Raikkonen victory at US Grand Prix keeps Hamilton waiting for fifth F1 title
Britain's Lewis Hamilton was kept waiting for his fifth Formula One world championship after the Mercedes driver finished third in a US Grand Prix won by Ferrari's Kimi Raikkonen.
External Link: Formula 1 tweet: His first win in 113 races… WELL worth the wait! #USGP #F1
The victory was the 21st of the 39-year-old Finn's career and the first since the Australian Grand Prix of March 2013, a gap of 113 races dating back to when he was racing for Lotus.
Red Bull's Dutch youngster Max Verstappen finished a surprise second after starting 18th in a thrilling finale, with the top three cars separated by just 2.1 seconds at the chequered flag.
Ferrari's Sebastian Vettel, Hamilton's only title rival, spun down to 15th on the opening lap but fought back to finish fourth — a result that means the championship remains open until Mexico next weekend.
Hamilton now has a 70-point lead over his four-times champion rival, with 75 points remaining to be won from the last three races.
"I actually thought we would have been able to do better but this is the best we were able to do in the end," said Hamilton.
"We just have to keep working and keep pushing for the next race.
"I'm not really quite sure how the strategy ended up like that," added the Briton, who had started on pole position but lost the lead to Raikkonen into the first corner at a sunny Circuit of the Americas.
The Briton made two pitstops to his rivals' one, losing crucial seconds on fading tyres before being called in and staging a late charge over the final 19 laps from fourth with 12 seconds to make up.
Teammate Valtteri Bottas helped by letting him through for third place, but the Finn then lost out to Vettel and finished fifth.
Hamilton, a second behind Verstappen at the end, went wheel-to-wheel with the 21-year-old with two laps left but failed to make the move stick and ran wide in his last chance to grab second.
External Link: Scuderia Ferrari Fan tweet: "Did you win the Championship or not?" #F1 #USGP
"Did you win the championship?" enquired 2007 world champion Raikkonen, whose previous win with Ferrari was in 2009.
"No," replied Hamilton.
Fury for Ricciardo as car lets him down
External Link: Formula 1 tweet: A picture speaks a thousand words #USGP #F1
It was another frustrating day for Australia's Daniel Ricciardo, whose car shut down on lap nine — the fifth time in 10 races and the seventh time this season he has failed to finish.
Ricciardo was involved in an incident on lap one, when he tangled with Vettel, who spun off and dropped back to 15th place.
Ricciardo recovered from the encounter, and was sitting in fourth position when his car suffered engine failure and he came to a halt at turn 11.
The West Australian was forced to trudge disconsolately back to pit lane.
Red Bull boss Christian Horner told Sky Sports he felt frustrated for the Australian driver.
"He would have been equally strong [as teammate Max Verstappen] in the second half of the race," Horner said.
External Link: Tim Wagner tweet: Daniel Ricciardo right now… #USGP
"I just feel very, very sorry for him.
"He's just taken his frustration out in his room by putting his fist through the wall — which you can totally relate to.
"He doesn't blame the team in any way, he knows we're doing all we can. It's just one of those things."
Ricciardo is leaving Red Bull at the end of the season to join Renault, who provide the engines for Red Bull — and Horner had a dig at the French manufacturer.
"I'm sure he will have a word with his future employers about this because it's so frustrating losing him from races."
Reuters/ABC
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