Max Verstappen played his hand perfectly in Austin tire poker. The Red Bull star successfully kept his World Cup rival Lewis Hamilton, who was charging towards the finish, at a distance at the Formula 1 Grand Prix of the USA on Sunday and increased his lead in the fight for the title with the eighth win of the season. With five races to go, he is now twelve points ahead.
Third place behind Hamilton in Texas went to RB man Sergio Perez, who made perfect advertising for his home Grand Prix (Mexico) in two weeks. Red Bull Racing now holds 200 podium places in the premier class – and celebrated another victory in Austin for the first time since 2013 (Sebastian Vettel). A fabulous 400,000 spectators attended the Formula 1 weekend – but there were largely no spectacular moments in the race.
Hamilton duped pole man Verstappen at the start and was then practically as fast as the Dutchman. Verstappen stuck to his stern, but even with DRS he was not in the position to ride an attack. The bulls acted all the more aggressively with their undercut strategy. Verstappen came to the pits for a first tire change on lap eleven and then literally flew over the hot Texan asphalt. Hamilton radioed that he was satisfied with his tires, but three laps later he also turned into the pit lane and came back six seconds behind Verstappen. Red Bull advantage.
Mercedes tactics did not work
After that, little happened at the top. While Verstappen’s lead melted slowly, then faster and faster, Fernando Alonso delivered action-packed moments against Antonio Giovinazzi in the battle for the last point. Lap 30: Verstappen again put the tires on earlier than Hamilton, with the aim of going through to the end with hard tires. Hamilton stayed out eight laps longer with the aim of having the better end to himself thanks to fresher tires.
Perez, however, held his third place bravely despite the striking drinking system, but was too far behind to really keep Hamilton busy. “It only depends on the last three laps,” said race engineer Peter Bonnington Hamilton. The tactical move didn’t work out for Mercedes. Hamilton made up for Verstappen second by second, but bit his teeth at the heroically defending super talent right up to the end. “It was such a demanding race. I gave everything, but in the end they were faster this weekend,” said Hamilton.
Verstappen saved 1.333 seconds ahead of the finish line. “His tires were eight laps younger than yours. I wouldn’t have believed you could do it,” praised team boss Christian Horner on the pit radio. Verstappen radioed back after a strategy in line with his nature: “I liked the way we played the strategy today. Sometimes it’s good to be aggressive.”
Quartararo World Champion in MotoGP
While the fight for the World Championship in Formula 1 is heading towards the home straight, the one in the top two-wheeler class has been decided since Monday. In Misano, Fabio Quartararo prematurely crowned himself the first French motorcycle world champion in MotoGP. The retirement of Francesco Bagnaia, who started from pole position as the leader with four laps to go, cleared the way for the 22-year-old Quartararo, who cannot be overtaken in the last two races of the season. Fourth place on the day was enough for the Yamaha rider to win the first World Championship crown in the victory of the Spaniard Marc Marquez (Honda).
Fabio Quartararo is the first French MotoGP world champion.
– © afp / Andreas Solaro
At Quartararo, known as “El Diablo”, tears of joy flowed when the title was certain. The Frenchman from Nice, who only started from 15th position, was only 17th after the start. But in the end he even fought for a podium in the GP of Emilia Romagna. “I still can’t believe it, it’s a dream,” said Quartararo on ServusTV. “Nice to have my family here. I will enjoy it today and until the end of the season.” Quartararo has celebrated five wins of the season so far.
Marquez’s declaration of war for the coming season
On Sunday, Marc Marquez triumphed on a right-turning course for the first time since his long injury break. “This is the most important victory of the year, it gives a lot of self-confidence for the next races and the winter,” said the Spaniard after his 85th GP success, 59th in the premier class. For a long time he had chased Bagnaia in vain. “His pace was unreal, but when I gave up he fell. Next season we will cause problems for Fabio again.”
Thanks to the Spaniard Pol Espargaro, Honda even scored a double victory. The Italian Enea Bastianini drove a Ducati to third place. The bikes from Bologna had taken the front row completely with Topman Bagnaia at the front.
Seven-time champion Valentino Rossi (Yamaha) completed the last home race of his great career. “Il Dottore” said goodbye to his fans with tenth place, his second best result of the season. (apa / red)
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