The second grand prix of the year held in the United States of America was certainly the more memorable of the two, with the thousands of fans in the grandstands treated to a late battle for the win between Lewis Hamilton and Max Verstappen.
In a race that saw a plethora of penalties and even a protest upheld after the chequered flag, there were some outstanding performances through the field – particularly from the four world champions on the grid.
Here are RaceFans’ driver ratings for the United States Grand Prix.
Lewis Hamilton – 7
Qualified: 5th (+1 place ahead of team mate)
-0.041s quicker than team mate in Q3
Started: 3rd (+1 place ahead of team mate)
Finished: 2nd (+3 places ahead of team mate)
- Ahead of team mate in every session
- Disappointed to qualify only fifth but was moved up to third after penalties for Leclerc and Perez
- Decent start saw him gain second after his team mate spun Sainz
- Kept within reasonable touch of Verstappen before pitting for hards on lap 12
- Restarted second and kept Verstappen within two seconds ahead before pitting for hards again on lap 34
- Gained a place over Verstappen after his pit stop problems before catching up to the back of Vettel
- Overtook Vettel to move into the lead, then pushed to try and keep gap over Verstappen
- Eventually caught by Verstappen and lost lead into turn 12 with seven laps remaining
- Received black-and-white warning flag for breaching track limits three times
- Finished second, just over five seconds behind the winner
George Russell – 5
Qualified: 6th (-1 place behind team mate)
+0.041s slower than team mate in Q3
Started: 4th (-1 place behind team mate)
Finished: 5th (-3 places behind team mate)
- Behind team mate in every session
- Qualified sixth, less than a tenth behind team mate, but gained two places with Leclerc and Perez’s penalties
- Got equally good start to team mate but clumsily barged into Sainz at turn one, putting him out and earning a five second penalty
- Lost ‘two turns’ worth of downforce from collision but continued in fourth, passing Stroll for third on lap five
- Served his penalty at first stop, losing a place to Perez, then lost fifth to Leclerc under Safety Car
- Ran fifth after restarts, pitting again for hards on lap 36
- Continued to circulate in fifth, losing around half a second a lap to team mate out front
- Pitted for soft tyres on the penultimate lap to attempt fastest lap
- Finished fifth, successfully capturing the fastest lap on the final tour
Click Here to Read the Full Original Article at RaceFans…