Sebastian Vettel is most likely starting to think twice about his decision to retire at the end of the season, as the four-time World Champion proved once again why he has enjoyed so much success in his Formula 1 career.
The Aston Martin driver was a rocket off the starting line and saw himself go from P10 to fourth by the time the field exited the first corner, incredibly.
Vettel made the most of Carlos Sainz’s and George Russell’s collision on the exit of the corner, which resulted in a domino effect of drivers having to suddenly brake in order to avoid piling into the spun Spaniard.
For the majority of the first stint of the race Vettel looked very comfortable running in fourth, but did get overtaken by Sergio Pérez, Charles Leclerc and Russell, unsurprisingly.
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He settled into the race perfectly and actually benefited massively from Valtteri Bottas beaching his Alfa Romeo at the penultimate corner.
Bottas’ incident resulted in the first Safety Car of the race which gave Vettel a superbly cheap pit-stop, which saw the German re-emerge in sixth place.
It was then looking set for all the world that he was going to achieve a second consecutive sixth place finish, just as he did at the Japanese Grand Prix; however, it was heartbreak for the 35-year-old at his second pit-stop.
Prior to his second pit-stop, though, the German actually led a lap of the United States GP, as a result of the frontrunners having all pitted for a second time.
Majestically and honourable, Vettel’s brief time leading the race saw the 53-time GP winner hit 3,500 laps led in Formula 1, before his disastrous pit-stop.
Vettel was stationary for 16.8 seconds, with his AMR22’s front-left simply not going on, which saw the German tumble outside the points and down to P13, in what was a saddening moment for the Aston Martin veteran and his fanbase.
In true Vettel style he pursued a points finish, with it being nothing short of what he absolutely deserved.
He incredibly battled his way into P9 following some incredible overtakes, which included, going around the outside of Alex Albon at Turns 16-18.
The final lap was arguably one of the best of Vettel’s season, if not his career, as he hunted down Kevin Magnussen for P8.
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He pulled off yet another move around the outside of Turns 16-18, giving him the inside-line on the Danish driver at Turn 19 to seal a well-deserved P8.
As he crossed the line, he punched the air as if he’d won his 54th career win, if only it was!
To some consolidation, though, he claimed ‘Driver of the Day’ for the second consecutive race.