2018 United States Grand Prix
Race 18 of 21 in the 2018 Formula One World Championship ← Previous race Next race →
Layout of the Circuit of the Americas
Race details[1]
Date	October 21, 2018 (2018-10-21)
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	Lewis Hamilton	Mercedes
Time	1:32.237
Fastest lap
Driver	Lewis Hamilton	Mercedes
Time	1:37.392 on lap 40
Podium
First	Kimi Räikkönen	Ferrari
Second	Max Verstappen	Red Bull Racing-TAG Heuer
Third	Lewis Hamilton	Mercedes
Lap leaders

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.

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. 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

Pos.	No.	Driver	Constructor	Qualifying times			Final grid
				Q1	Q2	Q3
1	44	Lewis Hamilton	Mercedes	1:34.130	1:33.480	1:32.237	1
2	5	Sebastian Vettel	Ferrari	1:34.569	1:33.079	1:32.298	51
3	7	Kimi Räikkönen	Ferrari	1:34.703	1:32.884	1:32.307	2
4	77	Valtteri Bottas	Mercedes	1:34.518	1:33.702	1:32.616	3
5	3	Daniel Ricciardo	Red Bull Racing-TAG Heuer	1:34.755	1:34.185	1:33.494	4
6	31	Esteban Ocon	Force India-Mercedes	1:34.876	1:34.522	1:34.145	6
7	27	Nico Hülkenberg	Renault	1:34.932	1:34.564	1:34.215	7
8	8	Romain Grosjean	Haas-Ferrari	1:34.892	1:34.419	1:34.250	8
9	16	Charles Leclerc	Sauber-Ferrari	1:35.069	1:34.255	1:34.420	9
10	11	Sergio Pérez	Force India-Mercedes	1:35.193	1:34.525	1:34.594	10
11	55	Carlos Sainz Jr.	Renault	1:34.891	1:34.566		11
12	20	Kevin Magnussen	Haas-Ferrari	1:34.972	1:34.732		12
13	10	Pierre Gasly	Scuderia Toro Rosso-Honda	1:34.850	No time		192
14	28	Brendon Hartley	Scuderia Toro Rosso-Honda	1:35.206	No time		203
15	33	Max Verstappen	Red Bull Racing-TAG Heuer	1:34.766	No time		184
16	14	Fernando Alonso	McLaren-Renault	1:35.294			13
17	35	Sergey Sirotkin	Williams-Mercedes	1:35.362			14
18	18	Lance Stroll	Williams-Mercedes	1:35.480			15
19	9	Marcus Ericsson	Sauber-Ferrari	1:35.536			16
20	2	Stoffel Vandoorne	McLaren-Renault	1:35.735			17
107% time: 1:40.719
Source:[5]

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 as Lewis Hamilton could only managed 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 Mercedes 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

Drivers' Championship standings Pos. Driver Points 1 Lewis Hamilton* 346 2 Sebastian Vettel* 276 1 3 Kimi Räikkönen 221 1 4 Valtteri Bottas 217 5 Max Verstappen 191 Source:[13]

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.