Hamilton blasts to U.S. Grand Prix pole

AUSTIN, Texas - Lewis Hamilton pulverized the track record to claim pole position on Saturday ahead of a U.S. Grand Prix that could secure the Mercedes driver's fourth Formula One world championship.

Ferrari's Sebastian Vettel, the Briton's closest rival but 59 points behind with four races remaining, qualified second with a prodigious effort just when it seemed Mercedes would sweep the front row.

Hamilton, chasing his fifth win in six years at the Circuit of the Americas, dominated every phase of qualifying and will be champion on Sunday if he scores 16 points more than the German.

"I love this track, it is such a fantastic track to drive," he said. "It's going to be a great race, a tough one, but I'm the best prepared I can be."

Vettel is the only other driver to have won at the Texas track and will do everything he can to deny the Briton a 62nd victory but will also be haunted by two retirements in the last three races.

Hamilton's pole, in a time of one minute 33.108 seconds on a gusty afternoon, was the 72nd of his career and 11th of the season.

It also allowed him to claim another of Michael Schumacher's all-time Formula One records with an unprecedented 117th front row start.

While Mercedes look sure to clinch the constructors' championship for the fourth year in a row on Sunday, with a 145-point advantage over Ferrari, Hamilton played down his own chances of wrapping things up in America.

"I think it's highly unlikely that's going to be the case," the 32-year-old told the cheering crowd from the pit straight after parking up.

"Sebastian did a great job today to bring the Ferrari back up there. I think ultimately all I can do is do the best I can of my abilities and we are going to work as hard as I can to get maximum points.

"Sebastian is right there so unless he makes a silly mistake, which is unlikely as he's a four-times world champion, then we are going to be seeing it (the battle) continue on to other races."

VERY POOR

Vettel's time of 1:33.347 put him ahead of Hamilton's team mate Valtteri Bottas, who qualified third and shares the second row with Red Bull's Australian Daniel Ricciardo.

"My lap was very poor in Q3 (the third phase) and I knew I had to deliver," said the German, whose mechanics changed the car's chassis after he complained about the handling in a fraught Friday practice.

"I got it right when it mattered at the end. It’s important to get the front row because I believe our race pace is really good."

Ferrari's Kimi Raikkonen qualified fifth with Max Verstappen sixth for Red Bull, but the Dutch 20-year-old has a 15-place grid penalty meaning French driver Esteban Ocon moves up to the third row for Force India.

Spain's Carlos Sainz, preparing for his first race for Renault after switching from Toro Rosso, will start seventh alongside compatriot Fernando Alonso in the McLaren.

New Zealander Brendon Hartley, making his Formula One debut at Toro Rosso, will be last on the grid after qualifying 18th but with a 25-place penalty for an engine change decided on before he arrived in the team.

Haas's Kevin Magnussen was handed a three-place penalty for impeding Force India's Sergio Perez.

(Reporting by Alan Baldwin, editing by Pritha Sarkar/Peter Rutherford)

source: news.abs-cbn.com

Straight eight puts Vettel ahead of Schumacher

AUSTIN, Texas -- Sebastian Vettel promised he would never get used to winning, even as he celebrated a record eighth victory in a row at the U.S. Grand Prix on Sunday.

Asked whether he felt like pinching himself at what he had achieved, Red Bull's quadruple world champion grinned: "Not just step back and pinch. I think step back and hit hard. That's more like it."

Amid the back-slapping and champagne being sprayed in the Red Bull hospitality, Vettel and team principal Christian Horner struggled to come to terms with a season that continues to rewrite the record books.

Red Bull, like their 26-year-old driver, has won every title for the past four years but this year has set a new level of dominance.

Having clinched a fourth consecutive drivers title last month in India, and become the youngest ever quadruple champion, Vettel had managed to find fresh motivation where others might have eased up.

He showed the same hunger and zeal at the Circuit of the Americas on Sunday as he did two weeks earlier when he had equaled Michael Schumacher's 2004 record of seven wins in a row in a single season.

"I think the moment you are not hungry any more and are asking yourself what are you doing, it's time to move on and do something else." he said. "I jump into the car and I just want to be fastest. It's still there, same as a couple of years ago.

"Obviously it (winning races) was more the case lately than many years back, but still I think you should not allow yourself to get used to it."

With just one race remaining in Brazil next weekend, Horner said the team will keep their foot on the gas all the way to the checkered flag in Sao Paulo, where Vettel can equal Schumacher's record of 13 wins in a season after collecting his 12th of the year in Texas.

"I think when we reflect at the end of the season on what we have actually achieved this year, it's very remarkable," Horner told reporters.

"He (Vettel) was quite emotional at the end of the race because he has beaten the record of one of his idols when it seemed likely that kind of record would not be beaten.

"To have won every race since July is mind-blowing, especially against the quality of opposition that we are up against. I think it will take a while to sink in."

Speechless

Vettel had said earlier in the week that he was not driven by records but he was well aware of the magnitude of what he had achieved the minute he crossed the finish line in Texas.

"I'm speechless," the German told his team over the radio. "We have to remember these days. There is no guarantee they will last forever."

Later, talking to reporters, Vettel was still trying to put it all into perspective.

"I think you should never lose the passion and the joy and always remember the days when you were just dreaming of these things to happen," he said. "So therefore I think it's important for all of us to just enjoy the moment.

"There's more time later in our lives to realize what it meant."

With massive changes to the cars coming next season that could turn the sport on its head, or at least threaten Red Bull's supremacy, Horner agreed that it was important to make the most of present success.

"In sport whether it is Roger Federer or Ferrari, or Williams or McLaren there are phases of sportsmen being dominant and at some point that does come to an end and then you have to regroup and you have to go again," said Horner.

"Sebastian is right, it's important to savor moments like today. It's easy to become complacent but you have to appreciate every single moment.

"It never gets boring because you have to remember the days when we weren't winning," said the principal, who marked his 40th birthday on Saturday.

source: www.abs-cbnnews.com

Magnussen will sink or swim, says Button

AUSTIN, Texas - Kevin Magnussen will be thrown into the Formula One deep end when he replaces Sergio Perez at McLaren next season and it will be up to the young Dane whether he sinks or swims, future team mate Jenson Button said on Thursday.

"It's one of those positions where it could light up your career or put an end to your career very early if things don't go well," Button told reporters ahead of this weekend's U.S. Grand Prix.

"It's a massive risk to be put in the deep end, if you like, with a team that should be fighting for a title.

"But if a driver is willing to take that risk, he has a lot of confidence in himself and his ability.

"It could go one way or another and I hope it goes the positive way," said the 2009 world champion, who made his debut as a 20-year-old with Williams in 2000.

The 21-year-old Dane is the son of former McLaren and Stewart racer Jan Magnussen and will be the first rookie to make his F1 debut with McLaren since Britain's Lewis Hamilton in 2007.

He steps into the seat vacated by Mexican Perez amid high praise and even higher expectations.

If Magnussen has any doubts about what is expected of him then he need only consider the fate of Perez, a once highly touted prospect who has been jettisoned by the former champions after one disappointing season.

The Formula One starting grid is a shark tank and the 33-year-old Button, who has been in F1 the longest of the drivers currently in the sport, knows better than to get too attached to team mates.

Button said farewell to Hamilton, the 2008 champion, last year and will now be on his third different team mate at McLaren.

Good feedback

"It's always sad to see a team mate leave," said Button. "I have never really been that close to my team mates but still you spend a whole season with someone who goes through the same highs and lows that you do.

"It's the same as the end of last year. You build a relationship with a team mate, you learn a lot about each other, gain experience and then things change.

"It's a little bit tough initially but you learn to adapt as we all do in life."

Magnussen has shown all the signs of being a quick learner as well as quick on the track and Button is not about to become anyone's nursemaid.

"If he's willing to learn from the go and picking things up, I don't think so," said Button. "I'm sure he's going to learn from me, I've been in this sport for 13 years but you also learn things from young drivers.

"We've seen his speed in other Formulas and I think the team has been impressed with his speed in the test that he has done.

"The bit for me that is more important is feedback but I've heard his feedback is very good from those tests, which is good that I can believe and trust his feedback."

After a brutally disappointing campaign that has seen McLaren finish no higher than fifth in 17 races so far, the team will be looking for a big bounce back next season when there are major changes and a new V6 engine.

"I've said all year that it's important to have a team mate, especially with the new regulations, that has experience," said Button.

"Kevin doesn't have that but his outright speed is very good and the bit that is more important to me is, from the testing he has done in a Formula One car, his feedback has been very good which has to be very important at the start of the year." (Editing by Alan Baldwin)

source: www.abs-cbnnews.com