DHL FASTEST LAP AWARD: 2016 FORMULA 1 UNITED STATES GRAND PRIX

Vettel on a roll: After recording the fastest race lap for the first time in a year at Suzuka, Sebastian Vettel went and did it again in the 2016 FORMULA 1 UNITED STATES GRAND PRIX. With a time of 01:39.877 minutes, the Ferrari man significantly outperformed the opposition on the Circuit of the Americas. The second and third placed drivers in this classification – team-mate Kimi Räikkönen and Nico Rosberg respectively – were around two seconds adrift of his time.

Vettel’s two wins in the 2016 DHL Fastest Lap Award have moved him up to fourth. As in the world championship itself, Rosberg continues to lead the way. The Mercedes driver has clocked up the fastest lap on six occasions this season. He is followed by Lewis Hamilton and Daniel Ricciardo, each with three wins in the category.

They are the only contestants in the field who still have a mathematical chance of catching Rosberg in the three remaining races this year. Lining up behind Vettel are Daniil Kvyat, Fernando Alonso, Nico Hülkenberg and Kimi Räikkönen who have each excelled once during the 2016 campaign.

Sebastian Vettel started from sixth on the grid at Austin. Like most of the front-runners, he was on a two-stop strategy. He then benefited from the retirements of Verstappen and Räikkönen, which moved him up to fourth in the closing stages of the USA GP.

His lead over fifth-placed Alonso was so great at this time that he allowed himself the luxury of a third tire change. He opted for the supersoft compound, and this was the factor that enabled him to set the fastest lap in the final few kilometers of the race.

“Overall today was a better day than yesterday, it was a good race,” was his considered view. In the driver’s world championship, he has now overtaken his team-mate Räikkönen who was forced to retire after a botched pit stop. The Finn has now slipped to fourth on 177 points. In the constructors’ championship, Ferrari are in third position behind Mercedes and Red Bull.

The teams competing in the highest echelon of motor racing do not have much time to transport their extensive inventory of equipment to the next track, because the 19th race of the season – the FORMULA 1 GRAN PREMIO DE MEXICO – takes place as early as this coming weekend. Having said that, the distance to be covered from Austin to the Mexican capital is a relatively modest 1,500 kilometers.   

Fastest race laps: 2016 FORMULA 1 UNITED STATES GRAND PRIX

01 Sebastian Vettel (Ferrari) 01:39.877 - on Lap 55
02 Kimi Räikkönen (Ferrari) 01:41.841 - on Lap 26
03 Nico Rosberg (Mercedes) 01:41.897 - on Lap 34
04 Lewis Hamilton (Mercedes) 01:42.386 - on Lap 45
05 Max Verstappen (Red Bull) 01:42.424 - on Lap 28
06 Kevin Magnussen (Renault) 01:42.475 - on Lap 45
07 Daniel Ricciardo (Red Bull) 01:42.555 - on Lap 51