2015 USA Grand Prix

 2015 USA Grand Prix

Racing data
16th of 19 races in the 2015 Formula 1 World Championship
Surname:
Date:	October 25, 2015
Place:	Austin
Course:	Circuit of The Americas
Length:	308.405 km in 56 laps of 5.513 km
Pole position
Driver:	Nico Rosberg	Mercedes
Time:	1: 56.824 min
Fastest lap
Driver:	Nico Rosberg	Mercedes
Time:	1: 40.666 min (lap 49)
Podium
First:	Lewis Hamilton	Mercedes
Second:	Nico Rosberg	Mercedes
Third:	Sebastian Vettel	Ferrari

The 2015 US Grand Prix (officially 2015 Formula 1 United States Grand Prix ) took place on October 25th at the Circuit of The Americas in Austin and was the 16th race of the 2015 Formula 1 World Championship .

report

backgrounds

After the Russian Grand Prix , Lewis Hamilton led the drivers' standings by 66 points over Sebastian Vettel and 73 points over Nico Rosberg . In the constructors' championship, Mercedes was unassailable with 172 points ahead of Ferrari and 311 points ahead of Williams .

At the US Grand Prix, Pirelli provided the drivers with the tire compounds P Zero Medium (white) and P Zero Soft (yellow), as well as Cinturato Intermediates (green) and Cinturato Full Wets (blue) for wet conditions .

At the US Grand Prix, Sauber contested the 400th Grand Prix weekend since joining Formula 1 in 1993 . 70 Grand Prix of these were contested between 2006 and 2009 as BMW Sauber F1 .

For the first time, Renault provided the two customer teams Red Bull and Toro Rosso with a highly developed version of the Renault Energy F1 2015 at the US Grand Prix . Renault used eleven of the twelve tokens available for the season for this , it was by far the most extensive update of all engine manufacturers in the entire season. Since all pilots with Renault engines had already exhausted the number of engine units allowed per season by this time, their use would have been associated with relocations on the starting grid. Both Red Bull and Toro Rosso decided against using the enhanced engine.

Compared to the previous year, minor changes were made to the route. The artificial turf at various points on the course has been removed and partially replaced by thresholds five centimeters high, which are intended to prevent pilots from leaving the course there.

There were again two DRS zones. The first zone was on the back straight and began 320 meters after turn eleven , the measuring point was 150 meters after turn ten . The second DRS zone was on the start-finish straight and began 80 meters after the last bend. The measuring point was 65 meters after curve 18 .

Pastor Maldonado (six), Max Verstappen (five), Marcus Ericsson , Nico Hülkenberg , Sergio Pérez (four each), Kimi Räikkönen , Vettel (three), Jenson Button , Romain Grosjean , Hamilton and Daniil Kwjat (two each) went with penalty points into the race weekend.

With Hamilton (three times) and Sebastian Vettel (once) two former winners competed in this race.

Dennis Dean (USA), Gerd Ennser (DEU), Tom Kristensen (DEN) and Nish Shetty (SIN) acted as race stewards.

training

The first free practice took place under wet conditions. Rosberg set the fastest time in 1: 53.989 minutes ahead of Kwjat and Daniel Ricciardo .

The second free practice session was canceled due to persistent, heavy rainfall.

In the third free practice session, which was also held in wet conditions, Hamilton set the fastest time with a lap time of 1: 59.517 minutes ahead of Vettel and Nico Hülkenberg . The weather conditions were described as "borderline" and there were a large number of turns. Since further precipitation was announced for the afternoon and the teams feared a cancellation of the qualifying, all drivers took to the track, as in such a case the result of the free practice will be used for the starting grid.

Qualifying

Qualifying was postponed six times by half an hour and finally to Sunday morning due to heavy rain and strong gusts of wind.

On Sunday morning it was carried out under still wet conditions. The qualifying consisted of three parts with a net running time of 45 minutes. In the first qualifying segment (Q1), the drivers had 18 minutes to qualify for the race. All drivers who achieved a time in the first section that was a maximum of 107 percent of the fastest lap time qualified for the Grand Prix. The best 15 drivers reached the next part. The qualifying section had to be completed after an accident by Carlos Sainz jr. to be interrupted. After his accident, Sainz was no longer able to take part in training and fell behind the 107 percent time, so he did not qualify for the race. The race stewards allowed him to take part in the race and start from 20th place, as he had been fast enough in free practice. Ricciardo was fastest. Sainz and the Manor and Sauber pilots were eliminated.

The second qualifying segment (Q2) lasted 15 minutes. Rosberg was the fastest. The Lotus, McLaren drivers and Valtteri Bottas were eliminated.

The last section should last twelve minutes, in which the first ten starting positions were assigned. Since the rain became much heavier again after the second qualifying section, the race management decided not to carry out the third section and to use the second section for the starting grid. Rosberg achieved his fourth pole position of the season and the third in a row. With his 19th pole position overall, he had the most first starting positions among drivers without a world championship title. René Arnoux previously held this record .

Raikkonen and Vettel were moved ten positions back to use the fifth internal combustion engine. Stevens was moved back 20 starting positions because of the use of the fifth internal combustion engine, the fifth turbocharger and the fifth MGU-H. At Bottas, the gearbox was changed prematurely after qualifying, so that he was moved five starting positions back.

run

The race started in wet conditions, all pilots used intermediates. Hamilton started better than Rosberg, both drove side by side into the first corner. There was a slight contact, Rosberg had to leave the track to the outside and fell behind Ricciardo, Kwjat and Pérez. Felipe Massa spun in the first corner, colliding with Fernando Alonso , who was also spinning. As a result, the pilots driving further back were forced to evade. Bottas damaged his front wing when he hit Grosjean, who suffered a tire damage on the left rear. There was another accident between the Manor pilots. Rosberg overtook Pérez on the first lap, Kwjat passed Ricciardo.

At the end of the first lap, Bottas, Grosjean, Alexander Rossi and Alonso drove into the pit lane for repair pit stops, while Bottas switched to slicks. Felipe Nasr collided with his team-mate Ericsson, damaging his front wing. He also switched to slicks during the subsequent pit stop. However, Nasr and Bottas switched back to intermediates shortly afterwards, as they were about 30 seconds per lap slower than the front. In the sixth lap, a virtual safety car phase was called so that the marshals could clear the track of debris. Bottas gave up the race at this point.

After the race was reopened on the eighth lap, Rosberg first passed Ricciardo and Kwjat and pulled away from them. In the period that followed, the track continued to dry up, at which point the Red Bull drivers were setting the fastest lap times in the field. Ricciardo first overtook Kwjat and Rosberg and then caught up with Hamilton. On the 15th lap he passed and took the lead, three laps later Rosberg passed Hamilton. Hamilton then pitted and switched to slicks, just like Vettel, Verstappen and Massa. One lap later, Rosberg, Ricciardo and Kwjat also drove to change tires. All three stayed ahead of Hamilton.

In the 20th lap, Raikkonen came off the track and slipped through the gravel bed into the track boundary. However, he managed to free the vehicle and continue the race. However, since the brake ventilation was damaged in the impact and his right front brake was no longer adequately cooled, he had to give up the race a few laps later for safety reasons. The Red Bull drivers could not keep up with the other drivers in the leading group on the slicks, so Rosberg quickly shortened the gap to Ricciardo and took the lead, while Hamilton overtook Kwjat, who also fell behind Vettel two laps later. Meanwhile, Massa gave up the race in the pits. The Williams team later discovered that both shock absorbers on the rear axle were damaged when driving over a bump in the road before turn eleven ; this was also the case with his team-mate Bottas. On lap 26, Hamilton also overtook Ricciardo and was now in second place. Shortly thereafter, Ericsson stopped on the track. Since his Sauber couldn't go to idle, the car had to be recovered with a recovery tractor. The race management sent the safety car out onto the track.

Vettel, Hülkenberg and Pérez took advantage of this and switched to the harder tire compound in the hope of being able to finish the race without another pit stop. After the race was reopened on lap 33, Vettel passed Kwjat and Ricciardo within a very short time. Hulkenberg also overtook Kwjat. On the 37th lap, Hulkenberg attacked Ricciardo, the bracket on his front wing broke and he lost control of the car. There was a collision and Hulkenberg had to give up the race with a broken suspension, so he parked his vehicle on the edge of the track. Ricciardo fell behind Kwjat after the accident. Again there was a virtual safety car phase, as the car had to be recovered from Hülkenberg. Rosberg and both Red Bull drivers used this to change tires, they switched to the softer tire compound. Hamilton, meanwhile, led before Vettel, Verstappen and Rosberg.

The race was reopened on lap 40, one lap later Rosberg passed Verstappen. At this point he drove the fastest laps of the race, two laps later he also overtook Vettel. Kwjat got off the track at the exit of Turn 19 , turned and hit the guardrail. There was another safety car phase to recover the vehicle. Hamilton used this to change tires, Vettel also drove to the pits and had a new set of the softer tire compound fitted. Rosberg therefore took the lead in front of Hamilton, Verstappen and Vettel.

The race was reopened on lap 47, and Vettel passed Verstappen again shortly afterwards. Rosberg was briefly off the track due to a driving error so that Hamilton was able to take the lead. Behind Rosberg, Vettel and Verstappen Button, Alonso, Sainz, Pérez and Maldonado fought for the further placements, there were several changes of position in this group.

Shortly afterwards Alonso complained about a loss of performance over the pit radio and dropped back to eleventh place by the end of the race. Vettel closed on Rosberg and put him under pressure, but did not come past.

Hamilton won the race ahead of Rosberg and Vettel, it was his tenth win of the season. For the Mercedes team it was the thirteenth win of the season and the ninth double win of the season, Rosberg and Vettel each achieved their twelfth podium finish in 2015. The top 10 were completed by Verstappen, Pérez, Button, Sainz, Maldonado, Nasr and Ricciardo.

With his victory, Hamilton won the drivers' world championship prematurely, it was his third world title. Vettel remained second in the overall standings from Rosberg, who, however, reduced the gap to four points. In the constructors' championship, the first three positions remained unchanged, and Ferrari was determined to be second after the race.

Registration list

team	No.	driver	chassis	engine	tires
Mercedes AMG Petronas F1 Team	44	Lewis Hamilton	Mercedes F1 W06 Hybrid	Mercedes-Benz PU106B Hybrid	P
	06th	Nico Rosberg
Infiniti Red Bull Racing	03	Daniel Ricciardo	Red Bull RB11	Renault Energy F1 2015	P
	26th	Daniil Kvyat
Williams Martini Racing	19th	Felipe Massa	Williams FW37	Mercedes-Benz PU106B Hybrid	P
	77	Valtteri Bottas
Scuderia Ferrari	05	Sebastian Vettel	Ferrari SF15-T	Ferrari 059/4	P
	07th	Kimi Raikkonen
McLaren Honda	14th	Fernando Alonso	McLaren MP4-30	Honda RA615H	P
	22nd	Jenson Button
Sahara Force India F1 Team	27	Nico Hulkenberg	Force India VJM08	Mercedes-Benz PU106B Hybrid	P
	11	Sergio Perez
Scuderia Toro Rosso	33	Max Verstappen	Toro Rosso STR10	Renault Energy F1 2015	P
	55	Carlos Sainz Jr.
Lotus F1 Team	08th	Romain Grosjean	Lotus E23 Hybrid	Mercedes-Benz PU106B Hybrid	P
	13	Pastor Maldonado
	30th	Jolyon Palmer
Manor Marussia F1 Team	28	Will Stevens	Marussia MR03	Ferrari 059/3	P
	53	Alexander Rossi
Sauber F1 Team	09	Marcus Ericsson	Clean C34	Ferrari 059/4	P
	12	Felipe Nasr
	36	Raffaele Marciello

Remarks

1. ↑ ^{a b} The Lotus with the number 30 should be used in the second free practice for Palmer, Grosjean was to contest the rest of the race weekend in the vehicle with his number 8. However, due to the cancellation of the second free practice session, Palmer did not play.
2. ↑ ^{a b} The Sauber with starting number 36 was used in the first free practice for Marciello. Nasr then took over the vehicle with his number 12 for the rest of the race weekend.

Classifications

Qualifying

Item	driver	constructor	Q1	Q2	Q3	begin
01	Nico Rosberg	Mercedes	1: 56.671	1: 56.824	-	01
02	Lewis Hamilton	Mercedes	1: 56.871	1: 56.929	-	02
03	Daniel Ricciardo	Red Bull-Renault	1: 56.495	1: 57.969	-	03
04th	Daniil Kvyat	Red Bull-Renault	1: 57.640	1: 58.434	-	04th
05	Sebastian Vettel	Ferrari	2: 00.950	1: 58.596	-	13
06th	Sergio Perez	Force India-Mercedes	1: 59.284	1: 59.210	-	05
07th	Nico Hulkenberg	Force India-Mercedes	1: 58.325	1: 59.333	-	06th
08th	Kimi Raikkonen	Ferrari	1: 58.198	1: 59.703	-	18th
09	Felipe Massa	Williams-Mercedes	2: 00.902	1: 59.999	-	07th
10	Max Verstappen	Toro Rosso-Renault	1: 58.689	2: 00.199	-	08th
11	Fernando Alonso	McLaren Honda	1: 59.704	2: 00.265	-	09
12	Valtteri Bottas	Williams-Mercedes	1: 59.569	2: 00.334	-	16
13	Romain Grosjean	Lotus Mercedes	2: 00.236	2: 00.595	-	10
14th	Jenson Button	McLaren Honda	2: 00.261	2: 01.193	-	11
15th	Pastor Maldonado	Lotus Mercedes	2: 00.844	2: 01,604	-	12
16	Marcus Ericsson	Clean Ferrari	2: 02.212	-	-	14th
17th	Felipe Nasr	Clean Ferrari	2: 03.194	-	-	15th
18th	Alexander Rossi	Marussia Ferrari	2: 04.176	-	-	17th
19th	Will Stevens	Marussia Ferrari	2: 04.526	-	-	19th
107 percent time : 2: 04.650 min (based on Q1 best time of 1: 56.495 min)
20th	Carlos Sainz Jr.	Toro Rosso-Renault	2: 07,304	-	-	20th

Remarks

1. ↑ Vettel was moved ten positions back to use the fifth combustion engine.
2. ↑ Raikkonen was moved ten positions back to use the fifth combustion engine.
3. ↑ Bottas was moved five positions back due to a premature gear change.
4. ↑ Stevens has been moved 20 positions back to use the fifth internal combustion engine, fifth turbocharger and fifth MGU-H.

run

Item	driver	constructor	Round	Stops	time	begin	Fastest lap
01	Lewis Hamilton	Mercedes	56	2	1: 50: 52.703	02	1: 40.738 (48th)
02	Nico Rosberg	Mercedes	56	2	+ 2.850	01	1: 40.666 (49.)
03	Sebastian Vettel	Ferrari	56	3	+ 3.381	13	1: 41.330 (52nd)
04th	Max Verstappen	Toro Rosso-Renault	56	2	+ 22.359	08th	1: 43,172 (51.)
05	Sergio Perez	Force India-Mercedes	56	2	+ 24.413	05	1: 43.010 (54th)
06th	Jenson Button	McLaren Honda	56	3	+ 28.058	11	1: 43.026 (50.)
07th	Carlos Sainz Jr.	Toro Rosso-Renault	56	3	+ 30.619	20th	1: 42.660 (51.)
08th	Pastor Maldonado	Lotus Mercedes	56	3	+ 32.273	12	1: 42.849 (51.)
09	Felipe Nasr	Clean Ferrari	56	5	+ 40.257	15th	1: 44,407 (54.)
10	Daniel Ricciardo	Red Bull-Renault	56	2	+ 53.371	03	1: 41.980 (53rd)
11	Fernando Alonso	McLaren Honda	56	3	+ 54.816	09	1: 44.323 (55.)
12	Alexander Rossi	Marussia Ferrari	56	3	+1: 15.277	17th	1: 48,173 (50.)
-	Daniil Kvyat	Red Bull-Renault	41	2	DNF	04th	1: 43.728 (41st)
-	Nico Hulkenberg	Force India-Mercedes	35	2	DNF	06th	1: 45.095 (25.)
-	Marcus Ericsson	Clean Ferrari	25th	2	DNF	14th	1: 47.381 (24.)
-	Kimi Raikkonen	Ferrari	25th	2	DNF	18th	1: 46.186 (24.)
-	Felipe Massa	Williams-Mercedes	23	1	DNF	07th	1: 48.231 (22.)
-	Romain Grosjean	Lotus Mercedes	10	2	DNF	10	1: 59.612 ( 08.)
-	Valtteri Bottas	Williams-Mercedes	05	2	DNF	16	2: 31.939 ( 03rd)
-	Will Stevens	Marussia Ferrari	01	0	DNF	19th	-

World Cup stands after the race

The first ten of the race got 25, 18, 15, 12, 10, 8, 6, 4, 2 and 1 point (s) respectively.

Driver ranking

Item driver constructor Points 01  Lewis Hamilton Mercedes 327 02  Sebastian Vettel Ferrari 251 03  Nico Rosberg Mercedes 247 04th  Kimi Raikkonen Ferrari 123 05  Valtteri Bottas Williams-Mercedes 111 06th  Felipe Massa Williams-Mercedes 109 07th  Daniil Kvyat Red Bull-Renault 76 08th  Daniel Ricciardo Red Bull-Renault 74 09  Sergio Perez Force India-Mercedes 64 10  Max Verstappen Toro Rosso-Renault 45 11  Romain Grosjean Lotus Mercedes 44

Item driver constructor Points 12  Nico Hulkenberg Force India-Mercedes 38 13  Felipe Nasr Clean Ferrari 27 14th  Pastor Maldonado Lotus Mercedes 26th 15th  Carlos Sainz Jr. Toro Rosso-Renault 18th 16  Jenson Button McLaren Honda 16 17th  Fernando Alonso McLaren Honda 11 18th  Marcus Ericsson Clean Ferrari 9 19th  Roberto Merhi Marussia Ferrari 0 20th  Alexander Rossi Marussia Ferrari 0 21st  Will Stevens Marussia Ferrari 0 -  Kevin Magnussen McLaren Honda 0

Constructors' championship

Item constructor Points 1  Mercedes 574 2  Ferrari 374 3  Williams-Mercedes 220 4th  Red Bull-Renault 150 5  Force India-Mercedes 102

Item constructor Points 06th  Lotus Mercedes 70 07th  Toro Rosso-Renault 63 08th  Clean Ferrari 36 09  McLaren Honda 27 10  Marussia Ferrari 0

Individual evidence

1. ↑ Norman Fischer: Soft always works: Pirelli announces the last tire allocations. Motorsport-Total.com, October 13, 2015, accessed October 13, 2015 . 
2. ↑ Gerald Dirnbeck: New Renault drive ready, use still open. Motorsport-Total.com, October 21, 2015, accessed October 21, 2015 . 
3. ↑ Dominik Sharaf: No interest: Renault update in Brazil at the earliest. Motorsport-Total.com, October 23, 2015, accessed October 26, 2015 . 
4. ^ ^{A b} Mario Fritzsche: Austin: Two DRS zones and less artificial turf. Motorsport-Total.com, October 21, 2015, accessed October 21, 2015 . 
5. ↑ Mario Fritzsche: Austin: "Mister Le Mans" keeps an eye on the rules. Motorsport-Total.com, October 21, 2015, accessed October 21, 2015 . 
6. ^ GP USA in Austin / 1st free practice. Motorsport-Total.com, October 23, 2015, accessed on October 23, 2015 . 
7. ↑ Fabian Hust, Christian Nimmervoll: Formula 1 USA 2015: Second free practice falls into the water. Motorsport-Total.com, October 23, 2015, accessed on October 23, 2015 . 
8. ^ GP USA in Austin / 3rd free practice. Motorsport-Total.com, October 24, 2015, accessed October 24, 2015 . 
9. ↑ Christian Nimmervoll: Formula 1 USA 2015: Final best time for Lewis Hamilton. Motorsport-Total.com, October 23, 2015, accessed on October 23, 2015 . 
10. ↑ Fabian Hust: Formula 1 USA 2015: Qualifying postponed to Sunday. Motorsport-Total.com, October 23, 2015, accessed on October 23, 2015 . 
11. ^ Ian Parkes: Valtteri Bottas gets US GP grid penalty for F1 gearbox change. autosport.com, October 25, 2015, accessed October 25, 2015 . 
12. ↑ Sven Haidinger, Dieter Rencken: Williams: Mysterious shock absorber defects seem cleared up. Motorsport-Total.com, October 30, 2015, accessed October 30, 2015 .