Hamilton makes decisive pass on Rosberg to win in Austin solidifying Championship lead, Nico clings to hope with 2nd place; Ricciardo a solid 3rd for Red Bull

In a typically exciting Grand Prix at the beautiful and demanding Circuit of the Americas in Austin, Texas, Mercedes driver Lewis Hamilton again found a way past Nico Rosberg, his teammate and nearest rival for the Championship, going on to claim victory in the United States for the second time in the last three years of the reborn race. Despite the fact that Rosberg started from Pole and led the race handily for the first 23 laps, it somehow seemed inevitable that the daring Englishman would overtake his German foe. And with an impressive outbreaking maneuver into Turn 12 on lap 24, overtake him he did. With that pass, Hamilton sailed away into the distance never to be recaptured and with the victory stretched his points lead to 24 over Rosberg with only two races remaining in the season. Six years after winning his first Championship with McLaren at the age of 23 Hamilton looks very likely to grab his second at the wheel of his nonpareil Mercedes F1 W05 Hybrid. But by coming home second Rosberg is still mathematically alive for the last two races, especially with the last race double points gimmick, so if Hamilton has a recurrence of the bad luck that befell him midseason and has a sub par finish or retirement in Brazil or Abu Dhabi, the German contender could still find himself able to secure his first Championship. One thing is for certain, though: with Hamilton’s late season surge leading to a stunning five Grand Prix wins in a row Rosberg has no room for error or misfortune himself if he is to achieve the dream which once seemed so very close to his grasp.

As it has so often happened this season the rest of the field was left fighting for the scraps from King Mercedes’ table. But what fights they were. After a poor start cost him several positions, Aussie Daniel Ricciardo was able to claw them back and then some with a typically determined and gutsy effort for Red Bull. In the end he improved on his fifth place Qualifying position and kept two charging Williams behind him to grab 3rd, yet another podium finish for the young Aussie superstar who has had a breakout 2014. Ricciardo’s teammate Sebastian Vettel, who started the race from the pit lane due to exceeding this season’s engine replacement limit, also drove a wonderful race. With his RB10 trimmed out to the max sacrificing agility for the best possible straight-line speed, the four-time World Champion was still able to control his car in the pivotal esses well enough to finish 7th, even after being forced to pit off-strategy for extra tires early in the race after running over debris. While the outgoing Red Bull driver has had a massively disappointing season his inspired drive at COTA on Sunday reminds us all of what kind of talent the German possesses even if his current car does not suit him at all.

Williams had another good day even though their chassis lacked the finesse required to truly excel at COTA. Felipe Massa started from 4th on the grid and finished in the same position and it was only a poor pit stop that cost him a chance to really hunt down Ricciardo for that last podium step. His teammate Valtteri Bottas, who has generally outperformed the veteran Brazilian this year, had a bit of an off day with a poor launch at the start and trouble managing his tires. The up-and-coming young Finn still managed to finish 5th, making it another splendid points haul for the resurgent Williams team. Ferrari’s mysteriously soon-to-be-former ace Fernando Alonso did his usual excellent work with the underperforming F14 T chassis to claim P6. But teammate Kimi Raikkonen had another Sunday to forget after getting belted from behind by Force India’s Sergio Perez on the opening lap, which compromised his downforce and saw his car come home an uncompetitive 13th. In that first lap shunt, Perez then bounced off the Ferrari and collided with Adrian Sutil’s Sauber, damaging both cars beyond repair. So despite Sutil starting from 10th, the abrupt DNF ruined any chance for struggling Sauber to grab its first points of the season and Perez was hit with a 7-place grid spot penalty for Brazil for his reckless move. With Caterham and Marussia no longer competing Sauber is desperate to overhaul idle Marussia for the massively lucrative 9th spot in the Constructor’s Championship. But time is running out and their luck seems to be, as well.

Rounding out the Top 10 were McLaren’s Kevin Magnussen who drove a solid race to finish 8th, once again besting his veteran teammate Jenson Button (P12); Lotus’ Pastor Maldonado, who easily had his best race (and only points) of the year to take 9th after Qualifying 11th; and Jean-Eric Vergne was P10 despite a post-race time penalty for contact with Lotus’ Romain Grosjean, making yet another strong case as to why he should stay at Scuderia Toro Rosso next season to mentor the incoming 17-year-old phenom Max Verstappen in his rookie season.

Top 10 finishers and times here:

Complete race results at Formula1.com.

With a quick turnaround for the teams, the next race weekend begins this Friday and the race from Brazil is on Sunday November 9th. Only two more chances to catch F1 action this year and there’s still all to play for in the penultimate Grand Prix–hope to see you then!