2018-10-21 SF71H (7) Kimi Raikkonen USA - Austin 1
This the Ferrari SF71H that Kimi Raikkonen drove to victory in the GP of the USA held on October 21, 2018, at the Circuit of the Americas in Austin, Texas, United States. The race was the 18th round of the 2018 Formula One World Championship and marked the 48th running of the United States Grand Prix, the 40th time that the race run as a World Championship event since the inaugural season in 1950, and the 7th time that a World Championship round was held at the Circuit of the Americas in Austin, Texas.
Mercedes driver Lewis Hamilton entered the round with a 67-point lead over Ferrari's Sebastian Vettel in the World Drivers' Championship. Hamilton's team-mate, Valtteri Bottas, sat third, a further 57 points behind. In the World Constructors' Championship, Mercedes held a lead of 78 points over Ferrari, with Red Bull Racing a further 141 points behind in third place.
The race was won by Kimi Räikkönen, who made a one-stop strategy work, achieving his first Grand Prix win since the 2013 Australian Grand Prix, breaking a record-setting 113-race winless streak. It was also his first for Ferrari since 2009 and the first time that Ferrari had won at the Circuit of the Americas. This would also turn out to be the final victory of Räikkönen's F1 career.
Kimi Räikkönen won the race from second as Mercedes struggled with pace as Lewis Hamilton could only managed third, beaten to second by Max Verstappen. Sebastian Vettel made an error at the start, spinning while battling with Daniel Ricciardo, eventually fighting back to finish fourth. Hamilton lost time when Mercedes waited too long before bringing him in for his second pit stop.
