Sebastian Vettel wins 2013 United States GP

Sebastian Vettel has just won the 2013 United States Grand Prix to wrap up his eighth grand prix victory in a row. Nobody else has ever done that in a single season before. It’s Vettel’s twelfth win of the year and if he can win next weekend’s race in Brazil he will equal Michael Schumacher’s record for the most wins in a season.

Off the line Vettel was okay, but Mark Webber and Romain Grosjean, especially, got away faster. Starting from P2 Webber was squeezed tight on the climb into Turn 1 and Gorsjean and Lewis Hamilton were able to pass him around the outside, leaving Vettel to scamper off into the distance.

Soon after Mark overtook Lewis and that’s pretty much your race, at least for the top three. In the closing stages Mark was fighting with Romain for P2, but he couldn’t quite get close enough to effect a move and had to settle for third place.

Hamilton finished fourth ahead of Fernando Alonso. Nico Hulkenberg performed well for Sauber coming home in P6 around four seconds ahead of Sergio Perez, who will be very happy to finish in the points and ahead of Jenson Button after being sacked by McLaren.

Valtteri Bottas collected his first world championship points by finishing in eighth place comfortably ahead of Nico Rosberg. Button claimed the last point on offer with a late move on Daniel Ricciardo, who finished in P11.

The only real excitement during the grand prix happened early on when Adrian Sutil and Pastor Maldonado squabbled on the first lap. Sutil lost the battle and crashed out of the race, bringing the Safety Car out until his car was safely out of harm’s way.

Hosting it’s second Formula 1 Grand Prix, Austin seems to be winning plenty of fans and all the drivers seem to like racing on the Circuit of the Americas. Maybe F1 has finally cracked the US market?

[Pic: Red Bull/Getty Images]

2013 United States Grand Prix final placings

1. Sebastian Vettel Red Bull Racing – 56 Laps (25 pts)
2. Romain Grosjean Lotus – +6.2 secs (18 pts)
3. Mark Webber Red Bull Racing – +8.3 secs (15 pts)
4. Lewis Hamilton Mercedes AMG – +27.3 secs (12 pts)
5. Fernando Alonso Ferrari – +29.5 secs (10 pts)
6. Nico Hulkenberg Sauber – +30.4 secs (8 pts)
7. Sergio Perez McLaren – +46.6 secs (6 pts)
8. Valtteri Bottas Williams – +54.5 secs (4 pts)
9. Nico Rosberg Mercedes AMG – +59.1 secs (2 pts)
10. Jenson Button McLaren – +77.2 secs (1 pt)
11. Daniel Ricciardo Toro Rosso – +81.0 secs
12. Jean-Eric Vergne Toro Rosso – +84.5 secs
13. Felipe Massa Ferrari – +86.9 secs
14. Esteban Gutierrez Sauber – +91.7 secs
15. Heikki Kovalainen Lotus – +95.0 secs
16. Paul di Resta Force India – +96.8 secs
17. Pastor Maldonado Williams – +1 Lap
18. Jules Bianchi Marussia – +1 Lap
19. Giedo van der Garde Caterham – +1 Lap
20. Charles Pic Caterham – +1 Lap
21. Max Chilton Marussia – +2 Laps

Retired/not classified
Adrian Sutil Force India – 0 Laps (Accident)

Fastest lap
Sebastian Vettel Red Bull Racing – 1:39.856 (Lap 54)

2013 F1 world championship – Drivers (top 10)

1. Sebastian Vettel Red Bull Racing – 372
2. Fernando Alonso Ferrari – 227
3. Lewis Hamilton Mercedes AMG – 187
4. Kimi Räikkönen Lotus – 183
5. Mark Webber Red Bull Racing – 181
6. Nico Rosberg Mercedes AMG – 161
7. Romain Grosjean Lotus – 132
8. Felipe Massa Ferrari – 106
9. Jenson Button McLaren – 61
10. Paul di Resta Force India – 48

2013 F1 world championship – Constructors

1. Red Bull Racing-Renault – 553
2. Mercedes – 348
3. Ferrari – 333
4. Lotus-Renault – 315
5. McLaren-Mercedes – 102
6. Force India-Mercedes – 77
7. Sauber-Ferrari – 53
8. STR-Ferrari – 32
9. Williams-Renault – 5
10. Marussia-Cosworth – 0
11. Caterham-Renault – 0