Formula One: Five-in-row Hamilton eyes title after US victory

Austin Lewis Hamilton increased his lead in the drivers world championship to 24 points on Sunday when he swept to his fifth consecutive victory and 10th of the season by winning the United States Grand PrixMercedes AMG Petronas driver Lewis Hamilton of Britain R celebrates beside teammate Nico Rosberg of Germany on the podium after winning the United States Formula One Grand Prix at the Circuit of The Americas in Austin PicAFPThe 29yearold Briton who started second behind his pole sitting Mercedes teammate and nearest rival Nico Rosberg took the lead with a bold move after 24 laps on his way to a perfectlymeasured triumph ahead of the German by 4314 secondsIt was the 32nd win of Hamiltons career a landmark statistic that lifted him one victory clear of Nigel Mansell as the British driver with most career successes in Formula One Hamilton now has 316 points to Rosbergs 292 following the Englishmans dominant success earned by clever tyre preservation tactics with two races remaining including the final race in Abu Dhabi where double points are scoredAfter thanking his team on the radio Hamilton was equally generous and effusive from the victors podium I have an incredible team and an incredible car and I had a great opponent today he said It is such a privilege to represent my country and to be top of the drivers standings The car was great todayThe result left the two Mercedes men as the only drivers now capable of winning the title contest which will go down to the wire in Abu Dhabi on November 23 no matter the result in Brazil next weekend Sundays triumph was also the Mercedes teams 10th onetwo triumph of the year It kind of sucks for me today said Rosberg It took too long for me to find my rhythmOnce Hamilton got by I found my rhythm but it was too late Australian Daniel Ricciardo finished third to deliver his eighth podium for Red Bull this year ahead of the two Williams of fourthplaced Felipe Massa and Valtteri Bottas We are doing what we can said Ricciardo Im really happy with third place You can overtake here I got Magnussen and then Alonso on the restart so it wasnt too boring out there for meTwo time champion Fernando Alonso of Ferrari was sixth for Ferrari after a series of battles to finish ahead of fourtime champion Sebastian Vettel of Red Bull Kevin Magnussen of McLaren and JeanEric Vergne of Toro Rosso Pastor Maldonado came home 10th for Lotus to score his first points of the season Pass under braking On another clear day of blue skies and an air temperature of 24 degrees Celsius with a track temperature of 33 degrees Rosbergs start was as flawless as the weatherAs the lights went out he pulled clear with Hamilton behind him while a slow start from Bottas allowed Massa through to third The first lap was interrupted however when Sergio Perez crashed his Force India into the Sauber of luckless Adrian Sutil and a Safety Car was deployed So disappointing and so unnecessary said Sutil who had qualified in the top ten for the first time this yearTo compound his teams misery Nico Hulkenberg retired with an engine failure after 18 laps After a rash of early pitstops racing resumed on lap four with Hamilton sticking close to Rosbergs car as they pulled away from the pack but never close enough to consider an attacking move Rosberg was the first to pit after 15 laps switching to the harder medium compound tyresRosberg however was less dominant on his second set of tyres and was unable to open a clear gap ahead of Hamilton who closed steadily before seizing his chance to pass him on lap 24 Hamilton had sized him up for several laps before moving into Rosbergs slipstream on the back straight and with the aid of DRS drew alongside before passing on the inside under braking at turn 12Rosberg glanced askance and considered defending but was too late to stop the move as he was eased slightly off line and circuit by Hamiltons act of decision Within a lap the Briton led by 13 seconds Behind the leaders there was a notable battle between Alonso and Button before in response to Ricciardos rapid Red Bull he made a second pit stopThat gave Rosberg the lead for a lap again before they resumed with Hamilton ahead again after 35 laps Rosberg cut the advantage to 26 seconds with a fastest lap on lap 36 setting up a 20lap dash for glory that saw Hamilton respond with his own fastest lap as he kept his lead at 23sec or better to the delight of the Texan crowd