The final result of the United States Grand Prix was one that was celebrated by not only the Ferrari fans but certainly by a number of Formula 1 fans across the globe after Kimi Raikkonen took his first win in 113 races on Sunday.

The Finn has always been one of the most popular drivers on the grid, regularly winning the most popular driver polls since entering the sport in 2003. Raikkonen is famous for being a man of few words and not mincing his thoughts with diplomatic answers.

The Ferrari driver had not won a race since the 2013 Australian Grand Prix when he was driving for the Lotus team and despite coming close on a few occasions it is his first win since rejoining the Italian team in 2014.

Raikkonen made a clean getaway — starting in second place — at the start and led Hamilton, who started on pole after turn 1. The Finn led for most of the race and had to endure pressure in the closing laps from Max Verstappen, who finished second, and the British racer to secure his first win over five years.

Red Bull Racing’s Verstappen was surely the driver of the day as he came from 18th on the grid to finish in second place, while Hamilton had to settle for third place after a botched two-stop strategy from Mercedes.

Raikkonen celebrated his win true to his character by stating a simple “thank you” to the team before adding: “f-------- finally!” referring to his long drought from the top step of the podium. The "Iceman" as he is fondly known did show some emotion in his podium celebrations and admitted during the post-race interview that he was “happier than when he finishes second.”

“It’s been a great weekend, the car has been pretty good all the time,” Raikkonen said after the race. “We had enough speed and kept it consistent. I needed to push hard and look after the tyres."

“It’s been a long time but here we are again. I’m much happier than finishing second… I’m happy,” the Finn added.

The United States GP in Austin, Texas, was billed as a potential title-clinching race for Hamilton after the Briton claimed pole position and his closest title rival Sebastian Vettel was handed a grid penalty which meant he would be starting from fifth place.

The Mercedes driver had to outscore the Ferrari driver by eight points to claim his fifth F1 Drivers’ championship and it looked like it was a possibility after Vettel made yet another error on the opening lap and spun his car — only to rejoin at the back of the field.

But it was not to be after Mercedes switched Hamilton to a two-stop strategy, which failed to work as he was passed by Raikkonen and Verstappen, who were on one stop strategies when he made his second stop late in the race.

Vettel despite his early mistake was able to make his way to fourth place and delay the inevitable until the Mexico Grand Prix this coming Sunday. Hamilton will need to finish P7 or better to clinch the title.

However, the funniest moment of the weekend came during the pre-podium discussions as the top three finishers cooled down. Raikkonen showed that apart from racing he does not care about anything else when he casually asked Hamilton if he had won the championship, eliciting laughs from Verstappen and the others in the room.

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