Formula One: Hamilton's title party postponed

Lewis Hamilton will have to wait for a fifth world title after finishing third at the US Grand Prix in Austin on Sunday as Ferrari's Kimi Raikkonen won a first victory in over five years, ahead of Red Bull's Max Verstappen in second.

Title rival Sebastian Vettel, in the other Ferrari, finished fourth after another disappointing race from the German, meaning the championship race will probably be decided in Mexico next weekend instead. Hamilton needs only to finish seventh or outscore Vettel by five points.

Hamilton's chances were hindered by Mercedes' tire strategy, but even third place would have been enough had Vettel not recovered from an early crash to finish fourth. 

"It is how it is. I'm happy to have finished in the top three and now we just have to push even harder," said a relaxed Hamilton. "Kimi did a brilliant job today," he added, throwing in some praise for the race winner. 

But Vettel was less satisfied. "We could have taken advantage of Mercedes' problems today," he told broadcaster RTL. "It's a feeling of overwhelming disappointment at the moment."
 

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+++ WINNER: KIMI RAIKKONEN CROSSES THE LINE! +++
2. Verstappen
3. Hamilton
4. Vettel

Lap 55 of 56: Vettel is up into fourth ahead of Bottas!

Lap 54 of 56: Hamilton attempts the overtake! They're wheel to wheel ... and the Mercedes ends up leaving the track at turn 18 and loses some precious seconds. Has Hamilton just thrown it away?

Lap 53 of 56: “There’s a whole world of pain ahead,” Red Bull tell Verstappen down the team radio. The Dutchman is the difference between Hamilton wrapping up a fifth title and not. He's less than one second ahead of the Briton.

Lap 51 of 56: Hamilton suggests his engine has turned itself down. Mercedes is checking it out.

Lap 49 of 56: With Vettel struggling to get past a stubborn Bottas, if Hamilton can overtake Verstappen, the title is his! Here's a reminder:

Lap 47 of 56: There are only 3.8 seconds between Raikkonen, Verstappen and Hamilton. While Vettel remains in fifth, a second-place finish would seal a fifth championship title for Hamilton. 

Lap 45 of 56: “These guys are going pretty quick!” says Hamilton, trailing Verstappen by 2.4 seconds with Raikkonen still out in front. Vettel has now closed the gap on Bottas to less than one second.

Lap 43 of 56: “We reckon he will catch us in the last three laps of the race,” Ferrari tell Raikkonen. Are they referring to Hamilton? Meanwhile, Vettel is catching Bottas. We're in for an exciting finish!

"We left too big a deficit!”

Lap 42 of 56: “What’s the time difference between me and Verstappen?” Hamilton asks his race engineer, “We left too big a deficit!”

Lap 41 of 56: Raikkonen is swearily moaning about backmarkers not getting out of the way. Mercedes did tell Hamilton that the Ferrari was going to have to deal with the traffic that had already held him up.

Lap 39 of 56: The new constellation: Raikkonen leads Verstappen by almost 3 seconds Bottas is up to third while Hamilton is in fourth, 4 seconds ahead of Vettel. “How did it get to 12 seconds?” Hamilton asks, referring to the gap to Raikkonen. The tire blisters certainly didn't help. 

Lap 37 of 56: Hamilton into the pits! A slick 2.7-second stop but he emerges in fourth. 

Lap 35 of 56: Could the tide be about to turn? While Hamilton's tires slow him down, Vettel records a new fastest lap of 1.38.462min.

Lap 34 of 56: With Hamilton's soft tires suffering from a bit of blistering, the Mercedes has slowed down somewhat allowing Raikkonen to close the gap to 12 seconds. Was that a bit of panic creeping into Hamilton's voice over the radio?

Lap 33 of 56: For the second race in a row, Charles Leclerc has been ordered to retire.

Lap 32 of 56: Hamilton is now almost 16 seconds ahead of Raikkonen.

Lap 29 of 56: Vettel sets a new fastest lap of 1.38.715min, so those wheels certainly haven't harmed his speed but Bottas is still blocking the road ahead in fourth. 

Lap 28 of 56: The halfway point and Hamilton is on course for the title. Vettel has switched to soft tires - will they have any effect?

Lap 26 of 56 - Hamilton's lead now stands at 17 seconds. The big question is whether he'll need to pit again. 

Lap 24 of 56 - Bottas is next in to the pits but he comes out behind Verstappen, who started way down the field and is now back in fourth. Bottas' position could be critical to Hamilton, of course.

Lap 23 of 56 - Verstappen enters the pits, somewhat surprisingly. He comes out in fifth, with Raikonnen now fourth and Vettel, who is yet to pit, in third.

Lap 22 of 56 - Raikonnen pits, allowing Hamilton back in to the lead but that little battle has allowed Verstappen and Vettel to get back in touch with the top two. Verstappen is two seconds down on Hamilton, Vettel is about six further back.

Lap 20 of 56 - Hamilton right in Raikonnen's slipstream probing for a mistake, but he hasn't found one yet and that's allowing the field to close in a touch.

Lap 18 of 56 - Looking like another brilliant drive from Verstappen, who is up 14 places from the start.

Lap 17 of 56 - Vettel has done well since the spin but this is where the big gap start. Verstappen is nearly 11 seconds ahead in fourth and leader Raikonnen more than 20 seconds clear of his teammate.

Lap 15 of 56 - Vettel, who has recorded the quickest lap of the race, is back where he started in fifth. He's about 16 seconds back from Hamilton who has pitted.

Lap 13 of 56 - Bottas told to let Hamilton past in to second, as you'd expect.

Lap 12 of 56 - Hamilton hits the pits because of the reduction in speed caused by that virtual safety car. He's back out in front of Verstappen in third. He'd be pushing it to make it to the end on the new set of softs but it might be possible.

Lap 10 of 56 - Ricciardo's race is over. It's not clear why yet but it's some kind of mechanical failure. He's had a lot of those this year. The Australian is out of the car and the virtual safety car is in effect.

Lap 9 of 56 - We've just heard Hamilton over the radio for the first time: "Struggling to keep up," he said...

Lap 8 of 56 - It's as you were at the front but Vettel and Verstappen are both flying further back. Ther German is up in 8th now with Verstappen in 5th. But the pair are still a fair way off the top four.

Lap 5 of 56 - Vettel continues to make progress while Stroll has been handed a drive-through penalty. Here's a picture of the German's spin.

Lap 4 of 56 - There was also an early collision early on between Stroll and Alonso, with the Spaniard being forced to retire. His frustration was obvious, with the veteran saying it was "impossible to drive with these guys" over the radio. Grosjean has also retired.

Lap 3 of 56 - This is a track where overtaking is possible and Vettel is already up to 11th. If Raikonnen can hold on, and that's a big if, then Vettel needs to get back up to fourth to keep it alive. 

Lap 2 of 56 - If it was a long way back for Vettel at the start, it's an epic trek now. After watching his teammate Raikonnen pipping Hamilton to take lead, the German got involved in a nip and tuck battle with Ricciardo and the pair touched wheels. Vettel came off worse and is back to 13th. 

Lap 1 of 56 - VETTEL SPINS OFF THE TRACK!

20:11 - We're in to the Formation Lap, not long now. It's much drier than it has been in the last couple of days, particularly for practice on Friday.

20:05 - Hamilton is in his seat, with his team holding an umbrella over him to shield him from the heat. Ten years on from his first title, will he win a fifth today? Here's how the front of the grid looks.

20:00 - Hello, and welcome to DW's coverage of the race where Lewis Hamilton could win the drivers' title for the four time in the last five years.

The Mercedes' man is on pole again and has won the last four Grand Prixs stateside. Qualifying was a little tighter than expected, with Ferrari surprisingly quick but a penalty for Sebastian Vettel puts him back in fifth to begin. The German has plenty to do, with Mercedes likely to ensure Hamilton's teammate Valtteri Bottas (in third)  doesn't let Vettel past.

Here's what Hamilton has to do to sew things up.