Lewis Hamilton finally broke the unreliability spell he seemed to be under lately at McLaren to come out on top of a two-way battle with championship leader Sebastian Vettel (Red Bull), at the inaugural American Grand Prix at the Circuit of the Americas, the first F1 race on American soil since 2007.
Hamilton first lost second place at the start to Vettel's teammate Mark Webber, but was back in business in no time. The Australian caused more worries to his engineers when he retired because of yet another alternator failure.
The rest of the race was mostly a duel between Vettel and Hamilton, which lasted until the checkered flag, since the eventual winner failed to break away from his German rival, once he had himself in the lead on lap 47.
The other story belongs to Fernando Alonso, who drove another great race. The Spaniard stormed through from seventh at the start all the way up to fourth, partially thanks to the starting slot provided by his teammate Felipe Massa. Webber's retirement did the rest.
Kudos to the Brazilian, who recovered from 11th to fourth during the race, showing his form is really back where it should be.
Other points scorers are Jenson Button (McLaren), Kimi Raikkonen and Romain Grosjean (Lotus), Nico Hulkenberg (Force India) and Pastor Maldonado (Williams).
The first US Grand Prix at the Circuit of the Americas will certainly be hailed a success by many, as the track layout and conditions provided plenty of tension and excitement throughout the race.
As the title contenders now head to Brazil, for the season finale, the gap between Vettel and Alonso is now of 13 points, to the German's advantage.
Hamilton first lost second place at the start to Vettel's teammate Mark Webber, but was back in business in no time. The Australian caused more worries to his engineers when he retired because of yet another alternator failure.
The rest of the race was mostly a duel between Vettel and Hamilton, which lasted until the checkered flag, since the eventual winner failed to break away from his German rival, once he had himself in the lead on lap 47.
The other story belongs to Fernando Alonso, who drove another great race. The Spaniard stormed through from seventh at the start all the way up to fourth, partially thanks to the starting slot provided by his teammate Felipe Massa. Webber's retirement did the rest.
Kudos to the Brazilian, who recovered from 11th to fourth during the race, showing his form is really back where it should be.
Other points scorers are Jenson Button (McLaren), Kimi Raikkonen and Romain Grosjean (Lotus), Nico Hulkenberg (Force India) and Pastor Maldonado (Williams).
The first US Grand Prix at the Circuit of the Americas will certainly be hailed a success by many, as the track layout and conditions provided plenty of tension and excitement throughout the race.
As the title contenders now head to Brazil, for the season finale, the gap between Vettel and Alonso is now of 13 points, to the German's advantage.