Lewis Hamilton won at the first purpose built Formula One track in spectacular style. The £250m Austin Grand Prix was the sport's return to America after a five-year absence. Over 250,000 people travelled to the three-day event, which was blessed with good weather.
Bernie Ecclestone said after the race "They've done a super job, I couldn't ask for anything better. It's absolutely fantastic. Everybody seems happy, although I had a complaint about the weather with it not being as hot as they’d hoped, but otherwise everything’s good, no complaints."
The Ferrari team were the first to pull an extremely controversial (but legal) move by breaking the parc ferme seal on Felipe Massa’s car, giving the Brazilian a 5 place grid penalty to firstly promote Alonso 1 position and put him on the clean side of the track.
The significant battles during race were between Lewis Hamilton and Sebastian Vettel, also the swapping of positions between the two William’s drivers. Michael Schumacher was the only driver to stop twice and consequently dropped from a reputable fifth to an embarrassing P16, through no fault of his own.
Hamilton’s win meant that the driver’s title went down to the wire at the final race in Brazil. Red Bull’s Sebastian Vettel only just managed to clinch his third World title by just three points from Ferrari’s Fernando Alonso as Jenson Button won the Brazilian Grand Prix.
The success and popularity of the Austin Grand Prix may mean more F1 races in the Americas. "We need to have 10 races like in Europe," said Ecclestone.
There has been talk this year of a race in Mexico in the near future, with a return to the Autodromo Hermanos Rodriguez in Mexico City. You can be sure that more will be said about that.
