Kimi Raikkonen keeps Lewis Hamilton waiting for F1 title with US GP victory | sport

The permutations were so varied and the fate of the title so uncertain until the last seconds that even the winner of the US Grand Prix seemed baffled by all this.

"Have you won the championship?" Asked Kimi Räikkönen. Lewis Hamilton while they were waiting to get on the podium. "No," he replied.

Not yet, anyway. For the second year in a row, Hamilton did not seal the drivers' championship in one of his favorite halls. Wanting to beat Sebastian Vettel by eight points, Hamilton's Mercedes finished third Sunday and Vettel re-entered after a difficult start to finish fourth. Although it was a frustrating and unexpected result for Hamilton, who had won five of the previous six GPs here and was looking for his fifth consecutive victory this season, he has at least extended his Vettel advantage by three points to 70, with three events and one maximum of 75 points remaining. The recent form of Vettel suggests that he is capable of winning these three victories.

Still, it was more of a recession than the procession, Hamilton lamenting his team's tire strategy and recognizing the speed of his opponents. Even if this weekend represents a mini-revival for Ferrari, it would not be surprising that, as was the case last year, the fifth title of Hamilton is announced Sunday in Mexico City.

Räikkönen played the role of the chief party pooper: An unlikely candidate to win the race, even though he finished second behind Hamilton and Ferrari, was significantly faster in Texas than in the past. last weeks.

Hamilton arrived in Austin looking for his 10th place in the first row of the season, with six wins in seven races.

The recent pedigree of Räikkönen is less impressive. He was world champion in 2007, rookie year in Hamilton, but 113 races had taken place since his last win – in Australia in 2013 with Lotus. He will be relocating to Sauber for 2019, a change that will not likely improve his chances of getting more podiums. At 39, the Finn is the oldest winner of a grand prize since Nigel Mansell, then 41, in Australia in 1994.

Hamilton was so relaxed that he set a record of track at qualifying on Saturday, which he gave to the Texas-born actor, Matthew McConaughey a hug after getting out of the car. The tires were as crucial as the time.

Räikkönen started with ultra-soft tires, the rest of the top five being super-soft, giving him a better grip that helped him outpace Hamilton at first, as the drivers climbed the straight line before the first corner. 19659002] Vettel amused himself less. The German qualified in second place but started in fifth position as a result of a penalty of three places on the qualifying grid for not having slowed down sufficiently during the race. a red flag session during practice on Friday.

This penalty deprives the spectators of a direct Vettel-Hamilton duel and that seemed to have paved the way for victory for the 33-year-old, who knew that a first-place finish with Vettel third or less would be enough to match Juan Manuel Fangio on five titles. Vettel finished second and fifth or worse was another potential route to triumph.

Either result seemed perfectly conceivable when Vettel collided with Daniel Ricciardo and turned in the first round – his second successive crash with Red Bull after contact with Max Verstappen. a few weeks ago in Suzuka, and yet another example of the gaffes that marked the second half of the Ferrari campaign. While Räikkönen accumulated a lead of a few seconds, Vettel was outside the top 10.

Stressing a chaotic opening with many opportunities to overtake, Verstappen climbed to seventh place after five laps despite retiring 18th. Ricciardo retired when a sudden loss of power forced him to stop, apparently pushing him to fist through a wall of anger.

Vettel spotted the cars in front of him to get back into the blue sky race, which welcomed the change. days of gray drizzle, while Hamilton began to narrow the gap with the leader as the ultra-tender ones dwindled. Coming halfway through the 56 lap lap, Hamilton clearly had the advantage of speed and Räikkönen struggled to hold him back before heading for the pits.

Vettel had the best lap time on lap 36, but was 5th, more than 29 seconds behind Hamilton and needing the Mercedes to refuel after his quick stop on lap 11 during a virtual safety car period. Hamilton did exactly that, his rear tires breaking. He put Raikkonen back in front and left the British 12 seconds behind

Valtteri Bottas let his team-mate pbad, putting Hamilton in third place and holding an exciting final as he chased Verstappen and Räikkenen, constantly gaining on them. Vettel was looking to overtake Bottas.

Hamilton reduced the gap with Verstappen less than a second to three laps from the end. On turn 54, Hamilton accelerated to go from wheel to wheel with Verstappen and for a moment it seemed that the title belonged to him. But then he ran away and the impressive Verstappen recovered second place. Seconds later, Vettel beat Bottas to finish fourth and it was clear that Hamilton's crowning glory would have to wait after an exciting and sometimes bewildering afternoon.