DPA/Austin, Texas


McLaren’s Lewis Hamilton won the United States Grand Prix yesterday ahead of Red Bull’s Sebastian Vettel and Ferrari’s Fernando Alonso in a result which takes the Formula One title battle to Brazil next weekend.
Hamilton overtook championship leader Vettel with 14 laps remaining, while Alonso’s third place means the title will be decided next Sunday in the last race of the season.
Vettel needed 15 points more than Alonso to seal a third successive drivers’ title, but the Ferrari driver kept his hopes alive with a strong top-three finish.
The 25-year-old German’s second place at least assures his team of the constructors’ championship.
He now has 273 points in the standings, 13 ahead of Alonso as the teams go to Interlagos for the season’s climax. Vettel will need to finish at least fourth, even with an Alonso victory, to clinch the title. Hamilton’s win was his fourth of the season in his penultimate race before he switches from McLaren to Mercedes.
“That was amazing guys - that was wicked. You did a great job all weekend. Thanks guys, we definitely deserved that one,” Hamilton said over the team’s radio.
Hamilton, who won the last F1 race in the United States, in Indianapolis five years ago, finished just 0.675 seconds ahead of Vettel after an intense debut race for the Circuit of the Americas. Felipe Massa (Ferrari), Jenson Button (McLaren), Kimi Raikkonen (Lotus), Romain Grosjean (Lotus), Nico Huelkenberg (Force India), Pastor Maldonado (Williams) and Bruno Senna (Williams) completed the top 10.
Ferrari broken the seal on Massa’s gearbox, before the race giving the Brazilian a five-place grid penalty, which promoted Alonso to seventh place.
The Spaniard then got off to a blistering start, immediately moving from seventh to fourth, and found himself third when Webber retired with a mechanical failure on lap 18.
Webber had got in front of Hamilton at the start, but the McLaren driver was able to force himself past the Australian on lap four.
Alonso lost time on his first pit stop with a hitch on a rear tyre change. He then had to allow Button on warmer tyres to pass him, but once the McLaren driver came in for his first stop after 36 of 56 laps, he moved back to third.
Hamilton meanwhile closed the gap on Vettel to just over half a second and kept the pressure on for several laps before finally getting the chance to attack and go past after the German was
slightly held up by traffic
Results
1. Lewis Hamilton (GBR/McLaren) 1hr 35min 55.269sec, 2. Sebastian Vettel (GER/Red Bull) at 0.675s, 3. Fernando Alonso (ESP/Ferrari) 39.229, 4. Felipe Massa (BRA/Ferrari) 46.013, 5. Jenson Button (GBR/McLaren) 56.432, 6. Kimi Raikkonen (FIN/Lotus) 1:04.425, 7. Romain Grosjean (FRA/Lotus) 1:10.313, 8. Nico Hülkenberg (GER/Force India) 1:13.792, 9. Pastor Maldonado (VEN/Williams) 1:14.525, 10. Bruno Senna (BRA/Williams) 1:15.133, 11. Sergio Perez (MEX/Sauber) 1:24.341, 12. Daniel Ricciardo (AUS/Toro Rosso) 1:24.871, 13. Nico Rosberg (GER/Mercedes) 1:25.510, 14. Kamui Kobayashi (JPN/Sauber) 1 lap, 15. Paul di Resta (GBR/Force India) 1 lap, 16. Michael Schumacher (GER/Mercedes) 1 lap, 17. Vitaly Petrov (RUS/Caterham) 1 lap, 18. Timo Glock (GER/Marussia) 1 lap, 19. Heikki Kovalainen (FIN/Caterham) 1 lap, 20. Charles Pic (FRA/Marussia) 2 laps, 21. Pedro de la Rosa (ESP/HRT) 2 laps, 22. Narain Karthikeyan (IND/HRT) 2 laps
 Retirements
Jean-Eric Vergne (FRA/Toro Rosso): 15th lap, Mark Webber (AUS/Red Bull): 17th lap
Overall standings
Drivers: 1.Sebastian Vettel (GER) 273.0pts, 2. Fernando Alonso (ESP) 260.0, 3. Kimi Raikkonen (FIN) 206.0, 4. Lewis Hamilton (GBR) 190.0, 5. Mark Webber (AUS) 167.0, 6. Jenson Button (GBR) 163.0, 7. Felipe Massa (BRA) 107.0, 8. Romain Grosjean (FRA) 96.0, 9. Nico Rosberg (GER) 93.0, 10. Sergio Perez (MEX) 66.0, 11. Kamui Kobayashi (JPN) 58.0, 12. Nico Hülkenberg (GER) 53.0, 13. Paul di Resta (GBR) 46.0, 14. Pastor Maldonado (VEN) 45.0, 15. Michael Schumacher (GER) 43.0, 16. Bruno Senna (BRA) 31.0, 17. Jean-Eric Vergne (FRA) 12.0, 18. Daniel Ricciardo (AUS) 10.0
 Constructors :Red Bull 440.0pts - champions, 2. Ferrari 367.0, 3. McLaren 353.0, 4. Lotus 302.0, 5. Mercedes 136.0, 6. Sauber 124.0, 7. Force India 99.0, 8. Williams 76.0, 9. Toro Rosso 22.0