Epic and record victory for Verstappen at Austin

Lewis Hamilton He was very competitive on one of his favorite circuits with six wins, and finished second on the podium completed by the highly motivated Charles Leclerc, moving up from 12th place on the grid and cementing his advantage over Sergio Pérez in the series. race for second.

In a disastrous day for Spanish drivers, Carlos Sainz was unable to even complete the first lap and Fernando Alonso was involved in a grisly affair with future Aston Martin teammate Lance Stroll. Despite this, Asturian made a good start and managed to finish the race in an incredible and highly deserved seventh place.

hard blow to Sainz

Starting from pole, the worst thing that could happen to Sainz was not for Verstappen to win the position as he had initially. The scariest scenario was another abandonment, the sixth race of the season, for the Ferrari driver. George Russell’s Mercedes hit him from behind and he passed out.. The Madrid man reported a tire puncture and returned to the box, but once there the team checked the damage on the car and chose to haul it back. A big blow to Carlos’ morale after one of his strongest weekends behind the wheel of F1-75.

Verstappen put the ground between them with two Mercedes after his magnificent start.After Pérez replaced his Red Bull’s internal combustion engine, he picked up the five positions he had dragged in a matter of minutes, moving up to fourth place. Playing for second place with Leclerc, the Mexican wanted to make the most of the lead with the Monegasque driver, who started 12th on the grid due to a double penalty, and was slowed by both on his return. Aston Martins is in seventh place.

Austin looks impressive after closing a successful weekend. 440,000 fans during the Grand PrixThey enjoyed a great show. Two-time champion Max Verstappen’s dominance was evident from the start and was almost 5 seconds ahead of Hamilton in just ten laps. The ‘Hammer Time’ moment that Mercedes announced on the radio took a dramatic turn when Lewis stopped for the hard tyres, forcing Verstappen to react on the next lap (14). But the strategy didn’t work either, and Max continued at his relentless pace.

Alonso’s ‘Flight’

The safety car that caused Bottas to leave the track with 37 laps left changed everything and added extra emotion to the race.. Leclerc stopped free at Ferrari with less fall than they expected, and the favorites were regrouped and the three drivers before him, Verstappen, Hamilton and Pérez, were in podium position with more laps on their tyres. Also, Fernando Alonso, who preferred hard rubber with a different strategy from 14th due to a penalty from the very beginning, became the safety car’s choice and moved up to provisional ninth place and advanced to eighth place with a big pass. to Gasley.

An incident with Lance Stroll, who couldn’t calculate the difference with Alonso and went out of his way to protect himself, ruined the Spaniard’s race.. It could have been more serious as the Spanish pilot literally ‘flying’ to the side and crashed into the guardrails, as the Canadian’s car luckily turned in the middle of the track without hitting anyone. The fear was overwhelming for both, and the damage to their own cars filled the track with parts and caused another safety car.

red bull beetle

When the race started again, there were 30 laps. Hamilton puts pressure on Max and Leclerc awaiting ‘Checo’ chance with DRS. In another ‘theatre blow’ Mercedes attempted an ‘undercut’ by Lewis and Red Bull failed to stop Verstappen, who lost 11 seconds in the pits and position with Hamilton and Leclerc. FEnraged Max crossed the Monegasque like a missile and went to Hamilton. “Max, we’re all in this together and you have a career left,” said his engineer, apologizing for one of Red Bull’s few pitstop mistakes this year. Took Brit in 3 seconds. Nothing was lost.

With five laps to the end, Verstappen launched a devastating attack for which Hamilton could do little.who gave up. The seven-time Mercedes champion had to settle for the second final position, while Leclerc was rewarded for his consistency with an unexpected podium.

look at the sky

On Saturday, a few minutes before the qualifiers, Max Verstappen found out about the incident Death of Red Bull founder and team owner Dietrich Mateschitz. He was unable to dedicate the pillar to Sainz to himself, but on Sunday he got out of the vehicle, determined to do whatever it took to give the Austrian businessman a victory. Not for nothing, the current two-time world champion is well aware that if he’s enjoying Formula 1 glory now, it’s thanks to Mateschitz betting on him when he was younger.

“This is tough news for everyone. What it means for Red Bull, for all sport and for me… everything he’s done for me, for my career, and for my life in general… I wouldn’t be here without him,” complained Max, who shared the Japanese title with the owner in the final episode of his season. I was able to see and spend some time together,” he said. At the pre-race, a moment of silence dedicated to Mateschitz in the paddock, Verstappen looked up at the sky with one word. “For you, Didi.”