The 2018 United States Grand Prix (officially known as the Formula 1 Pirelli 2018 United States Grand Prix) was a

Formula One motor race A Formula One Grand Prix is a sporting event which takes place over three days (usually Friday to Sunday), with a series of practice and qualifying sessions prior to the race on Sunday. Current regulations provide for two free practice sessions ...

held on October 21, 2018, at the

Circuit of the Americas Circuit of the Americas (COTA) is a Grade 1 FIA-specification motor racing track and facilities located within the extraterritorial jurisdiction of Austin, Texas, in the United States. The facility is home to the Formula One United States G ...

in Austin, Texas, United States. The race was the 18th round of the

2018 Formula One World Championship The 2018 FIA Formula One World Championship was the motor racing championship for Formula One cars and the 69th running of the Formula One World Championship. Formula One is recognised by the governing body of international motorsport, the F ...

and marked the 48th running of the

United States Grand Prix The United States Grand Prix is a motor racing event that has been held on and off since 1908, when it was known as the American Grand Prize. The Grand Prix later became part of the Formula One World Championship. , the Grand Prix has been held ...

, the 40th time that the race run as a World Championship event since the inaugural season in , 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 The 2013 Australian Grand Prix (formally known as the 2013 Formula 1 Rolex Australian Grand Prix) was a Formula One auto racing, motor race that was held on 17 March 2013 as the opening round of the 2013 Formula One season, 2013 World Championshi ...

, breaking a record-setting 113-race winless streak. It was also his first for Ferrari since 2009 and the first time that Ferrari had won at the

. 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 Sir Lewis Carl Davidson Hamilton (born 7 January 1985) is a British racing driver currently competing in Formula One for Mercedes. In Formula One, Hamilton has won a joint-record seven World Drivers' Championship titles (tied with Mic ...

entered the round with a 67-point lead over Ferrari's Sebastian Vettel in the World Drivers' Championship. Hamilton's team-mate,

Valtteri Bottas Valtteri Viktor Bottas (; born 28 August 1989) is a Finnish racing driver currently competing in Formula One for Alfa Romeo, having previously driven for Mercedes from to and Williams from to . Bottas has scored race wins and podiums. H ...

, 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 Red Bull Racing, also simply known as Red Bull or RBR and currently competing as Oracle Red Bull Racing, is a Formula One racing team, racing under an Austrian licence and based in the United Kingdom. It is one of two Formula One teams owned ...

a further 141 points behind in third place.

Entrants

Lando Norris Lando Norris (born 13 November 1999) is a Belgian-British racing driver currently competing in Formula One with McLaren, racing under the British flag. He won the MSA Formula championship in 2015, and the Toyota Racing Series, Eurocup Form ...

and

Sean Gelael Muhammad Sean Ricardo Gelael (born 1 November 1996) is an Indonesian racing driver currently competing with WRT in the FIA World Endurance Championship. He competed in GP2 Series from 2015 to 2016, and the FIA Formula 2 Championship from 2017 ...

drove in the first practice session instead of

Stoffel Vandoorne Stoffel Vandoorne (born 26 March 1992) is a Belgian professional racing driver who is currently racing for Dragon Racing in Formula E. He had previously competed in Formula One for McLaren from 2016 to 2018. He is currently a test driver of M ...

and

Brendon Hartley Brendon Hartley (born 10 November 1989) is a New Zealand professional racing driver who is currently competing in the FIA World Endurance Championship with Toyota Gazoo Racing. He won the 2015 FIA World Endurance Championship, alongside his t ...

for McLaren and

Toro Rosso Scuderia Toro Rosso (; literal translation of "Red Bull Racing Team"), commonly known as Toro Rosso or by its abbreviation STR, was an Italian Formula One racing team. It was one of two Formula One teams owned by Austrian beverage company Re ...

respectively.

Nicholas Latifi Nicholas Daniel Latifi (born 29 June 1995) is a Canadian racing driver who last raced for Williams Racing under the Canadian flag in the 2022 Formula One World Championship. Latifi made his Formula One debut at the 2020 Austrian Grand Prix a ...

was supposed to drive in the same session in place of Esteban Ocon at Force India, but this was reversed ahead of the session.

Tyre choices

Tyre supplier Pirelli selected the soft, supersoft and ultrasoft tyres for the Grand Prix weekend.

Qualifying

;Notes * – Sebastian Vettel received a three-place grid penalty for failing to slow sufficiently during a red flag period in Free Practice 1. * –

Pierre Gasly Pierre Gasly (; born 7 February 1996) is a French racing driver, currently competing in Formula One under the French flag, racing for Scuderia AlphaTauri. He is the 2016 GP2 Series champion, and the runner-up in the 2014 Formula Renault 3.5 ...

received a 35-place grid penalty for exceeding his quota of power unit elements. * –

received a 40-place grid penalty: 35 places for exceeding his quota of power unit elements and 5 places for an unscheduled gearbox change. * – Max Verstappen received a five-place grid penalty for an unscheduled gearbox change.

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.

Race classification

;Notes * – Esteban Ocon originally finished eighth, but was disqualified for exceeding fuel flow limits on lap 1. * –

Kevin Magnussen Kevin Jan Magnussen (born 5 October 1992) is a Danish racing driver currently competing in Formula One for Haas F1 Team. He is the son of four-time Le Mans winner and former Formula One driver Jan Magnussen. Kevin Magnussen came up through Mc ...

originally finished ninth, but was disqualified for consuming more than 105 kg of fuel during the race.

Championship standings after the race

;Drivers' Championship standings ;Constructors' Championship standings * Note: Only the top five positions are included for both sets of standings. * Competitors marked with an asterisk still had a mathematical chance of winning the Championship.

References

{{F1GP 10-19

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territori ...

United States Grand Prix Grand Prix 2018 in sports in Texas Motorsport competitions in Texas Sports in Austin, Texas