2013 United States GP: Vettel's record – eight wins in a row in Austin

Sebastian Vettel won the 2013 United States GP at the Circuit of the Americas from pole position and also set the fastest lap. For the Red Bull driver it was an eighth win in a row, something no driver had ever managed within a single season. Behind him, Romain Grosjean in the Lotus F1 and Mark Webber in the second Red Bull crossed the line. The fight for second place was settled as early as the first corner: Grosjean got past Webber there and never gave the position back.

Vettel got away cleanly from first on the grid and kept the lead. Webber started second, but on the dirty side of the track. He made a poor getaway, and both Grosjean and Lewis Hamilton in the Mercedes went round the outside of him before Turn 1. That left the Australian only fourth for the time being. According to Motor Sport, every driver on the dirty inside line struggled at the start.

Further back, Adrian Sutil and Pastor Maldonado touched on the straight. Sutil's Force India slammed into the barrier, and his race was over without a single classified lap (official status: accident). The Safety Car came out, and according to RaceFans racing resumed from lap 5. Maldonado's Williams had a damaged front wing, so the stewards showed him the black flag with the orange disc to bring him into the pits. Esteban Gutiérrez also made contact on the opening lap and had to pit with a puncture. He had only started from 20th anyway because, according to Wikipedia, he had received a ten-place grid penalty for impeding Maldonado in qualifying.

After the restart Vettel immediately pulled away. Motor Sport puts his lead over Grosjean at 2.4 seconds after two laps, 3.8 seconds on lap 10 and 8.3 seconds on lap 20. Hamilton initially defended third place against Webber, but on lap 13 the Red Bull driver got past the Briton. That marked the start of Webber's long pursuit of Grosjean, and it came to nothing.

For a whole season, much at Lotus had revolved around Kimi Räikkönen. The Finn missed Austin due to back surgery, with Heikki Kovalainen driving in his place. That put Grosjean in the role of team leader. Motor Sport described his drive as flawless, and the FIA highlighted how skilfully he defended against Webber with well-judged use of KERS.

According to Motor Sport, almost every driver started on the medium tyres and planned exactly one stop. The leading group stuck to that. Hamilton came in on lap 25, Fernando Alonso on lap 26. Vettel stopped on lap 27, earlier than his closest challengers. By his own account, his medium tyres were already fading in traffic (grandprix.com). Webber followed on lap 28, Grosjean on lap 29, which meant the Lotus driver led laps 28 and 29. From lap 30 Vettel was back in front and never gave up the lead again.

Towards the end Vettel let his advantage shrink a little. According to Motor Sport, he then set the fastest lap of the race in the closing stages, much to the annoyance of his race engineer – a 1:39.856 on lap 54, according to Wikipedia. At the flag he was 6.2 seconds ahead of Grosjean and 8.3 seconds ahead of Webber, according to the FIA.

Behind the podium things got exciting. Nico Hülkenberg had started fourth in the Sauber and ran ahead of Alonso's Ferrari for a long time. Alonso initially lost a place at the start to Sergio Pérez in the McLaren. He got it back with his later pit stop and then passed Hülkenberg as well. The German struck back on the final lap and went past at Turn 1, but because he missed the apex, Alonso countered straight away on the exit. In the end Alonso finished just over two seconds behind Hamilton, who, according to Motor Sport, kept the Ferrari behind him in the closing stages.

Pérez finished seventh. Eighth went to Valtteri Bottas in the Williams – his first points in Formula 1. Nico Rosberg worked his way up from 12th on the grid to ninth. The final point went to Jenson Button: he passed Daniel Ricciardo in the Toro Rosso two laps from the end, despite a front wing endplate damaged in contact on lap one.

Winners:
- Sebastian Vettel: Pole, victory, fastest lap and a new record. According to RaceFans it was his twelfth win of the season.
- Romain Grosjean: He took second place at Turn 1 and defended it all the way to the flag. According to the FIA it was his sixth podium of the season.
- Esteban Gutiérrez: He gained six places, more than anyone else, going from 20th on the grid to 14th at the finish despite a puncture on lap one.
- Jenson Button: From 15th on the grid he finished tenth, five places better.
- Valtteri Bottas: Eighth place brought him his first championship points.

Losers:
- Heikki Kovalainen: He started eighth and only finished 15th, a loss of seven places. According to Motor Sport, he made a poor start and needed an extra stop to change a front wing that had been damaged without any contact. After that his KERS failed too.
- Adrian Sutil: His race was over on the very first lap.
- Paul di Resta: He dropped from 11th on the grid to 16th and, like his teammate, went home without points.

Vettel was already world champion by this point. After Austin he had 372 points, Alonso 227. Hamilton climbed to third with 187 points, displacing Räikkönen (183), with Webber close behind on 181. Heading into the final race in Brazil, Alonso and Hamilton were separated by 40 points, more than the 25 for a win, so second place was secure for Alonso. Among the teams, Red Bull had long since wrapped things up with 553 points. Behind them it was tight: Mercedes (348) were ahead of Ferrari (333) and Lotus (315). You can find the full 2013 standings on our site.

Historically, the record was what mattered most: with eight wins in a row within a single season, Vettel surpassed Michael Schumacher's streak from 2004. It was also his first victory at the United States Grand Prix. In hindsight, according to Wikipedia, it would remain Red Bull's last win at the Circuit of the Americas until 2021.