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Austin (Texas), Nov 3 (IANS)
In a poor outing for Force India, drivers Nico Hulkenberg and Sergio Perez failed to earn points after retiring from the Formula 1 United States Grand Prix here.
Mercedes' Lewis Hamilton snatched victory to reel off his fifth straight win, 10th of the season, and extend his lead at the top of the drivers standings. Teammate Nico Rosberg, who started on pole, finished second with Red Bull's Daniel Ricciardo third Sunday.
Force India went through a tough day. While Hulkenberg retired due to an engine problem in the 16th lap, Mexican Perez ended his race in the first lap following an accident at the 5.5 km Circuit of The Americas.
"What happened is really unfortunate. I made a move on Adrian Sutil at Turn 15 when he left the door open, so I went up the inside. Then Adrian started to close the door and I had to try and brake later than him. By doing so I was unable to avoid contact with Kimi Raikkonen, which caused me to make contact with Adrian also," Perez said.
"I just didn't expect Kimi to be in that position. It is a big shame because I had a great chance to keep up my run of points finishes."
On his part, Hulkenburg said: "I lost drive and had no more power so the team told me to stop the car. Even before that it had not been an easy race with a very difficult first lap."
Force India currently sit in sixth position in the constructors' standings with 123 points. In the drivers' standings, German Hulkenberg is ninth with 76 points while Perez is 11th with 47.
