Austin, Nov 18 (IANS) Red Bull’s Sebastian Vettel extended his dominant run, winning the United States Grand Prix for his record-breaking eighth consecutive Formula 1 race of the season at the Circuit of the Americas (COTA) here.
The German driver started from pole and only briefly relinquished the lead Sunday afternoon when he made his sole pit stop before storming home in first position for the 12th time this year.
Another victory at the season ending Brazilian Grand Prix next weekend will put him level with his childhood idol Michael Schumacher with most wins in a season (13). Previously the record for most consecutive wins in a season was also held by Schumacher – seven in 2004.
Lotus’s Romain Grosjean produced a brilliant drive to finish second ahead of the other Red Bull of Mark Webber. Vettel also produced the fastest lap of the race to show who was really in control.
Lewis Hamilton finished fourth after struggling to manage the tyres throughout the race but ensured that Mercedes remain ahead of Ferrari in the constructors’ standings.
The Ferrari of Fernando Alonso battled past Nico Hulkenberg’s Sauber to finish fifth and sixth, respectively.
Behind them, Sergio Perez drove a strong race to seventh for McLaren as Valtteri Bottas delighted Williams by scoring his first Formula 1 points with eighth, containing a challenge from Mercedes’ Nico Rosberg, who had to fight his way up from 14th place to ninth.
The final point fell to McLaren’s Jenson Button, who recovered from a clash with Ferrari’s Felipe Massa on the opening lap and spent much of his race mired in the midfield fighting the Brazilian.
