Lewis Hamilton didn't quite manage to join Juan Manuel Fangio as a five-time Formula 1 world champion at the United States Grand Prix over the weekend. However, he still has plenty of opportunities left in the season to seal the title and has vowed to 'come back stronger' in Mexico. The nail-biting US Grand Prix was a chance for Hamilton to win the title, but the race was eventually won by Ferrari's Kimi Raikonnen, while Hamilton came third with his main rival Sebastian Vettel just behind in fourth. Lewis Hamilton (R) reflects on a missed opportunity as Kimi Raikkonen celebrates victory Raikkonen's win in front of Verstappen means Hamilton's coronation as champion is delayed Raikkonen takes the checkered flag in front of Max Verstappen for his first win in 113 races Mercedes made a rare error in their strategy for the race, leaving Hamilton too much to do with too little time to do it towards the end of the Grand Prix. 'There are a lot of things that we could have done better and there are certain things that weren't optimum for us which made it look even worse than it was,' Hamilton told Sky Sports. 'Ferrari gained a bit of pace and we seemed to lose a little bit of pace here. But we'll go back to the drawing board and that's why we're the best because as a team because in there no one is to blame, we all take the blame together. 'I know the guys will do great analysis from today over the next couple of days and we'll come back stronger the next race.' Hamilton is 70 points ahead in the title race, with only 75 more points on offer through the rest of the season. Vettel is still in the hunt, but it will take something major to deny the Brit the title. In Mexico, Hamilton just needs to come in seventh place to secure his fifth world championship. 'I thought we could do better, but we have to keep pushing at the next race,' said Hamilton on Sunday. 'I had way, way too far to go to get to the front. I don't know what happened with the strategy.' US GRAND PRIX RESULTS AND TITLE STANDINGS 1 Kimi Raikkonen (Fin) Ferrari 1hr 34mins 18.643secs 2 Max Verstappen (Hol) Red Bull 1:34:19.924 3 Lewis Hamilton (Gbr) Mercedes 1:34:20.985 4 Sebastian Vettel (Ger) Ferrari 1:34:36.865 5 Valtteri Bottas (Fin) Mercedes 1:34:43.387 6 Nico Hulkenberg (Ger) Renault 1:35:45.853 7 Carlos Sainz (Spa) Renault 1:35:53.637 8 Sergio Perez (Mex) Force India 1:35:59.723 9 Brendon Hartley (Nzl) Toro Rosso at 1 Lap 10 Marcus Ericsson (Swe) Sauber at 1 Lap 11 Stoffel Vandoorne (Bel) McLaren at 1 Lap 12 Pierre Gasly (Fra) Toro Rosso at 1 Lap 13 Sergey Sirotkin (Rus) Williams at 1 Lap 14 Lance Stroll (Can) Williams at 2 Laps Not Classified: 15 Charles Leclerc (Mon) Sauber 31 Laps completed, 16 Daniel Ricciardo (Aus) Red Bull 8 Laps completed, 17 Romain Grosjean (Fra) Haas 2 Laps completed, 18 Fernando Alonso (Spa) McLaren 1 Lap completed, DSQ Esteban Ocon (Fra) Force India, DSQ Kevin Magnussen (Den) Haas Fastest Lap: Lewis Hamilton 1min 37.392secs on Lap 40 1 Lewis Hamilton (Gbr) Mercedes 346pts 2 Sebastian Vettel (Ger) Ferrari 276 3 Kimi Raikkonen (Fin) Ferrari 221 4 Valtteri Bottas (Fin) Mercedes 217 5 Max Verstappen (Hol) Red Bull 191 6 Daniel Ricciardo (Aus) Red Bull 146 7 Nico Hulkenberg (Ger) Renault 61 8 Sergio Perez (Mex) Force India 57 9 Kevin Magnussen (Den) Haas 53 10 Fernando Alonso (Spa) McLaren 50 11 Esteban Ocon (Fra) Force India 49 12 Carlos Sainz (Spa) Renault 45 13 Romain Grosjean (Fra) Haas 31 14 Pierre Gasly (Fra) Toro Rosso 28 15 Charles Leclerc (Mon) Sauber 21 16 Stoffel Vandoorne (Bel) McLaren 8 17 Marcus Ericsson (Swe) Sauber 7 18 Lance Stroll (Can) Williams 6 19 Brendon Hartley (Nzl) Toro Rosso 4 20 Sergey Sirotkin (Rus) Williams 1 Constructors': 1 Mercedes 563pts, 2 Ferrari 497, 3 Red Bull 337, 4 Renault 106, 5 Haas 84, 6 McLaren 58, 7 Force India 47, 8 Toro Rosso 32, 9 Sauber 28, 10 Williams 7 Advertisement Despite starting second on the grid, Kimi Raikkonen made a stunning start to the Grand Prix Heading uphill into turn one, Raikkonen sneaks ahead of Hamilton as they head into the corner Raikkonen maintained his advantage following the first corner to take control of the Grand Prix Vettel's race and title hopes were almost over before the end of Lap 1 👀 #USGP 🇺🇸 #F1 pic.twitter.com/o13JaOxub8 — Formula 1 (@F1) October 21, 2018 Vettel smokes his tyres which saw him drop down to 15th and leave his title hopes dangling After staunch defending from Verstappen, Hamilton looked like he had got the job done<doc-sep>Mexico won the right to be the first Latin American nation to host the event, which will be held on January 19-20. The Race of Champions' purpose-built circuit will be built entirely within the famous stadium section - the Foro Sol - of the grand prix circuit. “We are delighted to be bringing the Race Of Champions to Mexico City," said ROC President Fredrik Johnsson. "The Foro Sol is an incredible arena to watch motor sport, and it’s no surprise that it has already reached iconic status with fans of Formula 1. "It is a perfect location for ROC Mexico, where the greats of motorsport will show off all their skills in identical supercars on our purpose-built track. “Rest assured we will put together a memorable event for fans of fast cars and even faster drivers. "Mexican race fans are passionate about their sport and I’m sure they will enjoy the competition and shows we put on – with a perfect view of all the action from every seat." The Race of Champions is run over two days, with the ROC Nations Cup to be held on Saturday January 19 and featuring two drivers from each nation fighting to win the title of 'World's Fastest Nation'. The following day is the Race of Champions itself, where individual drivers battle for the crown. Driver announcements are yet to be made for this year's event, which has traditionally pitched competitors from disciplines such as F1, IndyCar, NASCAR, World Rallycross, Le Mans and the World Rally Championship against each other. Previous winners of the event include David Coulthard, Sebastian Vettel, Juan Pablo Montoya, Mattias Ekstrom and Sebastien Loeb.<doc-sep>Lewis Hamilton needs a top-seven finish in Sunday's Mexican GP to be sure of clinching his fifth Formula 1 world title. The Mercedes driver needs just five points over the season's final three races to be sure of the title, even if Vettel wins every race. Hamilton leads Vettel by 70 points with 75 still available over the final three races. Hamilton needs to be 50 ahead by the end of the Mexican race to wrap up the title with two rounds to spare. So Vettel must outscore Hamilton by 21 points in Mexico to take the fight on to Brazil - meaning he must take the 25 points available for a race win to have any chance. But even if Vettel does win the race, Hamilton only needs five points to close out the crown. A seventh-placed finish, which is worth six points, would be sufficient. How Hamilton can win title in Mexico If Vettel wins in Mexico, Hamilton must finish seventh If Vettel is second or lower in Mexico, Hamilton is world champion Hamilton is already guaranteed to emerge ahead in any tie-break situation were he and Vettel to finish level on points at the end of the season as he has nine race wins to his Ferrari rival's five, with only three races left. Where has Lewis won his previous titles? Year Grand Prix How may races left? 2017 Mexico 2 2015 USA 3 2014 Abu Dhabi 0 2008 Brazil 0 How can Mercedes clinch the Constructors' Championship? It could prove a double celebration for Hamilton and Mercedes with the Brackley team having their first chance to clinch a fifth Constructors' Championship in succession. Leading Ferrari by 66 points, Mercedes need to outscore their Italian rivals by 20 points to settle the battle in Mexico. However, this remains an outside shot with Mercedes only scoring that many more points than Ferrari at a single event three times this season. Ferrari (2000-2004) are the only team to win five drivers' and constructors' title doubles in a row, a feat Mercedes can match. Sky F1's Mexican GP schedule Sunday, October 28 (Don't forget, the clocks go back an hour on Sunday morning!) 5.30pm: Pit Lane LIVE! 6.30pm: On The Grid LIVE! 7.10pm: THE MEXICAN GP LIVE! 9.30pm: Paddock Live Sky Sports F1 is the only place to watch every Formula 1 Grand Prix, qualifying and practice session live in 2018. Get Sky Sports F1.<doc-sep>
Lewis Hamilton insists he knows what went wrong at the US GP. LEWIS Hamilton says Mercedes already understand more of the reasons for their surprise US GP struggle and will “go back to the drawing board” for Mexico, when he will have a second chance to clinch his fifth world title. Hamilton was made to wait at least seven days to seal the Drivers’ Championship after slipping from pole position to third place in a pulsating Austin race won by Kimi Raikkonen. Hamilton has won the previous four races but conceded Mercedes “weren’t quick enough” in Texas when he was beaten by both a Red Bull and a Ferrari. Get every remaining F1 practice, qualifying and race LIVE & EXCLUSIVE. SIGN UP TODAY! “There are a lot of things that we could have done better and there are certain things that weren’t optimum for us which made it look even worse than it was,” said Hamilton, who was the only top-five finisher to make two pit stops. “Ferrari gained a bit of pace and we seemed to lose a little bit of pace here. But we’ll go back to the drawing board and that’s why we’re the best because as a team because in there no one is to blame, we all take the blame together. “I know the guys will do great analysis from today over the next couple of days and we’ll come back stronger the next race.” UNITED STATES GRAND PRIX: RICCIARDO ‘RUNNING OUT OF RACES’ FOR RED BULL CELEBRATION US GRAND PRIX BRANDED ‘BAD COPY’ OF INDY500 Lewis Hamilton leads the Drivers’ Championship by 66 points going into Mexico. Source: Getty Images Mercedes’ lead of the Constructors’ Championship from Ferrari was trimmed to just 66 points in America after Hamilton finished two places behind Raikkonen and Silver Arrows team-mate Valtteri Bottas was overtaken by Sebastian Vettel on the penultimate lap. While acknowledging a return to form for the Scuderia, Hamilton, fresh from Mercedes’ post-race debrief, added: “There were a lot of things that were against us. I’ve only just discovered certain things, which make a lot of sense. “Naturally then being that we were on the back foot, you could say strategy and all these different things, we weren’t quick enough today. “But we are still in a great position and for me there is frustration because I want to win the title for the team. Today we lost points in the constructors’ with the team and collectively we’ve lost performance in some areas. But I think we know where it is. We still have three races to go.” This story originally appeared on Sky Sports.