Räikkönen wins in Texas, title postponed

Kimi Räikkönen ended a drought of 113 races without victories by winning with his Ferrari in Texas in Austin in front Max Verstappen (Red Bull) and Lewis Hamilton (Mercedes), who will have to wait before claiming a fifth world crown.

The start saw Räikkönen take the best start when the lights went out against Hamilton, while Sebastian Vettel is the big loser of the first hectometers of the race.

The Ferrari driver lost big on the first lap when he made a mistake while attacking on Daniel Ricciardo (Red Bull) at turn 13. In a spin, the four-time world champion let a number of cars pass to start 15th and launch into a frantic chase.

A first round which also leaves several victims with Fernando Alonso (McLaren), hit by Lance stroll (Williams) in the first sector, as well as Romain Grosjean (Haas), involved for his part in a clash with Charles Leclerc (Alfa Romeo Sauber).

The French driver from the American team returned to the pits but had to retire a few moments later.

In the lead, Kimi Räikkönen and Lewis Hamilton began a duel at a distance, with the Finn initially widening the gap. However, the scenario changed when the Virtual Safety Car was implemented, following the retirement of Daniel Ricciardo (Red Bull) due to a mechanical breakdown.

If Hamilton takes the opportunity to return to the pits, after having also slightly regained ground on the leading Ferrari under VSC, Räikkönen continues his effort. Hamilton emerges in third position behind Valtteri Bottas. The Finn does not take long to give way to his leader who begins his comeback on the 2007 world champion, thanks to fresher tires.

Hamilton misses his chance, Vettel pushes back the deadline

At the rate of more than a second per lap at the start of the second stint, Hamilton came back on Räikkönen, but could not overtake the Finn regularly despite a few attempts. The Briton finally regained the lead of the race at the end of the 21st lap, when Kimi Räikkönen dived into the pit lane to swap his hyper-soft tires for soft tires.

With a clear track, Hamilton tried to maintain the pace, but blisters began to appear on the rear tires of the No. 09 W44. With Räikkönen galloping back, and to get ahead of his rival for the title Sebastian Vettel, the Briton could not continue beyond the 37th lap and observed a second stop.

Starting fourth ahead of Vettel, Hamilton, quickly rid of Bottas, will gradually return to the Räikkönen – Verstappen tandem, the latter having superbly come back from the back of the grid after his penalty for changing the gearbox.

It is a trio which therefore faces each other for victory in the last ten laps, only separated by 2″5. In the hierarchy then present on the track, Hamilton must pass Verstappen to ensure the title when Vettel must not pass Bottas.

Hamilton shoots first and finally tries his luck on lap 54. Following a small error from Verstappen after braking on the long straight, the Briton came close to the RB14 in the triple straight, but had to give in and went wide, letting the Dutchman slip away.

No regrets in any case for Hamilton, since Vettel overtakes Bottas a few moments later at the end of the straight.

Räikkönen took the checkered flag, his first success since Australia 2013 and his first with Ferrari since Belgium 2009. Verstappen and Hamilton completed the podium, the latter having to wait at least until Mexico to be crowned.

Sebastian Vettel (Ferrari) finished 4th ahead of Valtteri Bottas (Mercedes), while both Renault de Nico Hulkenberg et Carlos Sainz score big points in the Manufacturers' ranking. Esteban Ocon (Racing Point Force India), Kevin Magnussen (Haas) and Sergio Pérez (Racing Point Force India) enter the top 10.

Pierre Gasly (Toro Rosso) finished 14th, while Charles Leclerc was forced to retire.

Discover the full report and analysis of the United States Grand Prix, produced by our special correspondents in Austin, in issue 2188 of AUTOhebdo, available tomorrow evening in digital version, and from this Wednesday on newsstands.