most 3rd place trophies of all drivers. In the all time list of most podium finishes he even holds 5th place with 101 podiums.
Below you can see the top 5 drivers who scored the most podiums in F1. It's great to see that 3 of the 5 names are drivers that participate in current 2018 F1 season.
We summed up all the driver post-race United States GP comments for you of all 20 Formula 1 drivers that participated in the race. Some of the comments were written before the news came out that Esteban Ocon (Force India) and Kevin Magnussen (Haas( were disqualified and lost their points for exceeding fuel related regulations.
Kimi Raikkonen (started P2- finished P1)
Kimi Raikkonen wins
“Obviously it’s a great feeling to win this race.
It’s nice to prove to all the people that we can still win; that’s the reason we are here for, try to win races and Championships.
It was an exciting race, not only for us but also for all those who were watching. We had a very solid weekend, I felt confident and I’m glad about that especially because lately we’ve had rough weekends for the team. I’m glad we had a fight and it’s nice to see that we still have the speed to go for it and fight has hard as we can. This weekend we found the car that we expected to have.
The start was a key moment; In the first part of the race we had the speed, I tried to take care of the tires and saved fuel. Then the Mercedes stopped and came back on fresher tires: at that time, my target was to keep them behind before we, too, stopped for tyres. If Hamilton had passed us before our stop, it would have been a different story.
We are still in the fight for both Championships and this is a good thing. We’re off to Mexico now, where we’ll try do the best we can and hopefully we can get a great result for both teams. We’ll keep fighting until the end.”
Sebastian Vettel (started P5 - finished P4)
Sebastian Vettel
”I am really, really happy for Kimi and his result today, but I am not happy with my race and I am disappointed for letting the team down today.
I had a contact with Ricciardo on lap one, I am not sure he saw me when I was getting closer to him. I wanted to put him under pressure for the next corner, I wasn’t thinking about passing in that point at any rate, but I had nowhere to go, we touched wheels and I span around.
I think this has been an important race for us as a team and it’s nice to see that we had a good pace during the race, even though there are still many things we need to learn and to understand. It has not been an easy time for me lately and bad results are part of the game, but I believe it’s always possible to overcome issues.”
Red Bull Racing United States 2018 comments
Max Verstappen (started P18 - finished P2)
Max Verstappen
“It is safe to say today went a lot better than expected. I managed to stay out of trouble on the first lap while progressing up the field as the pace of my car was really strong. This was crucial as it allowed me to settle into my own rhythm and catch the cars ahead. I didn’t think the Soft compound was the best out there, once I pitted I felt more comfortable and able to control the Supersofts. The undercut on Valtteri was ideal and probably the key to achieving the podium, a great call from the team.
In fact, our entire strategy was spot on and once we stopped we were able to manage the Supersofts all the way to the end. The last 10 laps were pretty exciting, especially being the only car on the softer compound fighting at the front. I was trying to get close to Kimi but at the same time keeping an eye on Lewis in my mirror, it was close but we managed to hang on to second. Lewis had a go but we both gave each other plenty of room and thankfully he ran a bit wide and onto a dirty part of the track. I think I started to run out of traction towards the end so attacking Kimi was not on the table. The team have certainly earnt a little celebration tonight before we head to Mexico, where we will try to do even better.”
Daniel Ricciardo (started P4 - DNF)
Daniel Ricciardo
“It’s incredibly frustrating to retire so early in the race and I just don’t seem to have any luck at the moment. Everything just switched off and it seemed pretty much identical to the issue I had in Bahrain at the beginning of the year. I couldn’t even communicate with anyone on the radio so it looks like a battery failure. Now, seeing how the race played out makes it even harder to take as it could have been pretty interesting and it was a great afternoon for Max. There’s not much more to say about it to be honest.
A lot of times this year there have been things out of my control but I can only keep trying. The biggest shame is that I only have a handful of races left with Red Bull and I want to have more highs than we’ve had. I want to be able to celebrate with the Team at least one more time and be on the podium to enjoy that feeling, but we’re running out of races which is pretty tough to take at the moment.”
Mercedes United States 2018 comments
Lewis Hamilton (started P1 - finished P3)
Lewis Hamilton
"There are a lot of things we could've done better, There were certain things that weren't optimum for us, which made it look even worse that it was.
Not an ideal Sunday, but I think up until today it'd been a good, solid weekend. I think the decisions and the steps that we have taken were good.
However, Ferrari gained a bit of pace, we seemed to lose a bit of pace. But, we will go back to the drawing board and that's why we are the best as a team.
No one is to blame, we all take the blame together. We will kick ourselves in the backside and keep working, keep pushing.
I know that the guys will do a great analysis from the weekend over the next couple of days and we will come back stronger the next race."
Valtteri Bottas (started P3 - finished P5)
Valtteri Bottas
"There were a lot of question marks because of the limited running in the dry, so making predictions on the set-up and the tyres was very tricky,"
For me, the SuperSoft worked well in the first stint. Some people were stopping, but I was still feeling comfortable with the tyres.
Initially, I had some issues with overheating, but it got better and better. When the tyre was wearing, I pushed it a bit more and the feeling was good with the SuperSoft.
The Soft tyre was always going to be an unknown. Normally, it's been the better tyre on long runs but for some reason it didn't quite work."
Renault United States 2018 comments
Nico Hulkenberg (started P7 - Finished P6)
Nico Hulkenberg
“Today saw the best team result since I’ve been with Renault so I’m happy for that, it was a very good job from everyone involved with the team.
We demonstrated that the race pace of our car is very decent and we’re still very competitive. It also illustrated how important it is to have a strong qualifying position and a clean first lap.
Everything is still possible for us and we took a great bunch of points. It was a very satisfying feeling today, but we have three races left so we need to keep the good work coming.”
Carlos Sainz (started P6 - finished P7)
Carlos Sainz Jr
“In general I’m happy with how we finished the weekend. It was a very good result for the team, which is exactly what was needed. To finish sixth and seventh here gives us strong points so congratulations for a fantastic team effort.
On my side, I did a great start and arrived in the first corner ahead of the three cars previously in front. I did run wide behind the Ferrari but re-joined the track safely, letting Esteban by. I then overtook him cleanly round the outside in turn six, so I still can’t understand the penalty. After that, it was all about tyre management and fuel saving.
I’m happy for the seventh position and happy to see the great efforts from the whole team paid off today.”
Racing Point Force India United States 2018 comments
Esteban Ocon (started P6 - finished P8)
Esteban Ocon
“It was a tough race this afternoon after a difficult first lap. I lost a few positions at the start because the cars behind me took some big risks. I decided to let them go because the risks were too big in my opinion. After that it was difficult to fight back because the cars we were racing [the Renaults] had already gotten ahead.
After the pit stop, I had Kevin [Magnussen] behind me for the rest of the race. He was quick and it wasn’t easy keeping him behind. I’m pleased we still picked up some decent points, but we definitely need to review our weekend and see where we can improve for the races to come.”
*Esteban was excluded from the results post-race for a technical infringement."
Sergio Pérez (started P10 - finished P10)
Sergio Pérez
“I made a good start, managed to stay out of trouble and benefited from the chaos around me. We tried to extend the first stint but perhaps we stopped a bit too late.
Our pit-stop wasn’t the best and I ended up in a lot of traffic, which caused me to lose out to Magnussen. I was able to overtake him in turn one as he was leaving the pits, but he passed me on the back straight. I followed him for the rest of the race and although I got close, I ran out of laps to make a move.
I don’t think we would have been able to challenge the Renaults today, but I’m disappointed we lost out to Magnussen.”
*Sergio moved from P10 to P8 following the disqualifications of Ocon and Magnussen."
Kevin Magnussen (started P12 - finished P9)
Kevin Magnussen
“I would say it was a steady race. The car was very good. We had good pace and I was able to put pressure on the Force Indias.
I passed Perez just after the pit stop and I was faster than Ocon, but I had to save so much fuel that I couldn’t afford to attack him.
It’s a shame that we have fuel saving in Formula One and not being able to attack. At the end of the day, what the fans want to see is great racing. We can’t do it because we have to save fuel. It’s disappointing.”
Romain Grosjean (started P8 - DNF)
Romain Grosjean
“I had a decent start. There was a lot of action going on. I was fighting with Charles (Leclerc) and Esteban (Ocon).
I got to turn 12 and I braked early because I was behind them. I didn’t want to take much risk, but I ended up in the dirty air and I couldn’t stop the car. I tried to avoid the contact as much as I could, but Charles was trying to get a good exit and I hit him.
I feel sorry for Charles and I’m frustrated for the team. This being our home race, we wanted to do well. It’s not been a great afternoon.”
Brandon Hartley (started P20 - finished P11)
Brendon Hartley
"Really happy with my performance and race today which was rewarded with two points. I was aggressive when I needed to be and did a good job with tyres, the team gave me good info from the pits and the mechanics did a good pit stop - a team effort!
From last on the grid to P9 was the max we could do today, and I'm happy with the aggression I showed and how the race went. Even if the points haven't come, I have been very strong in all the last races and am very motivated and optimistic for the rest of the season and beyond."
Pierre Gasly (started P19 & P14)
Pierre Gasly
"It was a long and difficult Sunday. Starting from P19 we knew it would be a difficult race. We took some debris after the chaotic first lap and that damaged the floor a bit, after that I was just trying to do everything I could from inside the car, but there was a massive loss of grip for the rest of the race.
We decided for a two stop strategy but there wasn't much we could do today. The pace over one lap in Qualifying was really good so there's positives to take away from the weekend. It's just a shame we couldn't fight properly this time, but I'm really hoping we can carry the pace into Mexico and have a clean Qualifying there to get a good result for the team."
Marcus Ericsson (started P16 - finished P12)
Marcus Ericsson
“It was a decent race for me. It was tough to start on the hardest compound, which made it more difficult to challenge my competitors. However, I was able to move up the field step by step, which was a good effort. Still, the target is to score points, so I am not fully satisfied with the original result, which was P12. Our performance this weekend was solid and I look forward to our next opportunity in Mexico City.”
Charles Leclerc (started P9 - finished DNF)
Charles Leclerc
“It is frustrating to finish the race like this. It was clear that the potential was there to achieve a good result, especially after starting from P9 today.
After the incident on the first lap, the car was just too damaged for us to extract enough performance to allow us to be competitive enough to race properly – even after changing the nose and tyres just after it happened. In the end, I had to retire from the race early, which is a shame.
Our performance was strong this weekend, and we will take that with us to Mexico and build on it.”
Stoffel Vandoorne (started P17 - finished P13)
Stoffel Vandoorne
“In the end today’s result wasn’t too bad, especially under the circumstances. We made a reasonable start with all the carnage that happened around us – we got touched left, right and centre on the first lap which wasn’t ideal.
“We finished 13th, after deciding to go for a two-stop strategy, and pitted under the Virtual Safety Car. A few of the cars around us did a one-stop – it’s hard to say which was best, but we were quick when it mattered, and we beat a couple of cars again.
“In the end, I think it was the maximum possible for us today.”
Fernando Alonso (started P13 - DNF)
Fernando Alonso
“My race today lasted only a few hundred meters.
“There was a lot of action in Turn Four, which was a surprise, because it’s not normal to overtake into that high-speed section. Three cars were trying to overtake each other and a couple of guys around me were very optimistic, misjudging their position and manoeuvres a bit, and the result was that some cars ended up in the wall and one of those was mine.
“It’s always the same story, it just keeps happening. At the start, people are trying to bump everyone else, the same as when you have a rental car! No one does it on purpose, but today they played bowling with my car again, like they did in Spa.
“It’s a shame. We came out here early to prepare for this race and it only lasted a couple of corners.”
Sergey Sirotkin (started P14 - finished P15)
Sergey Sirotkin
"It was a tough race. I had a very good start and gained quite a lot of places. I got some damage on the rear-side of the floor in one of the incidents with a McLaren through the first-lap, but everything was ok whilst we were in dirty air and there was a lot of inconsistency in the things happening around the track.
I had good pace considering the damage and I could keep up with the cars ahead and everything looked good. After the pitstop it just didn’t work. When everyone got into their rhythm and got into their pace we just didn’t have the performance to compete and keep the people behind. The damage on the floor that I had was probably painful for us in clean air when everyone could use their performance a bit more.
I was just basically trying to get to the end without losing too many places which was not the best feeling either. I don’t think we could have done much better."
Lance Stroll (started P15 - finished P16)
Lance Stroll
"It was a terrible day. I had contact with Alonso on the first lap in turn five. I saw a gap and went for it, but I don't think he really saw me and turned in. After that my race was finished as I got the drive through and that was that. I haven't seen the footage, but I think it was a racing incident.
I am just disappointed about the result."
See complete 2018 United States F1 GP Results
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