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The United States Grand Prix is the eighteenth round of the 2018 Formula One Championship that will take place at the Circuit of the Americas. Lewis Hamilton’s one hand is on the title for he leads Sebastian Vettel by 67 points. A slew of slip-ups from the Prancing Horse this season allowed the Briton to be in the pole position to clinch the title four races prior to the end of the season.
A victory for Hamilton with Vettel finishing third or lower would clinch the title for the Briton. With such odds, Ferrari must be at their very best to keep the title hunt still alive.
The Italian manufacturer certainly did that with a stellar qualifying performance that put them on par with the Silver Arrows. A strong performance by Ferrari in the race is the only thing keeping Hamilton away from the championship.
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Without further ado, let us look closer at the five things that might happen in the all-important race at the Circuit of the Americas.
#5 Another top-10 finish for Charles Leclerc
Charles Leclerc has shown decent pace since the Singapore Grand Prix. The future Ferrari driver secured top-10 finishes at both the Marina Bay Street Circuit and at the Sochi Autodrom. However, his good run of form was halted at the Japanese Grand Prix and would be hoping to turn that around at the United States Grand Prix.
The 21-year-old Monegasque driver had a very good qualifying session that saw him finish in the ninth spot, a place higher than Force India’s Sergio Perez and Renault’s Carlos Sainz.
Leclerc has managed to show good race pace in the past and with only a couple of races left in his Sauber contract, the young driver from Monaco would be hoping to return to the top-10 after missing out at the Japanese Grand Prix due to a retirement.
His teammate, Marcus Ericsson, endured a disappointing qualifying session and will start the race from the seventeenth place. Him finishing on points at the Circuit of the Americas is extremely unlikely.
#4 A strong show by Esteban Ocon
Esteban Ocon had a stunning qualifying session that saw him finish in the sixth place, just 0.7 seconds behind Red Bull’s Daniel Ricciardo.
The 22-year-old French driver managed to secure a top-10 place in all but one race in the last five Grand Prix. The collision between the teammates at the Singapore Grand Prix was the only occasion in the last five races where the Frenchman failed to put some points on the board.
Esteban Ocon doesn’t have a seat for 2019 yet. With Williams interested in him, the Frenchman must pull out his best in the remaining races of the 2018 Formula One season, and one might expect his third consecutive top-10 finish at the Circuit of the Americas.
Force India’s other driver Sergio Perez will start the race from the tenth place, and he too might feature on the points table at the end of the Grand Prix.
#3 Max Verstappen fights back
Damage to the car after Max Verstappen’s run-in with the kerb during Q1 forced him out of action for the rest of the day. This unfortunate turn of events meant that the Dutchman would start the race at the Circuit of the Americas from the back of the grid in the thirteenth place.
The Dutch driver’s Red Bull is a very capable machine and during the 56 laps of the race, Verstappen could well make his way to the top-pack; something that he has managed to do a bunch of times in the past.
Interestingly, Verstappen finished the 2017 United States Grand Prix in the fourth place after starting the race from the fifteenth spot.
Max Verstappen has not finished lower than the fifth spot since the Hungarian Grand Prix and would be hoping to fight an uphill battle and secure another top-5 finish to cement his fifth place in the drivers’ championship.
Daniel Ricciardo will start the race from fourth and would be hoping to secure a podium finish, something that has eluded him since the 2018 Monaco Grand Prix.
#2 Sebastian Vettel finishes second
After being clearly slower than Mercedes in the last two races, Scuderia Ferrari’s new-found pace at the United States Grand Prix opens a possibility of a tight race at the Circuit of the Americas.
Sebastian Vettel's brilliant qualifying session saw him finish second, just 0.061 seconds behind Mercedes’ Lewis Hamilton. However, a three-place grid penalty will force him to start no higher than fifth.
The German endured a horrid Japanese Grand Prix that saw him finish in sixth place, virtually handing over the title to his British adversary. That slip-up meant that the German has got all to do at the United States Grand Prix and would be hoping to finish no lower than second to keep his title hopes alive.
Vettel’s penalty promoted his teammate Kimi Raikkonen to the front row, where he would try his best to wrestle the lead away from Hamilton to give Vettel a chance to close in on the drivers’ championship standings.
#1 Lewis Hamilton takes the race win
Lewis Hamilton loves the Circuit of the Americas: the Briton won five of the six races held at this race track. Moreover, he has managed to take the top step of the podium in the last four races that took place at Austin.
Hamilton continued his fine form at the United States Grand Prix and secured yet another pole position. He just edged it, for the top-3 finishers were separated by less than 0.1 seconds.
Despite Raikkonen’s best efforts, Lewis Hamilton will likely get a fantastic start and would keep the lead at the end of turn one. From there on, one could expect a dominating performance by the British driver, who is likely to secure his fifth consecutive race win.
His victory would be his tenth win of the season, which would virtually guarantee him his fifth world title.
Mercedes’ number-two, Bottas, will start the race from the second row and will try his best to hold Sebastian Vettel behind him throughout the race.
