Austin (United States) (AFP) – Dutch Red Bull driver Max Verstappen on Sunday raised his number of victories in the Formula One World Championship to 50 races in his career after winning his third world title in a row, by coming in first place for the United States Grand Prix in the eighteenth round of competitions. .
Published on: 10/22/2023 – 23:59
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Verstappen, starting from sixth place on the Austin Circuit, finished the race (56 laps) with a time of 1:35:21.362 hours, 2.225 seconds ahead of British Mercedes driver Lewis Hamilton, who won the world title seven times, and the latter’s compatriot, McLaren driver Lando Norris, who was 10.730 seconds behind. .
Verstappen, who won the first category title during the last round’s sprint race at the Losail Circuit in Qatar, raised the number of his victories this year to 15, and also achieved his third consecutive victory in Austin, after he also dominated the Sprint race on Saturday.
The Dutchman Adel also equaled the record for the number of victories in one year, which he holds himself (15 last year), setting his sights on breaking this number, especially since there are still 4 rounds before the end of the championship, while the matter is almost settled for him given the superiority of his “R” car. B19 and its absolute dominance over the capabilities of the first category.
-“Proud of this achievement”-
“Starting from sixth made things a little more difficult,” Verstappen, 26, said.
He continued, “To win the 50th race in my career, I am very proud of this achievement.”
Verstappen increased his lead at the top of the drivers’ standings to 466 points, 228 points behind his Mexican colleague Sergio Pires, who finished fifth in Austin.
“I think I was struggling with the brakes throughout the entire race,” Verstappen added, to some fans booing.
For his part, Hamilton congratulated Red Bull and Verstappen for their flawless performance and season, saying, “We were catching them near the end and I was optimistic, but we needed more laps.”
Verstappen began his return to the front positions from the first turn by overtaking the second British Mercedes driver, George Russell, to fall 5 seconds behind the leader Norris, as he struggled to overtake the trailing cars, but he succeeded in overtaking them one after the other.
The Red Bull driver tightened his control over the lead after the first stop to change tires, in the middle of the race, by overtaking Norris on lap 28, without giving it up despite suffering from a brake problem.
On the other hand, in his 100th race in his career, Norris topped the podium for the 12th time, the fourth in a row and the sixth this season, but he struggled behind the wheel of his McLaren at the end of the race and was unable to prevent Hamilton from passing him in his attempt to occupy second place.
-Leclerc got angry-
Spanish driver Carlos Sainz saved the day for Scuderia Ferrari by finishing fourth, while his teammate Charles Leclerc from Monaco, who started from first place, arrived in a very disappointing sixth place through a risky one-stop strategy that did not bear fruit on the American track.
Leclerc, who was overtaken by Norris at the first turn, did not appear capable of climbing to the podium, as he struggled in the final laps due to his damaged hard tires and was unable to contain the return of Red Bull Pérez.
Russell (Mercedes) ranked seventh, ahead of Frenchman Pierre Gasly (Alpine), who was luckier than his fellow countryman Esteban Ocon, who was forced to withdraw on the sixth lap after a collision with Australian Oscar Piastri (McLaren).
The top ten was completed by Canadian Lance Stroll (Aston Martin), who started from the pits, and Japanese Yuki Tsunoda (Alpha Tauri), who fitted his car with soft tires at the end of the race to claim the point for fastest lap.
© 2023 AFP
2023-10-22 21:59:05
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