The Dutch driver triumphs in the seventeenth act of the World Championship and still stretches over his direct rival in the race for the title.
Max Verstappen wins in Austin ahead of Lewis Hamilton and doubles its lead over the Mercedes champion in the general classification. Hamilton closes the US GP in Red Bull exhausts but he has to be satisfied with the second step of the podium. The third is by Sergio Perez with the other Red Bull while the challenge between Ferrari and McLaren ends in favor of the Reds: fourth place for Charles Leclerc in front of Daniel Ricciardo. Carlos Sainz seventh behind Valtteri Bottas but ahead of Lando Norris.
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It didn’t help Lewis Hamilton shooting to perfection at the traffic lights and take the lead of the US GP at the first corner of the Circuit Of The Americas. There Mercedes reacted with a lap or two late at the first pit stop of Verstappen who thus took the lead and then set up a central part of the race of … active defense, then managing a critical final, faced with a set of tires much less fresh than that of the seven-time world champion who in fact he sounded the charge and filled the gap, pushing himself right into the wake of Red Bull number 33 but without the possibility of attempting an attack on the 56th and final lap.
At the end of a weekend that was in favor of Mercedes (but at the end of the race Hamilton said it was true .. the opposite!), Verstappen and Red Bull deal a very hard blow to their rivals, even if not yet that of the knockout. In the general classification the Dutchman doubles his lead over Lewis: from six to twelve points (287.5 to 275.5) which do not rise to thirteen just because Lewis – in his final forcing – manages to win the bonus point of the fastest lap of the race. So there was not in Texas that close confrontation that many expected: not at the start, not at the peak of a tense and very tight finish but never from “short irons”, as had happened other times during the season.
The challenge between Verstappen and Hamilton has practically eclipsed everyone else’s race. Sergio Perez takes home a third place it would seem obvious and obligatory, which adds precious points to his team’s hunt for the Constructors’ title, especially in light of the sixth place in Valtteri Bottas who – after the Turkish glories – is back in the ranks and finished sixth after starting ninth: with the McLaren and with a very fresh engine!
Ferrari stops at the foot of the podium with a very bright Leclerc and a Sainz instead struggling with a rather complicated Sunday, which ended with a pout. The Monegasque is 25 seconds off the finish line lto McLaren by Daniel Ricciardo, managing in the central phase of the GP to run on the times of the first three and briefly giving the illusion of being able to go after Perez. Conditioned from the start on soft tires, Sainz finds himself in tussle with McLarens several times. A twist taken by Ricciardo damages his SF21 and forces him to give Bottas the green light but the Spaniard then manages to win the duel for seventh place with Lando Norris. At the end of the day the Reds collect four points more than their direct opponents and now the delay from McLaren in the Constructors’ Championship drops to only three and a half points: 254 to 250.5.
World championship points also for Yuki Tsunoda (ninth with the only Alpha Tauri at the finish) and for Sebastian Vettel which closed tenth a race started from the bottom due to the replacement of the power unit. Antonio Giovinazzi remains dry, eleventh. The Alfa Romeo Sauber of the Italian and of Kimi Raikkonen (thirteenth) were a real nightmare for Fernando Alonso who collided (not just metaphorically!) with both, before retiring for us mechanics, just like his teammate in Alpine Esteban Ocon.
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