The 2018 United States Grand Prix (officially known as the Formula 1 Pirelli 2018 United States Grand Prix) was a Formula One motor race held on October 21, 2018, at the Circuit of the Americas in Austin, Texas, United States. The race was the 18th round of the 2018 Formula One World Championship and marked the 48th running of the United States Grand Prix, the 40th time that the race run as a World Championship event since the inaugural season in 1950, and the 7th time that a World Championship round was held at the Circuit of the Americas in Austin, Texas.
| 2018 United States Grand Prix | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Race 18 of 21 in the 2018 Formula One World Championship
| |||||
 Layout of the Circuit of the Americas | |||||
| Race details[1] | |||||
| Date | October 21, 2018 | ||||
| Official name | Formula 1 Pirelli 2018 United States Grand Prix | ||||
| Location | Circuit of the Americas, Austin, Texas, United States | ||||
| Course | Permanent racing facility | ||||
| Course length | 5.513 km (3.426 miles) | ||||
| Distance | 56 laps, 308.405 km (191.634 miles) | ||||
| Weather | Partly cloudy | ||||
| Pole position | |||||
| Driver | Mercedes | ||||
| Time | 1:32.237 | ||||
| Fastest lap | |||||
| Driver |  Lewis Hamilton | Mercedes | |||
| Time | 1:37.392 on lap 40 | ||||
| Podium | |||||
| First | Ferrari | ||||
| Second | Red Bull Racing-TAG Heuer | ||||
| Third | Mercedes | ||||
Lap leaders | |||||
The race was won by Kimi Räikkönen, who made a one-stop strategy work, achieving his first Grand Prix win since the 2013 Australian Grand Prix, breaking a record-setting 113-race winless streak. It was also his first for Ferrari since the 2009 Belgian Grand Prix and the first time that Ferrari had won at the Circuit of the Americas as well as the team's first win in America since 2006. This would also turn out to be the final victory of Räikkönen's F1 career.
Background
Championship standings before the race
Mercedes driver Lewis Hamilton entered the round with a 67-point lead over Ferrari's Sebastian Vettel in the World Drivers' Championship. Hamilton's team-mate, Valtteri Bottas, sat third, a further 57 points behind. In the World Constructors' Championship, Mercedes held a lead of 78 points over Ferrari, with Red Bull Racing a further 141 points behind in third place.
Entrants
Lando Norris and Sean Gelael drove in the first practice session instead of Stoffel Vandoorne and Brendon Hartley for McLaren and Toro Rosso respectively. Nicholas Latifi was supposed to drive in the same session in place of Esteban Ocon at Force India, but this was reversed ahead of the session.[2][3]
Tyre choices
Tyre supplier Pirelli selected the soft, supersoft and ultrasoft tyres for the Grand Prix weekend.[4]
Qualifying
- Notes
- ^1 – Sebastian Vettel received a three-place grid penalty for failing to slow sufficiently during a red flag period in Free Practice 1.[6]
- ^2 – Pierre Gasly received a 35-place grid penalty for exceeding his quota of power unit elements.[7]
- ^3 – Brendon Hartley received a 40-place grid penalty: 35 places for exceeding his quota of power unit elements and 5 places for an unscheduled gearbox change.[7]
- ^4 – Max Verstappen received a five-place grid penalty for an unscheduled gearbox change.[8]
Race
Kimi Räikkönen won the race from second as Mercedes struggled with pace, pulling off a one-stop strategy having beaten polesitter Lewis Hamilton off the line, with Hamilton finishing third, beaten to second by Max Verstappen. Sebastian Vettel made an error at the start, spinning while battling with Daniel Ricciardo, eventually fighting back to finish fourth. Hamilton lost time when the Mercedes pit crew waited too long before bringing him in for his second pit stop.[9]
Race classification
| Pos. | No. | Driver | Constructor | Laps | Time/Retired | Grid | Points |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 7 |  Kimi Räikkönen | Ferrari | 56 | 1:34:18.643 | 2 | 25 |
| 2 | 33 |  Max Verstappen | Red Bull Racing-TAG Heuer | 56 | +1.281 | 18 | 18 |
| 3 | 44 | Lewis Hamilton | Mercedes | 56 | +2.342 | 1 | 15 |
| 4 | 5 |  Sebastian Vettel | Ferrari | 56 | +18.222 | 5 | 12 |
| 5 | 77 | Valtteri Bottas | Mercedes | 56 | +24.744 | 3 | 10 |
| 6 | 27 | Nico Hülkenberg | Renault | 56 | +1:27.210 | 7 | 8 |
| 7 | 55 |  Carlos Sainz Jr. | Renault | 56 | +1:34.994 | 11 | 6 |
| 8 | 11 |  Sergio Pérez | Force India-Mercedes | 56 | +1:41.080 | 10 | 4 |
| 9 | 28 |  Brendon Hartley | Scuderia Toro Rosso-Honda | 55 | +1 lap | 20 | 2 |
| 10 | 9 |  Marcus Ericsson | Sauber-Ferrari | 55 | +1 lap | 16 | 1 |
| 11 | 2 |  Stoffel Vandoorne | McLaren-Renault | 55 | +1 lap | 17 | |
| 12 | 10 |  Pierre Gasly | Scuderia Toro Rosso-Honda | 55 | +1 lap | 19 | |
| 13 | 35 |  Sergey Sirotkin | Williams-Mercedes | 55 | +1 lap | 14 | |
| 14 | 18 |  Lance Stroll | Williams-Mercedes | 54 | +2 laps | 15 | |
| Ret | 16 |  Charles Leclerc | Sauber-Ferrari | 31 | Collision damage | 9 | |
| Ret | 3 |  Daniel Ricciardo | Red Bull Racing-TAG Heuer | 8 | Battery | 4 | |
| Ret | 8 | Romain Grosjean | Haas-Ferrari | 2 | Collision | 8 | |
| Ret | 14 | Fernando Alonso | McLaren-Renault | 1 | Collision | 13 | |
| DSQ | 31 | Esteban Ocon | Force India-Mercedes | 56 | Fuel1 | 6 | |
| DSQ | 20 |  Kevin Magnussen | Haas-Ferrari | 56 | Fuel2 | 12 | |
| Source:[10] | |||||||
- Notes
- ^1 – Esteban Ocon originally finished eighth, but was disqualified for exceeding fuel flow limits on lap 1.[11]
- ^2 – Kevin Magnussen originally finished ninth, but was disqualified for consuming more than 105 kg of fuel during the race.[12]
Championship standings after the race
- Constructors' Championship standings
| Pos. | Constructor | Points | |
|---|---|---|---|
 | 1 | Mercedes* | 563 |
| | 2 |  Ferrari* | 497 |
| | 3 |  Red Bull Racing-TAG Heuer | 337 |
| | 4 | Renault | 106 |
| | 5 |  Haas-Ferrari | 84 |
| Source:[13] | |||
- Note: Only the top five positions are included for both sets of standings.
- Bold text and an asterisk indicates competitors who still had a theoretical chance of becoming World Champion.