United States GP 2007

JUNE 17, 2007

Race Incidents

Ralf Schumacher, David Coulthard, United States GP 2007
© The Cahier Archive

* Lap 1: On pole position for the second time in as many weekends, Lewis Hamilton is not as quick off the line as team-mate Fernando Alonso, but after briefly running side by side they settle into first and second in grid order. Felipe Massa grabs third from Nick Heidfeld and Heikki Kovalainen as Kimi R§ikk‚nen slips to sixth. Formula One newcomer Sebastian Vettel runs wide onto the grass at the first turn and loses a couple of places. Behind, David Coulthard, Ralf Schumacher and Rubens Barrichello all tangle, which forces Anthony Davidson to take avoiding action. The German retires on the spot while Coulthard and Barrichello get no farther than the pits. Jarno Trulli completes the lap in seventh place, ahead of Giancarlo Fisichella, Mark Webber, Nico Rosberg, Vettel, Tonio Liuzzi, Alexander Wurz, Adrian Sutil, Scott Speed, Takuma Sato, Jenson Button, Christijan Albers and Davidson.

* Lap 2: Hamilton leads by 0.6s. Fisichella spins at Turn Four and drops to 19th.

* Lap 3: Hamilton laps in 1m14.329s to lead by 0.9s.

* Lap 4: Hamilton goes faster again: 1m13.991s. Hes 1.3s clear.

* Lap 5: Hamilton posts a 1m13.681s to lead by 1.7s. Davidson and Fisichella pass Albers.

* Lap 7: Sato passes Speed for 14th.

* Lap 8: Fisichella passes Davidson.

* Lap 9: Fisichella passes Button.

* Lap 10: Hamilton leads Alonso by 2.2s, with Massa a further 2.0s adrift in third.

* Lap 14: Sato passes Sutil but almost immediately spins into retirement at Turn Four.

* Lap 15: Fisichella passes Sutil to annexe 13th.

* Lap 18: Alonso posts a 1m13.537s but still trails by 3.2s.

* Lap 19: Hamilton responds with a 1m13.324s. The gap stretches to 3.4s.

* Lap 20: Hamilton laps in 1m13.222s.

* Lap 21: Hamilton, Massa and Heidfeld all pit the latter after being passed by Kovalainen at the start of the lap.

* Lap 22: Alonso pits and rejoins behind Hamilton and Trulli. Kovalainen and R§ikk‚nen run one-two for Finland.

* Lap 23: Fisichella passes Wurz.

* Lap 24: Alonso passes Trulli. R§ikk‚nen and Vettel pit.

* Lap 26: Button passes Speed.

* Lap 27: Kovalainen pits. Hamilton leads.

* Lap 28: The rejoining Kovalainen gets a close-up view as R§ikk‚nen passes Heidfeld at Turn One. Sutil pits.

* Lap 29: Fisichella passes Liuzzi.

* Lap 30: Webber pits from fourth.

* Lap 31: Hamilton leads by 1.0s. Trulli pits.

* Lap 32: Alonso closes to within 0.6s of the leader. Massa remains a distant third, ahead of the yet-to-stop Rosberg.

* Lap 35: The leaders are catching a dense group of cars, running from Liuzzi (12th) back to Davidson (16th).

* Lap 36: Fisichella and Speed pit. The leaders begin picking their way through traffic.

* Lap 37: Liuzzi pits and is slow to rejoin.

* Lap 38: Having gained ground in traffic Alonso attacks on the pit straight. Hamilton defends successfully. Albers pits.

* Lap 40: Rosberg pits.

* Lap 41: Albers gets on the grass while being lapped for a second time. Davidson pits.

* Lap 43: Wurz and Button are the last drivers to pit.

* Lap 45: Hamilton leads Alonso by 1.1s. Massa is third, with R§ikk‚nen closing, and Heidfeld holds fifth ahead of Kovalainen, Trulli, Webber, Vettel and Rosberg. Fisichella, Sutil, Davidson, Wurz, Button, Speed, Liuzzi and Albers have all been lapped.

* Lap 47: Hamilton extends his advantage to 2.5s. Kovalainen makes his second stop.

* Lap 48: Heidfeld pits.

* Lap 49: R§ikk‚nen sets fastest lap: 1m13.117s.

* Lap 50: Alonso pits, as does Sutil.

* Lap 51: Hamilton pits and locks his front wheels on the way in. He rejoins just ahead of Alonso.

* Lap 52: Massa the temporary leader pits.

* Lap 53: Hamilton leads Alonso by 1.8s, with Massa still third from R§ikk‚nen but only by 1.2s. Davidson pits.

* Lap 56: Heidfeld slows down and pulls off to retire from seventh. Trulli pits. R§ikk‚nen is now 0.7s behind Massa.

* Lap 58: With 15 laps to go, Hamilton leads by 2.0s. Massa is 15.5s behind the leader and working hard to keep team-mate R§ikk‚nen at bay. Webber, Kovalainen, Rosberg and Trulli complete the top eight. The lapped Wurz runs onto the grass at Turn One.

* Lap 59: Webber pits and drops from fifth to eighth after Trulli outmuscles the Australian during his out lap.

* Lap 62: Webber passes Trulli at Turn One but ploughs across the grass and eases up to allow the Italian to regain the position.

* Lap 64: R§ikk‚nen closes to within 0.4s of Massa.

* Lap 65: Davidson passes Button for 12th at Turn One.

* Lap 69: Rosberg, sixth, pulls off with his engine smouldering. Liuzzi pits.

* Lap 73: Hamilton scores his second straight F1 win, by 1.5s from Alonso. The English rookie leads the title race by 10 points. Massa holds off R§ikk‚nen for third. Kovalainen, Trulli, Webber and Vettel complete the top eight.