The Report Cards of the United States Grand Prix

LEWIS HAMILTON 8

Not perfect, he qualified second a few hours before the race, at the start he seemed to sort everything out, immediately taking the lead. But he doesn't deal well with the intermediate tyres, so he gets to the point of being overtaken by both Ricciardo and Rosberg and at that point it's time to return. Between one Safety car and another he managed to get behind his teammate, but found himself in an awkward position after the VSC caused by Hulkenberg: with one pit less and just 5 seconds ahead of Vettel. Kvyat came to help him first, pressing himself onto the wall at the entrance to the pit, allowing him to change tires without wasting too much time, and then Rosberg's mistake which gave him his third world title. Not a perfect weekend but it crowns an enviable championship up to this point.

NICO ROSBERG 7

What can you do? It's the second year in a row, but paradoxically the 2014 defeat weighs more heavily. Because when it's not your year you see it straight away. And when it's not your year and your opponent is in a state of angelic grace there's very little you can do. And so this time too the good Nico tries to keep a desperate fight open, with pole, not trailing behind in the melee... But then the Safety Cars arrive and that strange behavior of the gearbox exiting the corners and here we go once again he finishes second. Decent weekend that marks the end of a decidedly unlucky championship.

SEBASTIAN VETTEL 9

The unthinkable is invented on this cold and rainy Sunday in Texas. In light of all the penalties he starts thirteenth on the grid, but already on the first lap he is ninth and on the second lap seventh. Hulkenberg skips after a few laps, while Perez has to wait in the pit from intermediate to soft. After the first pit, and after the first Safety, he gives us an amazing duel with the two Red Bulls, even though he is driving on Medium tyres. He maintains a competitive pace which allows him to remain about 10 seconds behind the Mercedes, and at the second Safety Car he returns to fit Soft tyres. At the restart he had to pass Verstappen and immediately started chasing Rosberg. The final comeback on the German fails and Seb has to settle for third position. Despite everything he is still second in the drivers' standings.

MAX VERSTAPPEN 9

Second fourth place in his debut season, but what a driver. He starts eighth and his sprint is not among the best, but his strength, together with his teammate, is that of remaining with the Ferraris for a good part of the race, without losing contact, and above all the pace of the leaders. He stops in the pits a first time to switch to soft tyres, and a second time to remount Soft again during the first Safety. It is from here on that he accomplishes the real feat: he holds out in fourth position for twenty-six laps on the same tires, remaining at a safe distance from Perez. What a race, and what a result!

SERGIO PEREZ 7

The Mexican does not vary his starting position with that of arrival, but what a feat to manage to finish fifth. He started well and earned fourth place, but soon had to give it up to Rosberg. He remained among the leaders until the time of changing tires, where a pit that was too late dropped him in the standings behind Ferrari, Tororosso and Hulkenberg. He puts on the medium tires for the first Safety and at that point he tries to go to the end. Once again his good tire management helps him, and in the final laps he manages to keep up with Button's McLaren and Sainz's Tororosso.

CARLOS SAINZ JR. 9

After the wall in qualifying we already thought he was a goner on his trip to Mexico, but instead the Spaniard surprised us quite a bit. Starting from twentieth position, after a handful of laps he is already chasing the two Ferraris together with his teammate. He remains in the points and stops thirteen laps from the end, in SC mode to fit a set of softs but is tenth. In the last nine laps he is the protagonist of the most absolute chaos on the Austin track. Overtaking and counter-overtaking bring him to sixth place in the final standings. Chapeau.

JENSON BUTTON 7

It's never easy to get a McLaren to the points, but let's say that with a bit of rain and a few safety cars, the Woking team can get away with it. And this is in fact how he placed Button in seventh position, competing discreetly and even worrying Mercedes-powered cars in some parts of the race. These daring races are always good for teams in difficulty.

PASTOR MALDONADO 6

Only twelve cars at the finish line and he is one of them. I'm almost moved. For once Pastor shows us that he still knows how to do his job without making too many messes. Without leaving a tangible mark on the race, this too must be said, but still bringing home some points. Perhaps he could have at least passed the McLaren that preceded him at the finish line at the end.

FELIPE NASR 6

It is only thanks to the numerous SCs that the Brazilian driver manages to close the gap that separates him from the rest of the group after the collision with his teammate on the second lap. Throughout the race he hangs around in the last positions, and only at the end manages to move up at the expense of a Ricciardo forced to pit due to wear of his tires and an Alonso, what a novelty, with problems with the Power Unit. A few points yes, but not a memorable four hundredth grand prix for the Swiss team.

DANIEL RICCIARDO 5.5

The second row was nice, the pace kept on the wet track was nice, the overtaking on Hamilton was nice, everything was nice. But as soon as the track dries out the dream vanishes, and as first he finds himself even being passed by Verstappen, before returning to change tires under VSC regime. Ready to come back with fresh covers, his teammate presses himself against a wall, letting the SC in, giving his opponents the opportunity to change tires without wasting too much time. In the end, in the close battle, the stress on the tires prevailed, forcing the Australian to return to the pits, having to settle for the miserable flag point.

FERNANDO ALONSO 6

His entire race is played out in the last ten laps, when, unlike his teammate, he decides to try to get to the end with already nineteen laps on his soft tires, trying to defend fifth position. The result of the enterprise is quite poor. He was passed by everyone and remained tenth, with problems with the Power Unit. “If I'm no longer in the points, tell me and I'll be back.” And so it was that Ricciardo passed him at the last corner. What a laugh, we (who every Sunday feel like his radio team). What a crying man.

ALEXANDER ROSSI 7

The "homemade" Manor driver doesn't disappoint at all, as he narrowly misses the feat of actually scoring points in a GP2 (fortunately this singular record still belongs to Jules). In any case he manages to finish the home race where many others had to withdraw for the most disparate reasons. And this can always be a source of pride, especially if you drive a Manor…

DANIIL KVYAT 5

Race a photocopy of that of his teammate, except for that very serious mistake of pinching the synthetic grass which sends him straight into the wall. “I am sorry guys”. Victim like many others of the rain.

NICO HULKENBERG 5

Another protagonist of the race who at the moment of maximum adrenaline turned off his brain and got too carried away. In an attempt to pass Ricciardo rams him almost like Raikkonen on Bottas in Sochi, but this time he is the one who loses out, irreparably damaging his front suspension. No and then no, for two races now Nico has been below zero.

MARCUS ERICSSON 5.5

His race was nothing special, he never really shone, always sailing (in every sense) outside the points zone. He ends his race with no power in his engine by parking on the side of the track.

KIMI RAIKKONEN 5

Fiery start for the Finn who immediately catapulted into the points from eighteenth place in pursuit of the leaders. He has his work cut out for him with the Tororosso duo, who puts Iceman's holy patience to the test, but in the end, between one risk and another, he himself makes a mistake and ends up hitting the wall, finding that the "Rolex" writing was right writing. In the impact, albeit slight, he damaged the brake air intakes, and this forced him to retire a few laps later.

FELIPE MASSA sv

Very few laps are enough to throw the suspension of Williams number 19 into crisis. After the already disastrous start we see him sadly return to the pits, wasting an important opportunity for points.

ROMAIN GROSJEAN sv

A contact on the first lap causes serious damage to the bottom and cooling ducts of his Lotus. In fact, he was called back to the pits after a short time to retire.

VALTTERI BOTTAS sv

Among the many drivers involved in numerous collisions at the start, Valtteri found himself with a damaged front wing, and once he entered the pits the team decided to take a gamble by sending him onto the track with Soft tyres. However, he laps thirty seconds slower than everyone else, and to further complicate things, a suspension failure (2.0) leads to his retirement shortly thereafter.

WILL STEVENS sv

He is hit from behind and his car suffers too much damage to be able to get back on the track.

Matteo Bramati.