The 2014 United States Grand Prix (formally the 2014 Formula 1 United States Grand Prix) was a Formula One motor race held on November 2, 2014, at the Circuit of the Americas in Travis County near Austin, Texas. It was the 17th round of the 2014 Formula One World Championship and the 36th United States Grand Prix held as part of the series. Mercedes driver Lewis Hamilton won the 56-lap race starting from second position. His teammate Nico Rosberg finished second and Red Bull driver Daniel Ricciardo was third. It was Hamilton's tenth victory of the season and the 32nd of his career.
Heading into the race, Hamilton led the World Drivers' Championship from Rosberg while their team Mercedes had already won the World Constructors' Championship at the preceding . Rosberg won the pole position by recording the fastest lap in the third qualifying session and kept the lead on the first lap. The race was neutralised by a four-lap safety car period when Sergio Pérez, Adrian Sutil and Kimi Räikkönen made contact. During the first half of the race, Hamilton ran close behind teammate Rosberg to conserve fuel but braked heavily through parts of the track to prevent brake glazing. After the two Mercedes cars made their pit stops for new tyres, Hamilton passed his teammate Rosberg for the lead on lap 24, and pulled away to achieve victory and overtake Nigel Mansell for the most wins by a British driver in Formula One.
In the week before the event, the Caterham and Marussia teams went into administration and were granted dispensation to miss the race, leaving the sport with nine entered teams, the lowest number since the 2005 Monaco Grand Prix. Hamilton's victory, his fifth in a row, moved him further clear from Rosberg atop the World Drivers' Championship, as Ricciardo's third-place finish eliminated him from title contention. Valtteri Bottas moved further ahead of Sebastian Vettel in fifth. Mercedes increased their unassailable lead in the World Constructors' Championship to 245 championship points over Red Bull while Williams moved further away from Ferrari in fourth with two races left in the season.
Background
The 2014 United States Grand Prix was the 17th of the 19 rounds of the 2014 Formula One World Championship, and the 36th running of the event in Formula One. It was held on 2 November at the 20-turn Circuit of the Americas in Travis County, Austin, Texas. The sport's governing body, the Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile (FIA), elected to retain two drag reduction system (DRS) activation zones from 2013: one was on the straight between turns 10 and 11, and the second was on the straight linking the final and first corners.
The circuit was changed following the 2013 race. At the request of motorcycling's governing body, the Fédération Internationale de Motocyclisme, some sections of turn ten's asphalt run-off area were replaced by gravel and some light panels were mounted closer to the ground for better visibility. Tyre supplier Pirelli brought the yellow-banded soft and white-banded medium dry compound tyres to the race, as opposed to the Hard and Medium tyres in 2012 and 2013. The event's official name was the 2014 Formula 1 United States Grand Prix.
Before the race, Mercedes driver Lewis Hamilton led the World Drivers' Championship with 291 championship points, ahead of teammate Nico Rosberg in second and Daniel Ricciardo third. Valtteri Bottas was fourth with 145 championship points, with Sebastian Vettel two championship points behind in fifth. While the Drivers' Championship had not been won, Mercedes had taken the World Constructors' Championship in the preceding . Red Bull were in second place on 342 championship points; Williams (216 championship points) and Ferrari (188) were third and fourth and McLaren were fifth with 143 championship points.
After spending most of the season behind Rosberg, Hamilton had won the previous four races, converting a 29-point deficit into a 17-point lead over his teammate. With three races left, Hamilton said he would prioritise not allowing any negative thoughts consume him and would take any opportunities presented to him: "We've just got to do our due diligence and work as hard as we can to make sure we don't have any problems." Hamilton hoped to achieve his fifth consecutive victory of the year: "A lot of the American side of my family come to the race, plus I won the first F1 GP at the circuit back in 2012 – it's a special one for me. I really enjoy going there and I'm looking forward to another great race." Rosberg aimed to improve on his best finish in Austin and lower Hamilton's championship points lead. He said Mercedes targeted "a big finish" to the season, declaring he would not concede defeat until the final round, and hoped to maintain the level of entertainment for the fan base.
After both Friday practice sessions, the FIA tested for the first time a new system called the virtual safety car, which is in response to minimising the risk of serious accidents and injuries, such as those suffered by Jules Bianchi at the . Its aim is to force drivers to slow by about 35 per cent in an accident zone, with the aid of a dashboard display. Drivers agreed it was a worthwhile system that, however, required refinement for further testing at subsequent races before it was introduced for the season. Caterham and Marussia were each granted permission by Formula One's commercial rights owner Bernie Ecclestone to miss the race due to their long-term financial problems and entering administration. With 18 entered vehicles, this was the smallest field entered into a Formula One race since the 2005 Monaco Grand Prix. There were driver changes for the first free practice session. European Formula Three Championship third-place finisher Max Verstappen replaced Jean-Éric Vergne at Toro Rosso for the second time in 2014, and Williams reserve driver Felipe Nasr drove Bottas's car.
The press reported that the Sauber, Lotus and Force India teams had considered withdrawing from the race to signal to Formula One's commercial leaders about its financial state following Caterham and Marussia's non-participation in the race. Ecclestone said if two of those squads left the series then "that is what will happen" and teams should only participate if they were competitive. Force India team principal Bob Fernley stated discussions about a boycott were as a final recourse. Lotus owner Gérard López said he had not heard about the proposed boycott and the team insisted that they would race. Vijay Mallya, the owner of Force India, severely criticised suggestions of a boycott six days after the race: "Who said that we wanted to boycott the race? Please tell me. If I am wrong, you educate me. I speak on behalf of Force India. I have never said that we are going to boycott, and I have clarified this in Austin. Why would we? We have come to go racing."
Practice Per the regulations for the 2014 season, three practice sessions were held, two 90-minute sessions on Friday and another 60-minute session on Saturday. Hamilton lapped fastest in the first practice session—which took place on a damp track that later dried—at 1:39.941; his session 18 minutes ended early due to a gear shift problem. His teammate Rosberg, Jenson Button, Daniil Kvyat, Kevin Magnussen, Fernando Alonso, Vettel, Nasr, Nico Hülkenberg and Verstappen occupied positions two to ten. Ricciardo was only able to drive the first 45 minutes because his energy recovery system failed and was restricted to five timed laps.
In the second session, where it was difficult for teams to alter their car's race set-ups because of strong crosswinds, Hamilton set the day's fastest lap at 1:39.085 on super-soft compound tyres; Rosberg was three-thousands of a second slower in second and had the fastest time until Hamilton's lap. Both Mercedes cars had reliability concerns with Hamilton reporting another gearbox problem and his session ended early with a minor hydraulic issue. Rosberg had a downshifting concern which he attributed to hitting the clutch pedal after lifting his leg. Alonso was third-fastest, followed by Ricciardo, Felipe Massa—who locked his brakes lightly and later spun his car—and Kimi Räikkönen. Kvyat, Magnussen, Button and Hülkenberg followed in the top ten. Romain Grosjean and his teammate Pastor Maldonado both lost control of their tight-handling Lotus cars and drove onto the run-off area several times.
Hamilton was fastest in the third session, which was held in chilly but bright weather, with a time of 1:37.107; Rosberg had a brake issue until the final minutes and went faster in the first two-thirds of the lap but an untidy final third of the lap caused by a glazed left rear brake disc only allowed him to go quicker by one-thousands of a second and placed second. Massa, Bottas, Alonso, Ricciardo, Hülkenberg, Adrian Sutil, Räikkönen and Button completed the top ten. Upon switching settings on his steering wheel, Hamilton spun under braking at turn 12, and Rosberg ran wide at turns 11 and 12. Vergne's session ended early when his engine cut out.
Qualifying
Following the withdrawal of the Caterham and Marussia team's two entries, minor changes were made to Saturday afternoon's three-part qualifying session. The first part ran for 18 minutes, eliminating cars that were 15th or below. The 107% rule was in effect, requiring drivers to reach a time within 107 per cent of the quickest lap to qualify. The second part lasted 15 minutes, eliminating cars in 11th to 14th. The final 12-minute session determined pole position to 10th. Cars who progressed to the final session were not allowed to change tyres for the race's start, using the tyres with which they set their quickest lap times in the second session. Rosberg was fastest in the second and final sessions and achieved his ninth pole position of 2014 and the 13th of his career, with a lap of 1:36.067. He praised the balance of his car but said it was challenging due to track and wind direction changes. Rosberg was joined on the grid's front row by teammate Hamilton, who had a left-front brake cooler than the right-front, slowing him. This was observed by him constantly locking the brakes in the second session. Bottas and Massa were third and fourth, and Ricciardo improved greatly on his final timed lap for fifth, ahead Alonso in sixth.
Button qualified seventh, but incurred a five-place grid penalty for changing his gearbox, promoting his teammate Magnussen to seventh. Although Räikkönen in eighth improved his car's balance, he slid multiple times after an unrectifiable frontal problem, creating understeer. Sutil took ninth and Maldonado, who was the fastest driver not to advance into the final session, was 10th, after sliding in turn 19, losing about two-tenths of a second, preventing an improvement. Sergio Pérez, 11th, used two sets of soft tyres in the first session to get into the second. Hülkenberg, 13th, was forecast to qualify in the top ten until a tear-off visor wrapped itself around a front tyre into turn 12, losing grip, ran wide, and lost time. Kvyat complained of tyre temperature issues in slower traffic on his out-lap. However, he incurred a ten-place grid penalty for changing an engine component. His teammate Vergne started 14th and was the fastest driver not to enter the second session, attributing the result to switching to an older, less powerful engine and excess oversteer. Esteban Gutiérrez took 15th ahead of Grosjean. Vettel in 17th opted to do one lap on soft tyres to comply with the 107 per cent rule. He began from the pit lane after changing his engine, his sixth of the season.
Qualifying classification The fastest lap in each of the three sessions is denoted in bold.