The race was neutralised by a four-lap safety car period when Sergio Pérez, Adrian Sutil and Kimi Räikkönen made contact.

After the two Mercedes cars made their pit stops for new tyres, Hamilton passed his teammate Rosberg for the lead on lap 24, and pulled away to achieve victory and overtake Nigel Mansell for the highest number of wins for a British driver in Formula One.

Hamilton's victory, his fifth in a row, moved him further clear from Rosberg atop the World Drivers' Championship, as Ricciardo's third-place finish eliminated him from title contention.

Mercedes increased their unassailable lead in the World Constructors' Championship to 245 points over Red Bull while Williams moved further away from Ferrari in fourth with two races left in the season.

At the request of motorcycling's governing body, the Fédération Internationale de Motocyclisme, some sections of turn ten's asphalt run-off area were replaced by gravel and some light panels were mounted closer to the ground for better visibility.

[8] With three races left, Hamilton said he would prioritise not allowing any negative thoughts consume him and would take any opportunities presented to him: "We've just got to do our due diligence and work as hard as we can to make sure we don't have any problems.

"[8] Hamilton hoped to achieve his fifth consecutive victory of the year: "A lot of the American side of my family come to the race, plus I won the first F1 GP at the circuit back in 2012 – it's a special one for me.

He said Mercedes targeted "a big finish" to the season, declaring he would not concede defeat until the final round, and hoped to maintain the level of entertainment for the fan base.

[10] After both Friday practice sessions, the FIA tested for the first time a new system called the virtual safety car, which is in response to minimising the risk of serious accidents and injuries, such as those suffered by Jules Bianchi at the Japanese Grand Prix.

[12] Caterham and Marussia were each granted permission by Formula One's commercial rights owner Bernie Ecclestone to miss the race due to their long-term financial problems and entering administration.

European Formula Three Championship third-place finisher Max Verstappen replaced Jean-Éric Vergne at Toro Rosso for the second time in 2014, and Williams reserve driver Felipe Nasr drove Bottas's car.

[21] His teammate Rosberg, Jenson Button, Daniil Kvyat, Kevin Magnussen, Fernando Alonso, Vettel, Nasr, Nico Hülkenberg and Verstappen occupied positions two to ten.

[25] Both Mercedes cars had reliability concerns with Hamilton reporting another gearbox problem and his session ended early with a minor hydraulic issue.

[25] Romain Grosjean and his teammate Pastor Maldonado both lost control of their tight-handling Lotus cars and drove onto the run-off area several times.

[27] Following the withdrawal of the Caterham and Marussia team's two entries, minor changes were made to Saturday afternoon's three-part qualifying session.

[31] Rosberg was joined on the grid's front row by teammate Hamilton,[32] who had a left-front brake 100 °C (212 °F) cooler than the right-front, slowing him,[31] which was observed by him constantly locking them in the second session.

[35] Sutil took ninth and Maldonado, who was the fastest driver not to advance into the final session, was tenth,[36] after sliding in turn 19, losing about two-tenths of a second, preventing an improvement.

[35] Hülkenberg, 13th, was forecast to qualify in the top ten until a tear-off visor wrapped itself around a front tyre into turn 12, losing grip, ran wide, and lost time.

[32] His teammate Vergne started 14th and was the fastest driver not to enter the second session,[36] attributing the result to switching to an older, less powerful engine and excess oversteer.

[40] Pérez glimpsed space to Sutil's left but the extra speed needed to drive alongside caused him to slide into the rear of Räikkönen's car.

The tight confines of the second half of the lap gave Hamilton difficulty entering the DRS activation zone before turn 11 and his left-front brake was 100 °C (212 °F) cooler because the safety car was slower.

[41] Hamilton was slower than Rosberg and made his pit stop (lap 17) for a front wing adjustment and rejoined with a larger lead over his teammate.

He began matching Massa's pace before the latter made a problematic pit stop on lap 32:[41] his mechanics were delayed for one second in the installation of a front tyres,[40] promoting Ricciardo to third.

[43] Hamilton entered the pit lane from the lead on the 33rd for his final stop and rejoined in second, behind teammate Rosberg, whom Mercedes told to go faster.

[49] At the podium interviews, conducted by 1978 World Champion Mario Andretti,[42][50] Hamilton was grateful to be at the front of the field and said it was "such a privilege" to represent his nation.

Ricciardo said he felt his team's strategy allowed him to pass the Williams cars and believed he was at fault for his slow start, which he intended to correct before the Brazilian Grand Prix.

[51] Grosjean stated it was "really frustrating" not to finish in the top ten, and that the collision with Vergne damaged his front wing and floor, making his car difficult to control for the final laps.

[53] Sutil was frustrated over the crash, which prevented him from scoring Sauber's first points of 2014, describing it "such a shame and so disappointing" and called the incident "unnecessary": "We were hoping for a great result today and because of a silly action like this we missed everything.

"[53] Räikkonen disliked the situation he found himself in during the race by making three pit stops, complaining of heavy front tyre degradation and excess understeer.

"[54] The Williams performance chief Rob Smedley suspected minor issues such as Massa's slow pit stop prevented his team from finishing on the podium.