2016 F1 Round 18 United States GP Race, Hamilton Wins as Verstappen Retires

The United States Grand Prix ran for 56 laps in Austin. Hamilton led after starting from pole, while Ricciardo passed Rosberg at the first corner to take second, leaving the German Mercedes driver third.

Archive image from the 2016 United States Grand Prix podium

Ricciardo pursued Hamilton on the softer tyres in the opening laps and stopped early on lap eight to switch to softs. Rosberg pitted on lap ten and Hamilton on lap eleven, with medium and soft tyres used for the next stints.

Ricciardo remained in the podium positions, with Verstappen also running near the front early on. Both Red Bulls had an opportunity to score more points until car trouble intervened in the second half of the race.

After hearing the team tell him to “push hard”, Verstappen mistakenly thought he was being called into the pits. He entered the pit lane only to find that the team was not ready for a stop. He admitted afterwards that the mistake was his. His car subsequently retired with a gearbox failure.

Hamilton won the race to claim the 50th victory of his Formula 1 career. Rosberg finished second and Ricciardo third, while Mercedes retained the lead in the constructors’ standings.

Vettel finished fourth and Alonso fifth. Both McLarens made the top ten, with Sainz sixth, Massa seventh and Pérez eighth as several midfield teams scored points.

Verstappen, Räikkönen, Gutiérrez and Hülkenberg failed to finish. Grosjean took tenth to score points for Haas at its home race. Magnussen finished 12th and Nasr 15th, with all three completing the race.

Hamilton took his seventh win of the season in the United States to maintain the pressure on Rosberg. The title remained undecided, with the two Mercedes drivers set to continue their points battle at the next round in Mexico.