Max Verstappen had perhaps his best race of the year as he battled Lewis Hamilton, while teammate Sergio Perez battled the elements to finish third.
AUSTIN, Texas—In any motorsport, there is an undercut. It has a driver pit early with the possibility of having the other driver come in later and lose a chance to win the race. On Sunday at the Circuit of the Americas, it was Max Verstappen who came in early to pit on lap 29 at the United States Grand Prix to defeat Lewis Hamilton by a close 1.3 seconds to win his eighth Grand Prix of the season and take a 12-point lead in the championship standings with five races remaining.
Verstappen’s Red Bull teammate, Sergio Perez, claimed third and did it under trying circumstances. “Since lap one, I ran out of water so could not drink at all,” Perez recalled. “By the middle of the second stint, it was starting to get difficult, and I was losing strength. It was my toughest race physically.” But his persistence brought an additional reward: he helped close the gap with rival Mercedes in the Constructor’s Championship.
Charles Leclerc took a fine fourth for Ferrari, and his teammate Carlos Sainz Jr. finished in seventh. McLaren also had double points finish with Daniel Ricciardo fifth and Lando Norris eighth, respectively. Hamilton’s partner Valtteri Botas finished sixth, while Yuki Tsunoda drove his best race since the start of the season, placing ninth. Sebastian Vettel took tenth for Aston Martin when Alfa Romeo’s Kimi Raikkonen spun out at turn six, losing his chance to grab a world championship point. Three cars retired from the race, which all had the same issues of rear wing failures with the Alpine pair of Fernando Alonso and Esteban Ocon. and Alpha Tauri’s Pierre Gasly.
Max Verstappen: We lost out at the start, so we had to try to do something else. Tire wear is high around the track, so we did go aggressively, and I wasn’t sure it was going to work. The last few laps were fun, a bit sideways through the high-speed corners, but I’m super happy to hang on. It was incredible. First of all, it was amazing to be here and to see so many fans around the track. Hopefully, we can do this for many years to come.
Hamilton led the race until lap 14 when the hot, dry day did not help the tires, although Verstappen was putting in faster times. Verstappen took the lead following a slow pit stop by Hamilton’s Mercedes team and continued to lead until his Red Bull team had the Dutchman come in early for another stop for tires on lap 29.
The idea was not sure to succeed, but Hamilton regained the lead until he could make his tires last and had to pit for the second, and final time, on lap 38. But with Verstappen’s tires wearing thin, Hamilton had a better advantage. But his rival had to conserve his tires, despite Hamilton’s times were getting quicker.
With 16 laps to go, Verstappen held Hamilton by eight seconds as the Briton began to reel in the Dutchman. However, Hamilton could not get close enough to use the DRS passing system, a device that a driver can use in a certain area to pass another driver. Verstappen began to increase his time and finally crossed the finish line just under two seconds ahead of Hamilton.
“Firstly, congratulations to Max. He did a great job today,” Hamilton said. “It was such a tough race. They got a good start and gave it absolutely everything, but they had the upper hand this weekend at the end of the day. Fair play to my team. They gave it everything with the strategy but, wow, what a crowd! It was a pleasure to perform in front of you today.”
Asked if he thought this race would boost the popularity in the United States, Hamilton agreed. “This is our acceptance in the U.S..” he concluded. “It’s an honor to be out here, and I hope we can get more races here and that the sport continues to grow.”
Now the teams take a break as they prepare for the Mexican Grand Prix on Sunday, November 7. The race will be run at Autodromo Hermanos Rodriguez in Mexico City.
