F1 Paddock Notebook - United States GP Sunday

- Lewis Hamilton’s glow was unmissable after he clinched his sixth title this Sunday in Austin. The party was more than prepared: he had his exclusive parking spot right next to the podium; Mercedes had the “2019 World Champion” board ready even before the race had started; and his family - mother and stepfather, father and stepmother, and his uncle, who came from Trinidad and had never been to a race before - were all there to see Lewis make history again.

- As there’s no proper party in America without a Hollywood star. Matthew McConaughey was Lewis’ Sunday guest. The Texan actor said they met two years ago, and that Hamilton had even stayed in his ranch, “and will be welcomed back every year". The pair also went out for dinner on Saturday night, giving Hamilton's pre-title preparations some extra glitz.

- Coming back to the champ, the most impressive thing about today was realizing in his interviews that the hunger for more is bigger than ever. “I love what I do”, said the Brit with bright eyes, recognizing he might not feel that well tomorrow morning after getting into “party mode” this evening...

- Others were happy about different things. Daniel Ricciardo celebrated not only the best of the rest spot in P6 for Renault, but also “finally being able to get some barbecue” in Austin. Valtteri Bottas was also looking forward to some drinks to celebrate his fourth victory of the season, his most for a year.

- It has been interesting to see how the US GP has been growing throughout the years. This weekend had a sold-out crowd, the paddock was buzzing since Friday, and many celebrities turned up. Austin has established itself as one of the highlights of the season and many in the country think it will only grow if there are other races in the country in the future - even if it happens not that far from Texas at around the same time of the year.

- Always happy to be in the headlines, Max Verstappen seemed very pleased not only with his third place, but with Ferrari’s bad performance. “That’s what happens when you’re caught cheating," he said to the Dutch TV, referring to the technical directive that had been issued by the FIA earlier this week.

- On Ferrari’s side, Mattia Binotto was adamant the power unit was exactly the same as in previous races, and even noted that he hadn’t read the technical directive carefully. It’s the directive caused by Red Bull’s consultation to the FIA about the way Ferrari would be managing to get more fuel into the engine in certain moments. Verstappen believes that Red Bull found the golden bullet the red team has, but that’s not clear.

- The engine performance loss alone wouldn’t be enough to explain the 52s difference between winner Bottas and Leclerc. The Monegasque said the balance of the car, especially in the first stint, was much worse than it had been throughout the weekend, adding: “And I have no idea why”. Apparently, there will be a lot of lessons to be learned in Maranello as the silver part of the paddock will celebrate one more time.