The Circuit of the Americas in Austin, seen from the observation tower, with turns 3 through 9 and the infield in view. Illustrative image from the 2016 US Grand Prix weekend, not from the 2019 race. Photo: Pedro Mendes / Wikimedia Commons (CC BY 2.0)
Lewis Hamilton did not win the 2019 United States Grand Prix on November 3, 2019, and he did not need to. He finished second behind teammate Valtteri Bottas at the Circuit of the Americas in Austin, Texas, and that was enough to lock up his sixth Formula 1 world championship. The title put him one ahead of Juan Manuel Fangio’s five and one short of Michael Schumacher’s record seven.
What happened at the 2019 United States Grand Prix
Bottas took pole position with a 1:32.029 and controlled the opening stint of the 56-lap race. Max Verstappen was the first front-runner to pit, on lap 13, switching to hard tyres. Bottas stopped for hards on lap 14 and kept his lead. Mercedes told Hamilton to pit on lap 23, but he stayed out, was passed by Bottas, and came in at the end of that lap.
The two Mercedes cars were then on different plans. Verstappen made a second stop on lap 34, and Mercedes answered by bringing Bottas in on the next lap, which gave him fresher tyres than Hamilton for the closing laps. Bottas used them to pass Hamilton on lap 52 and take the win, his fourth of 2019. Hamilton held off Verstappen over the final laps to finish second, with Verstappen third. Kevin Magnussen’s brake failure on the penultimate lap brought out yellow flags that slowed Verstappen’s late charge.
Elsewhere, Sebastian Vettel retired early with suspension failure and Robert Kubica’s Williams stopped with an oil leak. Charles Leclerc finished fourth, more than 50 seconds behind the winner, and set the fastest lap, a 1:36.169 on lap 44 that was also a new lap record for the circuit.
The competitive context: a title that was a matter of when
By the time Formula 1 reached Texas, the championship was close to a formality. Hamilton led Bottas by 74 points, and Bottas was the only driver who could still deny him. Hamilton would clinch the title if Bottas did not win, or if he finished in the top eight himself. Bottas did win, so Hamilton needed his own result, and second place was more than enough. Mercedes had already secured its sixth consecutive constructors’ championship earlier in the season, and Austin completed the drivers’ half of a sixth straight double.
It was also a continuation of a pattern. A year earlier Hamilton had clinched his fifth title in Mexico while Verstappen won the race. In 2019 the gap between Hamilton and everyone else was less about any single Sunday than about a season of consistency, which is why the clincher came with two rounds still to run.
Why it mattered
Fangio’s five championships had stood as the benchmark for the sport’s greatest driver from 1957 until Schumacher passed it in 2003. Hamilton’s sixth took him past Fangio and into second place on the all-time list, behind only Schumacher. The result also gave him his 150th podium finish, five short of Schumacher’s record.
Bottas, meanwhile, was gracious about being beaten in the standings and was already looking ahead to the following year. His Austin win, his fourth of 2019, helped push him to a new career-best points total.
The lasting effect
Hamilton did not stop at six. He went on to win seven world championships, equalling Schumacher’s record, the arc we traced when we looked at how a single point at Interlagos made him champion in 2008. Austin sits in the middle of that arc, the title that moved the conversation from whether Hamilton belonged among the greats to how many he could collect.
The circuit keeps showing up in title stories. This season, Kimi Antonelli’s one-stop strategy won in Austin, and the Mercedes driver has since been crowned champion, as covered in our November 2 briefing. Hamilton now races for Ferrari. For anyone curious why the front row matters so much in Texas, we also broke down how often COTA winners start up front.
Related Reading on Backfire Racing
- Today in Motorsport History, October 28: Hamilton Clinched a Fifth Title in Mexico in 2018 as Verstappen Won
- Today in Motorsport History, November 2: Hamilton Passed Glock at the Last Corner and Took the 2008 F1 Title by One Point
- Antonelli’s One-Stop Won Austin. Russell’s Eighth Place Postponed the Coronation
- 11 of 13 COTA Winners Started on the Front Row. Antonelli’s Title Shot Starts Saturday.
Lead image credit: Pedro Mendes / Wikimedia Commons (CC BY 2.0), view of the Circuit of the Americas from the observation tower; illustrative image from the 2016 US Grand Prix weekend, not from the 2019 race.
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