United States – Race: Lewis Hamilton in a suspenseful finish!

F1 returns to the United States after a five-year absence. Sebastian Vettel starts from pole position while his title rival takes advantage of Massa’s drop to climb to 7th on the grid, on the clean side, which is an undeniable advantage at lights out. Notably, except for Button and Rosberg, everyone is starting on medium tires.

Vettel gets a good start but so does Mark Webber, who gets the better of Hamilton while Fernando is already in 4th place. Several drivers go slightly off track in the esses, but there are no incidents in the first corner. Sergio Pérez overtakes Bruno Senna at the stadium entrance, the Mexican driver eager to shine in front of the many supporters who have made the trip. There’s also a great battle between Räikkönen, Schumacher, and Grosjean, who pass and repass each other at every corner. Lewis Hamilton tries to use the DRS to overtake Webber for second place, but the Englishman goes slightly wide at the end of the straight, and the Red Bull stays ahead. On the next attempt, Lewis Hamilton tries again successfully and can launch his assault on Sebastian Vettel, who is just 2 seconds ahead.

Michael Schumacher is already struggling with his tires. After being overtaken by both Lotus cars, it’s Hülkenberg who gets the better of his compatriot, while Massa, in 10th, also appears very threatening. He’s not the only one because the Mercedes is effectively acting as a bottleneck and has a small train stuck to its exhausts. In this small train is Romain Grosjean, who makes a mistake by entering the last corner of the circuit far too quickly.

Meanwhile, Vettel and Hamilton are playing I am the fastest, oh no it’s you, taking turns to set the fastest lap in the race, while Schumacher continues to drop down the order, with Bruno Senna passing him and entering the Top 10. After 10 laps, the gap between the two leaders is 1.6 seconds. Hamilton clocks a lap in 1:43.279 and charges like a bullet towards the world championship leader.

In the first corner, Jenson Button passes Schumacher who tries to resist but without success. Further on, Grosjean enters the pits to fit hard tires, probably to go to the end of the Grand Prix.

Kimi Räikkönen tries to shake off Nico Hülkenberg for several laps and eventually passes in the esses. Iceman is 5th at that moment.

On the 15th lap, Hamilton is less than a second behind Vettel and can use the DRS to try to take the lead in this United States Grand Prix. It is also on the 15th lap that the first retirement of this Sunday occurs with Vergne, in a duel with the two Mercedes, touching Schumacher and being forced to park his Toro Rosso at the side of the track. The Frenchman is joined at the Texan scrapheap by Mark Webber – who was experiencing KERS issues – a few laps later, placing Fernando Alonso in a provisional 3rd position ahead of Räikkönen.

On lap 18, Hülkenberg returns to the pits and switches to hard tires, marking the beginning of the round of stops. Lewis Hamilton follows suit on lap 20, as he was starting to lose a bit of ground to Vettel. Alonso also comes in and loses some time in the maneuver due to the right rear wheel needing extra force. On lap 21, Vettel changes his tires without any issues for the German. Alonso, on the other hand, is clearly struggling with his hard tires and is under threat from Button, who is also on hard tires but with more wear than those on the Ferrari. The Englishman passes the title contender in the DRS zone.

At the front, the other McLaren takes advantage of the DRS to pass Räikkönen, who is still on medium tires as we are in the 25th lap. Iceman comes back into the pits, but, like Alonso, it’s not a perfect pitstop and he consequently comes out behind the Spaniard. The Finn also gets passed by Massa during the pit stops, but the Brazilian returns to the track behind his team leader. Like Alonso, the second Ferrari driver is struggling with his hard tires and is quickly overtaken by Ricciardo, still on mediums.

At the front, Vettel and Hamilton continue to battle with better lap times while overtaking slower cars. We are in the 34th lap, and the two men are separated by 1.4 seconds. The Englishman is in the exhaust of the RB8 at the start of the next lap. Vitaly Petrov steps aside to avoid hindering the contenders for victory.

On the 36th lap, Button is the last to go through the pit lane and puts on medium tires, placing Alonso on the podium. Massa also climbs up the ranks by overtaking Kimi Räikkönen at the exit of the first corner.

Schumacher, who started from 5th position, returns to the pits and is lapped by Vettel and Hamilton. The Englishman is very close to the German but fails to pass at the end of the long straight despite the DRS. On the following lap, the McLaren takes advantage of the activation of the rear wing to take the lead as Vettel complains of being hindered by a backmarker. Hamilton leads, ahead of Vettel and Alonso. The Spanish driver is then more than 30 seconds from the front of the race.

Räikkönen and Button also engage in a great battle, with the provisional advantage going to the Lotus driver, who must let the McLaren pass 10 laps before the checkered flag. This is the moment Alonso chooses to increase the pace and set the fastest time: 1:41.618.

There are seven laps to go and Vettel slightly reduces the gap with Hamilton, who has just over a second lead, but we know that top speed is not the strength of the machine designed by Adrian Newey. The end of the race is likely to be lively for the last points with the two Williams and Hülkenberg’s Force India. Similarly between the two Lotus cars, which are close to each other.

With 4 laps to go in this race, Maldonado dives into the first corner to pass his teammate and take ninth position.

Just two laps to go for Hamilton, who improves the fastest lap of the Grand Prix with a time of 1:39.913, 38 seconds ahead of Alonso, who is in third place. The English driver improves on the next lap before claiming victory. He wins the United States Grand Prix for the second consecutive time. Vettel – who secures the fastest lap in 1:39.347 – and Alonso complete the podium. The gap between the two men is 13 points, and the 2012 world title will be decided at Interlagos next weekend. On the constructors’ side, Red Bull is crowned the constructors’ champion. The team achieves a triple after their 2010 and 2011 wins.

2012 United States Grand Prix Results: