Pole position qualifier Lewis Hamilton of Great Britain and Mercedes GP celebrates in parc ferme during qualifying for the United States Formula One Grand Prix at Circuit of The Americas. LEWIS Hamilton secured pole position for Sunday’s potential title-deciding United States Grand Prix by just 0.061 seconds on Saturday with another record-breaking performance for Mercedes in a tense qualifying session. The 33-year-old Briton topped the times with a late flying lap that kept him narrowly ahead of his only remaining title rival Sebastian Vettel of Ferrari who, after taking a three-place penalty, will be fifth on the grid. Hamilton needs to beat fellow-four-time champion Vettel by eight points to clinch his fifth drivers championship. Kimi Raikkonen was third-fastest in the second Ferrari ahead of Valtteri Bottas in the second Mercedes with Daniel Ricciardo fifth for Red Bull. Esteban Ocon was an impressive sixth for Force India ahead of Nico Hulkenberg of Renault, Romain Grosjean of Haas, Charles Leclerc of Sauber and Sergio Perez in the second Force India. Get every Formula 1 practice, qualifying and race LIVE. SIGN UP TODAY! “That was close and I didn’t know how close it was going to be when we got down to it,” said Hamilton. “I knew it was edgy between us on my last run, but my second lap was just that little bit getter and that enabled me to pull it out. “I was adamant that I was going to do a better second lap so I am very happy with that.” It was Hamilton’s third successive pole at the Circuit of the Americas and the 81st pole of his career. Lewis Hamilton in action. Source: Getty Images “That was pretty close and it is always a bit of a shame when you miss out by such a little time,” said Vettel. “But I was pretty happy with the laps I had. “It was tricky to get it all together, but given the last few weeks that we have had, I am pretty happy that we are back in range.” Raikkonen said: “It’s been a pretty positive day. We are close and I felt good with the car. We will try tomorrow and it will be interesting.” After a rain-swept Friday, Saturday brought dry, if cool, conditions with a track temperature of 21 degrees and the air at 19, a change that encouraged Ferrari to improve and dominate final practice in the morning. When qualifying began, the two Ferrari men were swiftly setting the pace with Vettel on top early in Q1. The Mercedes men delayed their first runs, but were soon back in command, Hamilton going quickest in 1:34.176, ahead of Bottas. The championship leader trimmed his time while, behind him, Max Verstappen’s session was ended when his right rear suspension appeared to fail after he ran across the ‘sausage’ kerbs at Turn 17. PRACTICE: Hamilton dominates as Vettel cops crucial grid penalty PIT TALK: F1 star’s savage burn over rival team’s ‘stealing’ TV GUIDE: Formula 1 United States GP LIVE, AD-BREAK FREE on FOX SPORTS After a final flurry of laps, the five cars eliminated included both McLarens and both Williams along with Sauber’s Marcus Ericsson, a once unthinkable outcome from qualifying. Fernando Alonso did his utmost, but wound up 16th after being outpaced by Brendon Hartley’s Toro Rosso in the final seconds. Hamilton climbed out of his Mercedes to greet film star Matthew McConaughey with a hug before returning to the fray, a clear signal of his relaxed mood. Using ‘super-soft’ tyres, Hamilton was unable to produce his best while the Ferraris led by Raikkonen went quickest again, leaving the Briton third ahead of Bottas. Only Raikkonen ran on ultra-soft tyres, on which he will start the race while the rest will be on their more-durable ‘supers, enabling greater tactical flexibility for the first part of the race. Behind them, Carlos Sainz, Kevin Magnussen, Pierre Gasly, Brendon Hartley and Verstappen missed the cut to the top-ten shootout. The Dutchman’s exit meant he was out-qualified by his team-mate Ricciardo for the first time in 12 outings. On their first Q3 runs, Bottas, Hamilton and Vettel all broke the lap record, the Englishman quickest in 1:32.567, enough to put him 0.088 seconds clear of the resurgent, if penalised, Vettel. On their final runs, Raikkonen improved again, to go top, but Hamilton exceeded that effort again with another faster lap to take pole for the third consecutive season. Vettel was second 0.061 seconds adrift of the Briton and, with his penalty, will be fifth on the grid. “Beautiful work,” Mercedes told Hamilton, who will have Raikkonen alongside him at the start. If you can’t see the blog console below, please click here.<doc-sep>Sebastian Vettel's three-place grid penalty for Sunday's US GP has split opinion in the paddock but handed Lewis Hamilton a major title boost. The Ferrari driver has been punished after the stewards ruled he had failed to slow sufficiently during a red-flag period in Friday practice. Watch Sky F1's coverage on your mobile phone Vettel's demotion increases the chances of Hamilton being crowned world champion this weekend - Hamilton needs to outscore Vettel by eight points or more to be confirmed as a five-time title winner. The drivers' perspective on Vettel's penalty Sky F1 analyst Paul Di Resta, who drove for Williams last season, sympathised with Vettel's plight. "This year there's a new hard rule and the drivers have got a certain amount of time to slow up," explained Di Resta. "The FIA say you've got two 'zones' to get to that speed, but if you're at the end of the first zone, you've got less time because you're going to get to the end of the second zone quicker. That's where it's difficult. "I feel for the drivers. Vettel slowed, it's just whether that delta is a bit too quick. When I look at that from a driver's point of view, I would say that is definitely slow enough and he's taken the appropriate action. Yes, it's safety critical, but he slowed sufficiently for a Formula 1 car. As soon as he saw the red lights, he reduced his speed. "All the drivers will be on Vettel's side on this. The rule needs changing. It needs to be tweaked." How did the paddock react to Vettel's penalty? Red Bull boss Christian Horner, for whom Vettel drove when he won four world championships, described the regulation as a "rubbish rule," but immediately acknowledged the stewards "have to show consistency". Earlier this year, Red Bull's Daniel Ricciardo was penalised with a three-place grid drop for a similar offence while Force India's Esteban Ocon also went back three places for the Japanese GP after speeding under a red flag. "It's not a good regulation and it's not a good penalty," added Horner. "We're over-regulated as a sport as it is." Even though Vettel's penalty has increased the chances of his own driver securing the title this weekend, Mercedes chief Toto Wolff agreed the regulation should be changed. "For the championship obviously it's not good if Sebastian gets a penalty, we would obviously want him there and put on a good show," Wolff told Sky F1. "I think we need to talk about it. The safety of the stewards and of a car that's in the barrier is super important but we need to look at the regulations because we want to get rid of the penalties. Merging those two is not a trivial thing." What have Vettel and Ferrari said? The Ferrari driver is adamant he should not have been penalised. "I think it's wrong, I think l slowed down," Vettel told Sky Sports. "I think there should be common sense with the rules that we have." #Seb5 penalised by 3 positions on the grid for ‘not slowing sufficiently during a red flag period’ in #FP1 #USGP — Scuderia Ferrari (@ScuderiaFerrari) October 19, 2018 Ferrari have not commented formally about the punishment. What have the Italian press said? The Italian media have been increasingly critical of Vettel in recent weeks as his title bid faded and it appears Vettel is unlikely to receive a sympathetic hearing for his latest setback:<doc-sep>
Sebastian Vettel will be demoted three grid places for the US GP after failing to slow sufficiently during a red-flag period in Friday practice. The punishment increases the chances of Mercedes rival Lewis Hamilton wrapping up the world championship on Sunday. Hamilton will be crowned champion if he outscores Vettel, who now cannot qualify higher than fourth, by eight points or more. What did Vettel do wrong? The red flag was thrown during a rain-hit opening practice session after the Sauber of Charles Leclerc brought gravel onto the circuit after spinning in the slippery conditions. The stewards reviewed video evidence, positioning data and telemetry as well as testimony from Vettel himself and Ferrari team representative Jock Clear. They ruled that Vettel 'did not slow sufficiently during a Red Flag period' and Vettel 'did, in fact, fail to stay above the minimum time set by the FIA ECU in marshalling sectors 6 and 7'. 'As the regulation states, Art. 31.6 was added this year to ensure that drivers reduce speed significantly during a red flag. Breach of this regulation is seen to be an extremely serious matter,' the verdict added. 'To be consistent with previous decisions on similar incidents this year, the stewards assessed the penalty specified above.' At the previous race in Japan, Force India's Esteban Ocon was handed a three-place grid drop for failing to slow for red flags in practice. Red Bull's Daniel Ricciardo was given the same sanction at the Australian GP. What was Vettel's explanation? Immediately after a rain-hit Practice Two session, Vettel told Sky Sports he had slowed down for the red flag. "I saw the red flag, I slowed down, I had a look around to see where the car was, [whether it was] potentially stuck in the wall or if there was one around Turn 9 and 10 and then I slowed down significantly to comply with the rules," Vettel said. "They found it took too long. I think it's pretty straightforward. "Obviously I was aware, I slowed down. "I think there should be common sense with the rules that we have... I think it's wrong, I think I slowed down, I had a good look around at what's going on. I think the rules are clear so we know but I think it's the first time we had this in the wet and in the wet the target is a lot slower so you literally have to stop to 30kph or 40/50kph to bring down the delta. Which probably I should do next time. "In my opinion, it's not the right thing if there's a car right behind you. It might run into you, but it's more important that you don't get the penalty." Vettel's 2018 mistakes Race Session Incident Azerbaijan Race Locks up when trying to pass Bottas for lead, drops to fourth France Race Collides with Bottas at the start and drops down the field Austria Qualifying Blocks Sainz and demoted five places on the grid Germany Race Crashes into the barriers from the lead Italy Race Collides with Hamilton on first lap Japan Qualifying Spins on flying lap and qualifies ninth Japan Race Crashes into Verstappen after ambitious overtake USA Practice One Fails to slow sufficiently for red flags and handed three-place grid penalty What do F1 rules say about red flags? The regulations state that the appearance of the red flags in a practice session means 'all cars must immediately reduce speed and proceed slowly back to the pit lane'. Drivers are supposed to adhere to a target time displayed on their car's dashboard on their way back to the pits. 'In order to ensure that drivers reduce speed sufficiently, from the time at which the "RED FLAG" message appears on the official messaging system until the time that each car crosses the first safety car line when entering the pit lane, drivers must stay above the minimum time set by the FIA ECU at least once in each marshalling sector.'