United States GP 2015: Rosberg's error makes Hamilton world champion

Lewis Hamilton won the 2015 United States GP at the Circuit of the Americas ahead of his Mercedes team-mate Nico Rosberg and Sebastian Vettel in the Ferrari. The winner wasn't settled until lap 48: Rosberg was leading, ran off the track and let Hamilton through. With this win Hamilton sealed his third world title with three races of the season still to go.

The weather shaped the weekend before the race had even started. Heavy rain forced Saturday's qualifying to be cancelled and pushed back to Sunday morning. Even then, the rain was so heavy at the end of Q2 that Race Control called off Q3. The Q2 times therefore set the starting grid.

That put Rosberg on pole position with Hamilton alongside. Behind them were the two Red Bull cars of Daniel Ricciardo and Daniil Kvyat. Vettel and Kimi Räikkönen each received a ten-place grid penalty and so started only 13th and 18th. Carlos Sainz crashed his Toro Rosso at Turn 4 in the first part of qualifying. He failed to set a time within the 107 per cent limit, but the stewards allowed him to start. He lined up 20th. Valtteri Bottas was handed a five-place grid penalty after qualifying for a gearbox change and so started only 16th.

The race started on a wet, slowly drying track, with every driver on intermediates. Hamilton got the better launch, went into the first corner alongside Rosberg and, after wheel-to-wheel contact, forced him wide. Rosberg later called the move “very, very aggressive” (source 5). He even dropped behind both Red Bulls.

Further back there was carnage at the first corner. Felipe Massa in the Williams and Fernando Alonso in the McLaren tangled, and the two Sauber cars collided, costing Felipe Nasr his front wing. Alonso, Bottas, Romain Grosjean (Lotus F1) and Alexander Rossi all had to pit after the opening lap. Those starting further back made the most of the chaos: according to the FIA, Vettel was already seventh after the first lap, Räikkönen tenth and Sainz eleventh.

Debris on the track brought out the Virtual Safety Car on lap 5. Afterwards Rosberg won back his places from Ricciardo and Kvyat. But Ricciardo grew more and more comfortable on the intermediates, passed Rosberg again and took the lead from Hamilton from lap 15.

As the track dried, Hamilton was the first of the leading group to pit for dry tyres, on lap 18. Rosberg, Ricciardo and Kvyat followed a lap later. From lap 22 Rosberg led and pulled away on the soft tyres. Hamilton overtook Ricciardo to move up to second.

Räikkönen's race, by contrast, went wrong. He ran off at the Esses, hit the barrier and so had to pit again straight after his stop on lap 19. He parked the Ferrari after 25 laps. The official reason was a broken brake duct. According to the FIA, the impact at the front right had caused damage and overheating brakes. Marcus Ericsson stopped on track in his Sauber after a loss of power, triggering the first full Safety Car. Rosberg and Hamilton stayed out. Vettel made his second stop on lap 27 and took medium tyres.

It paid off. After the restart Vettel passed first Kvyat and then, a lap later, Ricciardo. Max Verstappen also got past Ricciardo. Nico Hülkenberg in the Force India tried to pass Ricciardo on the inside at Turn 12, lost control and collided with the Red Bull. Hülkenberg's race was over after 35 laps, while Ricciardo carried on with damage. Rosberg made his second stop on lap 38. That handed the lead to Hamilton, who had stopped only once up to that point, while Rosberg worked his way past Vettel back into second place.

Then another Safety Car changed everything. Kvyat lost his Red Bull at Turn 20 and crashed, ending his race after 41 classified laps. Hamilton and Vettel used the neutralisation on lap 43 for an almost free stop, with Hamilton taking fresh soft tyres. From lap 44 Rosberg led again, but according to the FIA his tyres were five laps older than Hamilton's. After the restart Vettel passed Verstappen to move up to third.

The race was decided on lap 48. Rosberg ran off the racing line while accelerating out of a corner, and Hamilton was through in an instant. Rosberg later put the mistake down to sudden wheelspin at the rear. According to Wikipedia, he also blamed a gust of wind. He still set the fastest lap of the race, but according to the FIA crossed the line 2.850 seconds behind Hamilton. Vettel tried to attack Rosberg in the closing stages but couldn't get past.

After the race Rosberg's frustration was plain to see. In the cool-down room Hamilton tossed him a cap, and Rosberg threw it back. He later described it as their usual games (source 5).

Sainz made up the most places. He went from 20th to 7th, gaining 13 positions despite a five-second time penalty for speeding in the pit lane. Vettel climbed from 13th to the podium, gaining 10 places. Verstappen went from 8th to 4th, equalling his best result of the season. Jenson Button went from 11th on the grid to 6th, his best result of the year. The remaining points went to Sergio Pérez in fifth, Pastor Maldonado, Nasr and Ricciardo. After his collision with Hülkenberg, Ricciardo needed a third stop and only finished tenth. Alonso was eleventh. Rossi finished 12th in his home race for Manor Marussia.

Only twelve cars made it to the finish. The retirements at a glance:

• Will Stevens (Manor Marussia), after 1 lap: according to Wikipedia, collision damage after being hit from behind by team-mate Rossi
• Bottas (Williams), after 5 laps: according to Wikipedia, damper damage as a result of the contact at Turn 1
• Grosjean (Lotus F1), after 10 laps: according to Wikipedia, brake problems
• Massa (Williams), after 23 laps: according to Wikipedia, suspension damage
• Räikkönen (Ferrari) and Ericsson (Sauber), both after 25 laps: brake duct and loss of power respectively
• Hülkenberg (Force India), after 35 laps: collision with Ricciardo
• Kvyat (Red Bull), after 41 laps: crash

Measured against their grid positions, the biggest losers were therefore Massa, down 10 places, and Kvyat, down 9. Neither Williams made it to the finish.

In the 2015 standings Hamilton led after the race with 327 points. Vettel had 251 points, Rosberg 247. That gave Hamilton a 76-point lead. With a maximum of 75 points still up for grabs in the three remaining races in Mexico, Brazil and Abu Dhabi, the title was decided. Verstappen moved up to 10th in the championship with 45 points. In the constructors' standings Mercedes were well clear on 574 points, ahead of Ferrari on 374 and Williams on 220.

With his third title Hamilton drew level with Jackie Stewart, who held the British record, and with his idol Ayrton Senna. He also became the first Briton to win two titles in a row. For Rosberg, by contrast, the afternoon in Austin was a bitter one: he had taken pole, led twice and lost the race through his own mistake.