Sebastian Vettel started his F1 career halfway through 2007, starting five races after the last United States Grand Prix. This Sunday, the 25-year-old driver started his 100th F1 race, and his first U.S. Grand Prix.
Stakes were high—the Red Bull Racing driver hoped to clinch his third consecutive World Drivers’ Championship, and also the third consecutive Constructor’s’ title for Red Bull.
McLaren’s Lewis Hamilton won the 2007 United States Formula One Grand Prix; he came to Circuit of the Americas in Austin, Texas hoping to repeat in the 2012 version. He also wanted one more win with the team which had nurtured him since he was a teenager—a team he would be leaving at the end of the year.
Fernando Alonso was second to Hamilton at the 2007 U.S. Grand Prix. The Ferrari driver needed to finish about as well at Texas to keep from being eliminated from contention for his third drivers’ title.
Each of these drivers succeeded, at least in part.
Lewis Hamilton, in his second-to-last race with McLaren, won his second United States Grand Prix, overtaking Sebastian Vettel with 14 laps left in the race and holding on to a half-second lead to the finish. Hamilton almost overtook his Red Bull rival in the first third of the race, but Vettel’s softer touch kept his tires alive longer.
The McLaren pilot came back after his pit stop, chased down his nemesis, got just close enough when Vettel slowed in traffic for Hamilton to use his Drag Reduction System to seize the lead.
“The backmarkers really came into play today—and, finally, they worked in my favor,” Hamilton said in a press statement. “I’ve often been caught out when I’ve been trying to get through traffic, but things finally went my way today.
“When Seb [Vettel] was delayed by a backmarker, I knew I had to grab my chance, so I turned the engine up to maximum revs and pushed like crazy. Along the back-straight I went to the outside, but Seb closed the door, so I moved to the inside, and he came back towards me. I was very lucky. It was very close.”
“To overtake both Red Bulls in the race was the coolest thing for me.
“It’s a brilliant feeling to be finishing the season on a high. Hopefully, we‘ll go to Brazil next week with the same level of performance—I’d love to win my final two races for Vodafone McLaren Mercedes.”
Vettel finished second. He didn’t clinch the championship—he leads Alonso by 13 points—but he did bring home the Constructors’ title for Red Bull.
Ferrari usually does well at Brazil’s Autodromo Carlos Pace, but Red Bull has been running well at every track for the past half-dozen races. Vettel didn’t get the win or clinch the title, but he is still the prohibitive favorite.
If his car finishes the race, that is. Vettel has only retired once with mechanical woes in 2012, but teammate mark Webber has not been so lucky. At Texas he retired with the same alternator troubles which have stricken the squad a few times earlier this season. Can Vettel’s luck last through one more race?
Fernando Alonso qualified eighth but started seventh due to Ferrari gaming the rules—the team snipped the seal off his teammate Felipe Massa’s gearbox, which cost Massa a five-lap penalty but allowed Alonso to start on the clean side of the track.
Alonso made the most of the advantage, advancing to fourth on the start and finishing third, keeping his title chances alive until the last race of the season.
The season’s finale, the 2012 Formula One Grande Prêmio Petrobras do Brasil, will decide the championship—either Alonso or Vettel will become a three-time champion. Hamilton is out of the points but hungry for a final win with McLaren. The race promises to be intense.
Tickets are available through the official Formula One website.
