2014 US F1 GP: Hamilton Extends Lead In Texas While Ricciardo Shines

Mercedes' Lewis Hamilton took an unexpected victory at the Circuit of the Americas, defeating pole-man and teammate Nico Rosberg to the flag.

Daniel Ricciardo drove another brilliant race to take third ahead of the Williams pair.

The race may have had four fewer cars than expected, owing to the absence of Caterham and Marussia, but there wasn't any less drama with a few starring drives.

PRACTICE AND QUALIFYING

The factory Mercedes team led the way in every session, with McLarens, Toro Rossos, Ferraris and Williams all swapping around in the top ten.

Vettel worked hard on a race setup after electing to start from pitlane following an engine penalty.

The Mercedes cars fought over the front row, with Hamilton complaining of constant lock-ups, the Briton eventually flat-spotting the tyres on which he would start the race.

Rosberg gained the ascendancy and held on by a reasonable margin.

The Williams followed behind with Bottas third and Massa fourth, Ricciardo fifth. The Ferraris were split by Magnussen, Sutil performed well for ninth and Maldonado scored tenth.

RACE

The Sunday afternoon start was under a clear blue sky and a gentle breeze blew the proud display of American flags and a good number from nearby Mexico.

Rosberg shot off the line and led Hamilton up the hill, while Ricciardo was forced to recover from a poor start. The Australian dropped six places and clawing his way back to sixth by the end of lap one. 

Meanwhile Sergio Perez, in an epic moment of brain fade, piled into the back of Kimi Raikkonen and then ricocheted into Adrian Sutil.

The Sauber driver was out on the spot after a stellar qualifying performance, Perez coaxed his three-wheel Force India back to the pits.

After the race, he somehow managed to blame both the Sauber and Ferrari drivers.

"Adrian started to close the door and I had to try and brake later than him. By doing so I was unable to avoid contact with Kimi, which caused me to make contact with Adrian also. I just didn’t expect Kimi to be in that position."