Max Verstappen won the 2023 US Grand Prix after starting from sixth place, ahead of Lewis Hamilton and Lando Norris.
Verstappen was the fastest in qualifying for the US GP on Friday, but his time was deleted due to track limits. Charles Leclerc, who was 5 thousandths slower, started from pole position.
Lando Norris stood next to him in the front row. The second row belonged to Hamilton and Sainz, third to Russell and Verstappen, fourth to Gasly and Ocon, fifth to Pérez and Piastri.
The drivers of Aston Martin and Haas changed settings and some even parts (Alonso went back to the old specification), so they started from the pits.
Race
Norris took the lead ahead of Leclerc after the start. Sainz came in third. Verstappen was fifth. In the second corner there was contact between Ocon and Pistri. Both continued in the race, but later had to retire.
After the first lap, Norris led Leclerc, Sainz, Hamilton, Verstappen, Piastri, Ocon, Russell, Pérez and Gasly rounded out the top ten.
By the fourth lap, Hamilton had moved back into third ahead of Sainz. Verstappen also overtook Sainz a lap later.
The Ferrari drivers struggled at the start. In the sixth lap, Hamilton also overtook Leclerc, who was then overtaken by Verstappen in the 11th lap.
Norris, Hamilton and Verstappen have since battled for victory. After 16 laps, Verstappen pitted, to which Norris responded quickly. Verstappen switched to medium compound again, Norris chose hard.
Hamilton didn’t make it to the mechanics until later and his stop wasn’t exactly smooth. Because of this, he lost to both of his main rivals.
In the middle of the race (lap 28), Verstappen took the lead ahead of Norris. The McLaren driver kept pace in the first laps and was even within DRS range, but then gradually dropped away as the number of laps on the hard compound increased.
On lap 49, Hamilton got ahead of Norris. Then Norris Sainz was behind him, whom Leclerc had to let in front of him. The Monaco was the only one to attempt one pit stop.
Towards the end of the race, Hamilton was also passing Verstappen, but in the end he didn’t even get within DRS range. Verstappen complained about his brakes for much of the race.
The struggling Leclerc was eventually overtaken by Pérez as well. The Monaco native finished sixth after starting from pole position.
The Aston Martin drivers had a relatively solid race. After starting from the pits, they gradually worked their way up to the points. But Alonso suffered a rear suspension problem and was the third driver to retire from the US Grand Prix. Lance Stroll was able to score points, but Norris’ third place saw McLaren score solid points in Austin and leapfrog Aston Martin in the championship.
Daniel Ricciardo returned to the car in Austin. But his teammate Júki Cunoda drove a better race, who could afford an extra stop in tenth place and, in addition to a point for 10th place, also get a point for the fastest lap of the race.
Max Verstappen cruised to his 15th win of the season, equaling his own record from last season for most wins in a season. In just a week in Mexico, he will have an additional chance to surpass him. Hamilton finished second, Lando Norris third.
The results
P. Driver Team Time / lost Laps Points 1 Max Verstappen Red Bull – 25 56 2 Lewis Hamilton Mercedes 2.225 18 56 3 Lando Norris McLaren 10.730 15 56 4 Carlos Sainz Jr. Ferrari 15,134 12 56 5 Sergio Pérez Red Bull 18,460 10 56 6 Charles Leclerc Ferrari 24,662 8 56 7 George Russell Mercedes 24,999 6 56 8 Pierre Gasly Alpine 47,996 4 56 9 Lance Stroll Aston Martin 48,696 2 56 10 Júki Cunoda AlphaTauri 1:14.38 5 1+ 1 56 11 Alexander Albon Williams 1:26.714 56 12 Logan Sargeant Williams 1:27.998 56 13 Nico Hülkenberg Haas 1:29.904 56 14 Valtteri Bottas Alfa Romeo 1:38.601 56 15 Kuan-yu Chou Alfa Romeo 1 lap 55 16 Kevin Magnussen Haas 1 lap 55 17 Daniel Ricciardo AlphaTauri 1 lap 55 – Fernando Alonso Aston Martin – 49 – Oscar Piastri McLaren – 10 – Esteban Ocon Alpine – 6
Progress
Target: Cunoda put on the softs and scored a point for the fastest lap of the race.
Target: Verstappen, Hamilton, Norris.
See Ham Nor Sai For Lec Rus Gas Str Cun
55/56: 2.3 seconds. It’s still a long way off…
53/56: Leclerc is the only one who built only once.
53/56: Albon receives a penalty for track limits. Pérez overtakes Leclerc..
52/56: Hamilton still loses around 4.8 s.
51/56: Ricciardo put on the softs and took the fastest lap. But it’s 17.
51/56: Alonso resigns.
51/56: Leclerc, who did not build, lets Sainz go.
50/56: Hamilton now 5 seconds behind Verstappen. Alonso in the pits…
49/56: Alonso is in trouble, falling behind Cunoda…
49/56: Hamilton ahead of Norris.
49/56: And Stroll is even ahead of Alonso.
48/56: Stroll overtook Cunoda and is also in the points.
47/56: Hamilton is already closing in on DRS range behind Norris.
46/56: Alonso overtook Cunoda and is ninth after starting from the pits.
43/56: Hamilton overtook Leclerc. He loses 3.7 s on Norris.
40/56: Hamilton put on the medium. Norris got ahead of Leclerc. He’s still within reach of Verstappen, but the fight can’t be expected…
38/56: Hamilton in the pits. Verstappen overtakes Leclerc and goes back into the lead.
36/56: Verstappen returns to track ahead of Norris.
36/56: Verstappen, Sainz in the pits.
35/56: Norris in the pits… dropped to sixth. He put on hard tires.
34/56: Verstappen is driving and Norris is being approached by Hamilton.
32/56: Now Verstappen has already driven a little to a difference of 1.7 s.
30/56: Norris is sticking with Verstappen for now.
30/56: Albon, Magnussen… our second pit stops begin.
28/56: Verstappen takes the lead. Basically halfway through the race.
28/56:
26/56:
Nor See Ham Sai For Lec Rus Gas Cun Alo
26/56: Verstappen can now use DRS…
25/56: Norris made a mistake in the eleventh corner and Verstappen caught up with him.
25/56: Track limits… Magnussen gets the black and white flag.
24/56: Alonso on the older hard overtook Chou on the relatively new mediums.
23/56: Norris overtook Leclerc, who is heading to the pits.
22/56: Russell in the pits.
21/56: Hamilton in the pits. Leclerc took the lead. Hamilton returns almost 6 seconds behind Verstappen. It has a hard mix, so in theory it doesn’t need to build anymore, but…
20/56: Verstappen so far 3.5 seconds behind Norris. But he drives on hard, Verstappen on medium.
19/56: There are theories that Hamilton will make one stop.
19/56: Gasly disappears in the pits.
18/56: Norris returns to the “void” for fourth place. Behind him is Gasly, who did not build, then Verstappen. Russell is 5 seconds ahead of him.
18/56: This won’t be a record… 2.8 s.
18/56: Norris a lap later. Also Sainz, Perez.
17/56: Verstappen in the pits. He falls behind Cunoda to ninth place. He put the middle mixture back on.
14/56: Hamilton overtakes Norris and is now less than two seconds behind Hamilton.
14/56:
Nor: 43.0
Ham: 42.5
Ver: 42.5
13/56: Magnussen overtook Sargeant after the stop… and maybe that was with a little contact.
13/56:
Nor: 42.1
Ham: 41.9
Ver: 42.5
12/56: Verstappen now has a free track ahead of him, so we can compare his times with Norris.
11/56: Verstappen is on the podium, where he is now chasing Leclerc.
11/56: The McLaren driver retires… we have the first pit stops: Chou, Bottas, Magnussen.
10/56: Piatri has problems and falls…
8/56: Verstappen overtook Leclerc. No change at the front. Hamilton loses around 3 seconds.
7/56: Ocon resigns
7/56: Hamilton now 3.2 seconds behind Norris.
6/56: Hamilton second ahead of Leclerc.
5/56: Verstappen overtakes Sainz…
5/56:
Nor Lec Ham Sai See Pia Rus For Gas Cun
5/56: Russell without penalty this time…
4/56: Hamilton ahead of Sainz back in third.
4/56: Ocon is sinking…
3/56: Before Ocon, both Russell and Pérez.
3/56: And Russell investigated again for leaving the track and gaining an advantage.
3/56: Eighth Russell tries to get ahead of Ocon.
2/56: Norris already has a lead of two seconds. Ocon reports sidewall damage, had contact with Piastri in the second corner.
2/56:
Nor Lec Sai Ham Ver Pia Oco Rus Per Gas
Start: Norris takes the lead, Verstappen fifth behind Hamilton. Sainz third. A great start by Piastri, who improved by four places.
21:00: Riders head out for a warm-up lap…
20:57: Tires for the start:
Soft: nobody Medium: others Hard: Hülkenberg, Stroll
20:45: Starting grid…
P. Driver Team 1 Charles Leclerc Ferrari 2 Lando Norris McLaren 3 Lewis Hamilton Mercedes 4 Carlos Sainz Jr. Ferrari 5 George Russell Mercedes 6 Max Verstappen Red Bull 7 Pierre Gasly Alpine 8 Esteban Ocon Alpine 9 Sergio Pérez Red Bull 10 Oscar Piastri McLaren 11 Jūki Cunoda AlphaTauri 12 Kuan-yu Chou Alfa Romeo 13 Valtteri Bottas Alfa Romeo 14 Daniel Ricciardo AlphaTauri 15 Alexander Albon Williams 16 Logan Sargeant Williams box Lance Stroll Aston Martin box Nico Hülkenberg Haas box Fernando Alonso Aston Martin box Kevin Magnussen Haas
20:40: Speaking of Aston, Alonso reverted to the previous parts specification, Stroll continues with the new one. The team will compare both versions.
20:38: Stroll will be investigated for driving into the pits but onto the starting grid. But only after the race…
20:33: Strategy: two pit stops are expected.
20:30: The titles are decided, but the next ranking in the championships is being fought for. McLaren has a chance to leapfrog Aston Martin today. Pérez, in turn, is trying to maintain second place. Hamilton won’t leapfrog him today – he’s 27 points behind, but he can close the gap.
20:26: Technical problems at Red Bull. Pérez’s drinking bottle is leaking and his balaclava is wet… he gets a new one.
20:23: The track is 40°, the air 29°C, which means that it has cooled down a bit compared to the previous days.
20:21: It looks like Stroll got onto the grid by mistake. The mechanics found a gap in the barriers and pushed him into the garage.
20:15: Both Red Bull drivers are starting from lower positions, both have to get to the front, so we’ll see how they do. Pérez starts three places further down, ahead of both Alpine riders.
20:14: Charles Leclerc will start from pole position today, but his chances of victory are rather smaller. He will have Norris and Hamilton behind him. But the favorite is Verstappen, who starts from sixth place after erasing his time in Friday’s qualifying.
20:12: All 20 riders take to the track, but only 16 of them head to the starting grid. The drivers of Haas and Aston Martin changed settings, some even parts (different specifications), so they will start from the pits.
20:11: Riders make their way to the starting grid.
20:00: Welcome to the online coverage of the US Grand Prix.
2023-10-22 21:11:15
#Verstappen #lead #midway #race #cruised #victory
