Two weeks ago in Qatar, Max Verstappen was crowned world champion for the third time in a row. But he was not relieved. In addition to achieving his 50th victory in Formula 1 in Austin, the Red Bull leader was also aiming to reach the record of 15 wins in a season (2022). He looked vulnerable in qualifying on Friday, dropping to sixth in the standings due to track limits.. But this Sunday the Dutch driver was ruthless and staged an impressive comeback to satisfy his voracious appetite.
Hamilton and Norris accompanied Max on the podium. Carlos Sainz finished fifth and Fernando Alonso was forced to retire from the race with six laps remaining due to rear suspension problems.
Norris surprises Leclerc
There were no surprises in terms of exit strategies. Everyone chose medium tyres, except Stroll and Hülkenberg (hard). While Leclerc was unable to maintain pole position against Norris, who clearly won the match, Sainz moved up to third and nearly collided with his teammate. intense in the first round. Verstappen started the race with an aggressive maneuver and took fifth place behind Hamilton.
Alonso and Stroll started from pitlane after breaking through the parking area following Aston Martin’s setup problems since Friday. Fernando returned to the Qatar set-up and Stroll tested the new aerodynamic package launched in Austin. The Canadian driver made a rookie mistake and instead of returning to garage street after the formation lap, he entered the grid and exposed himself to a penalty.
Hamilton at full speed
Hamilton ‘flew’ around the track this weekend in a groundbreaking Mercedes. Seven-time British champion caught He took Sainz and Verstappen with him and relegated the Madrid player rose to fifth place. Leclerc was his next ‘victim’. Lewis overtook the Ferrari by a much greater speed gap and had leader Norris in sight in less than ten laps.
It wasn’t all good news for McLaren as Lando defended himself with solvency, which led to Oscar Piastri retiring after detecting a fault with his car. Verstappen continued his special climb and led Leclerc to the virtual podium. Hamilton saw the three-time champion in the rearview mirror and increased the pace, seeing that Norris was starting to suffer from the breakdown. Lewis set fast laps as the gap between the two Britons fell below 2 seconds for the first time.
Championship edition
Verstappen tried to undercut and was the first to stop. Pérez, Norris and the Ferraris followed suit, leaving Hamilton as the provisional leader of the race. Mercedes driver considered risking one-stop strategy but his estimate was overly optimistic. He had to make a pit stop with 35 laps left to return to the track on hard tyres. Max launched into second place and only Norris could separate him from his target.
Patient but determined, Verstappen cut the gap to the McLaren to less than a second and became ‘deadly’ as soon as he got the DRS ready. Celebrating his 100th Grand Prix in the World Championship, Lando gave up on the 28th lap after a vicious defense. Both made their second pit stop and Hamilton once again took over the lead of the race despite waiting for his pit stop.
Max regained the lead with 17 laps to go. Hamilton followed him all the way after overtaking Norris crossed the finish line in second, relegating his compatriot to third on the podium in Austin. While Sainz finished fourth, Alonso, who did his best to enter the points zone in ninth place, had to leave the race with the last six laps left due to a penalty error.