US F1 GP: Max Verstappen restrains Hamilton’s attack and wins

The US Grand Prix gave us hot matches, and the strategic actions of the teams took on even more importance at the Autodrome of America. Max Verstappen and Lewis Hamilton gave us a great fight, often at a distance, that had its best moment in the final laps when Hamilton tried to overtake Verstappen. The attack by No. 44 was intense, but it was not enough to dislodge the Red Bull driver from the leading position. Verstappen won and Red Bull took an important step this weekend off-road, where Mercedes has always been strong.

Lewis Hamilton had a better start and Max Verstappen tightened his grip on the Mercedes driver, but No. 44 managed to come out on top in the race, with Verstappen and Sergio Perez in the top three. The fight for fifth place has heated up, with Carlos Sainz. , Lando Norris and Daniel Riccardo put on a show with Riccardo in front, followed by Sainz and Norris. Valtteri Bottas tried to start the recovery, but Yuki Tsunoda did not allow the Finn to get ahead of him.

George Russell was one of the best at the start and managed to secure seven positions in the opening laps after starting from the rear of the grid. Less fortunate was Lance Stroll, who was touched by Nicholas Latifi, which caused the Aston Martin pilot to turn.

Esteban Ocon was the first to enter the pits on lap 4 to change tires, putting on the hardest rubber available for this race, taking advantage of a front fender change after touching an Alfa Romeo. Latifi also switched flanks after touching Stroll, and now the two are in last places.

Lewis Hamilton was starting to set the pace, but Max Verstappen followed closely behind him and Perez followed the lead duo at a pace that took them further away from fourth-place Charles Leclerc, with Riccardo in his mirrors. Valtteri Bottas got off to a hard start and Pierre Gasly overtook 77th place in the first laps, dropping Mercedes to 10th place, while the Frenchman tried to catch up with a less successful start.

Fernando Alonso also went into the pits early to put on some hard tires on lap 8 when he fought Sebastian Vettel for 14th.

On lap 10, Verstappen walked in to change tires, at a well executed stop trying to cut Hamilton, but the Dutchman left Leclerc and Riccardo behind, making life difficult for # 33. Hamilton was happy with his tires and didn’t seem to want to go anytime soon. However, Verstappen’s pace on the new tires was clearly higher. Leclerc stopped shortly thereafter when Perez and Verstappen were given a free lane to pick up the pace and put pressure on Hamilton, which he clearly did. Hamilton entered the pits on lap 14 to change tires and Verstappen took advantage of the good work he had done to take the lead in the race. Perez was third, five seconds from Hamilton and ten ahead of Leclerc.

Pierre Gasly’s Alpha Tauri rear suspension failed on lap 15 when the Frenchman retired from the race, which also reflects the need for cars on the track.

In the fight for third place in the championship, Riccardo, who finished fifth, was ten seconds behind Leclerc and was under pressure from Sainz, this was on the 22nd lap, with the Scuderia cars showing more progress than the single-seat McLaren. A little further, Alonso and Giovinazzi staged a spectacle, the Spaniard tried to recapture the position from the Italian, in a battle that brought George Russell and Sebastian Vettel together, and the German overtook the young British.

We were halfway through the race and had Verstappen ahead, but with Hamilton in “full attack”, just 3 seconds behind the leader after nearly seven. Perez confidently took third place, and Leclerc – fourth. Riccardo was fifth, under pressure from Sainz, Norris lagged a little further, followed by Bottas, Tsunoda and Raikkonen.

A short-term VSC (to remove debris from the track) allowed Verstappen to win a second, and Hamilton was prevented by a latecomer, but the Briton’s pace was strong, so on lap 30 Verstappen made a second stop, and Hamilton was ordered to stay on the track longer. to try and attack at the end of the race. Hamilton has 16 seconds left. advantages to Verstappen and managed to maintain a competitive pace.

Sainz’s second stop took longer, and McLaren seized the opportunity to pick up the pace to take advantage of Scuderia’s miss when the team stopped both cars, saving the Spaniard time. Leclerc, on the other hand, came off well and appears to have finished fourth.

On lap 37, Hamilton entered the pits for a flawless tire change, entering the track in second, seven seconds from Verstappen, and now he had to attack and catch up with his opponent.

The fight for fifth place began to heat up on lap 41, when Sainz attacked Riccardo, who was fighting off the Spaniard as best he could, as Ocon pulled out of the race.

With ten laps to go, Verstappen fought off long-range attacks from Hamilton, Perez was in the neutral zone, as was Leclerc, while Riccardo fought off Sainz, and Bottas was approaching the Spaniard’s Ferrari, and Norris was four seconds behind the trio. in the eighth. Fernando Alonso retired on a rainy day for Alpine, his rear wing giving way to effort.

The distance between Verstappen and Hamilton narrowed, circle by circle, and the victory was decided in the last laps, and Verstappen had to repel attack No. 44. Mercedes was closing the distance dangerously for Red Bull, but Hamilton never got close enough to launch a decisive attack. We got to the last lap, and Verstappen dodged stragglers who didn’t bother him too much and stayed ahead of Hamilton until he saw the checkered flag. Hamilton was pleased with the second place, and Perez entered the top three. Charles Leclerc was fourth, ahead of Riccardo, both with good results. Bottas managed to beat Sainz in the final laps to finish sixth, followed by Spaniard Norris (a somewhat low-key race for the young Brit), Tsunoda (one of the best races for the Japanese this year) and Sebastian Vettel (good final recovery).

With this result, Verstappen managed to get away from Hamilton in the title bills, Red Bull had a great game with another one or two on the podium and hit Mercedes in a hunting ground that was fruitful for Flechas silver. … Hamilton was able to minimize losses by devising a strategy that could bear fruit, probably the only chance given the theoretical advantage of Red Bull, which was not so obvious on the track. Bottas failed to rise above sixth place, which left the team to do math. In Ferrari versus McLaren, Scuderia’s advantage again, when Leclerc showed an excellent race, ahead of the main rivals by many miles, Riccardo returned to good performances and gave important points to his team. Sainz tested positive, but wasted a lot of time in fights and was unable to show all of his progress. Norris played one of the darkest games of the time, unlike Tsunoda, who once again showed that he has potential and that he is very good at defending. Vettel takes the point home, a lesser evil for Aston, who has returned to stay away from what they wanted. Alfa Romeo showed an interesting pace, but failed to score points, but stayed ahead of Williams, having no arguments for more. Haas has the usual scenario, where Schumacher is ahead of Mazepin, and Alpine has a day to forget with two rejections.