Lewis Hamilton has won the Formula One World Championship for the sixth time. The Mercedes driver finished second at the US Grand Prix, enough for the third world title in series. Rider Valtteri Bottas won the race in Austin, but can no longer catch up with his teammate in the drivers' championship in the remaining two races. Third was Red Bull driver Max Verstappen.
Hamilton is now missing only a world title for the record of Michael Schumacher, who was world champion seven times. Mercedes had secured the title as the best designer in the middle of October at the race in Japan.
Hamilton started the race after a poor qualifying from fifth place, but overtook the two Ferrari drivers Charles Leclerc and Sebastian Vettel after the start. The German had major technical problems with his car at the beginning, in the first laps he dropped from second to seventh place. Bottas led the race after the start against Verstappen and Hamilton.
In the eighth round, the suspension of the right rear tire of Vettel Ferrari broke. The former world champion had to park his car and give up prematurely. At first, the exact cause of the damage was unclear.
For the first time Hamilton took on the lead in the 16th round, before Verstappen and Bottas were driven into the pits. The Finn came back on the track behind Leclerc, but overtook the Monegasque shortly thereafter and took second place. As Leclerc made his first pit stop, Verstappen moved back to third place. As the last of the top riders Hamilton had his tires change in the 25th lap, falling back to third behind Bottas and Verstappen.
In the second half of the race, only pit stops ensured movement at the top. Verstappen and Bottas changed the tires, so took over in the 36th Round Hamilton again the top position. The World Champion did not pit for the second time and tried to finish his lead. But four laps from the end, he was overtaken by Bottas.