(Austin) Dutchman Max Verstappen scored his 15th victory of the season and his 50th career at the Formula 1 United States Grand Prix on Sunday.
Verstappen started the race in sixth position.
Verstappen had to work harder than usual in the heart of a season almost completely dominated by the three-time world champion. A good strategy from Red Bull allowed him to win with a narrow lead of 2.2 seconds over Lewis Hamilton (Mercedes), who was quickly catching up in the final laps.
“During the whole race I had problems with the brakes,” Verstappen said after the event. It was very close at the end. It’s amazing to get a 50th win here. I’m very proud. We will obviously push for more. »
After splitting the honors in the first four races of the season with teammate Sergio Pérez, Verstappen has won 13 of the last 14 races. His points haul would be enough to put the Red Bull team at the top of the constructors’ standings.
Verstappen also scored his third consecutive victory in Austin, Texas. This time he started from sixth place on the starting grid after a rare error during qualifying by exceeding the limits of the track.
All previous Grand Prix winners at the Circuit of the Americas had started from the front row. Verstappen has now won a third race after qualifying sixth or further this season.
This one certainly made him sweat in the Texas heat. With Hamilton in his mirrors and his track engineer giving him frequent updates on the gap, Verstappen stormed off, shouting “stop talking” over the radio, visibly struggling with his brakes.
Second at the finish, Hamilton was however disqualified, as was Charles Leclerc (Ferrari), sixth in the provisional classification. Both men failed the technical inspection. It was the skates, under the floor, which did not comply with the regulations.
This is a big blow for Hamilton, who was doing well before the disqualification in the fight for second place in the drivers’ standings, currently held by Pérez.
A message from his team at the end of the race suggested that second place, and “maybe victory,” was possible for him. The seven-time world champion has not won since the Saudi Arabian GP in December 2021.
Lando Norris thus inherited second place, while Carlos Sainz Jr. (Ferrari) finished third.
Quebecer Lance Stroll for his part took the start from the pit line, just like his teammate Fernando Alonso, since the Aston Martin team made unauthorized changes to the settings of its cars.
Wearing hard tires at the start, Stroll was last after the first lap. Two more stints on medium tires allowed him to climb to ninth place at the checkered flag. He was ultimately placed seventh after the disqualifications.
These were the Montrealer’s first points in six races.
Alonso was unable to finish the race.
F1 returns to action in Mexico next week.
