MTI-NEPSFA;
Formula 1 Red Bull Austin United States Grand Prix Max Verstappen;
2023-10-22 22:52:00
This was the 26-year-old Red Bull driver’s 15th race win this year and the 50th of his career.
Following Saturday’s sprint race, world champion Max Verstappen also won Sunday’s race in Austin, the Formula 1 United States Grand Prix.
This was the 26-year-old Red Bull driver’s 15th race win this year and the 50th of his career.
Behind him, thanks to his excellent tire tactics, Lewis Hamilton (Mercedes) had a brilliant final stage and finished the race in second place, with Lando Norris in third.
Norris, the British McLaren driver who started from second place, had the best start and almost easily overtook Charles Leclerc (Ferrari) who started from the pole, followed by his teammate Carlos Sainz (Ferrari), ahead of Lewis Hamilton and the world. Champion Max Verstappen…
In the first laps, Norris continued to strengthen his advantage over Leclerc, while Hamilton was able to overtake Sainz, who Verstappen also trailed behind on the fifth lap. The seven-time world champion from Mercedes maintained his momentum and overtook the Ferrari driver from Monaco in sixth place, then chased Norris but was unable to get close to him for long laps.
Leclerc kept Verstappen behind him until lap 11, but the Dutchman was unable to be faster than Hamilton to continue, so he was called from the front for the first time – on lap 16 – to change tires, to which McLaren responded immediately. He challenged Norris to get a new tire.
On the other hand, Hamilton remained in the lead for another four laps, while Leclerc completed 24 laps on his medium-compound tires.
After changing the tires, Norris was in the lead by two seconds from Verstappen, who was more than seven seconds behind Hamilton, third. The three-time Dutch world champion now drove very quickly on his new tires and easily overtook himself for the lead on lap 28, and after a few laps he gradually began to increase his advantage over the slowing Norris.
The second tire change made by Norris with 21 laps to go brought more excitement, after which Verstappen entered the pits at the end of the next lap, thus keeping the McLaren driver behind him, while in front of him the trio of Hamilton, Sergio Perez and Leclerc. He was only out once.
Verstappen continued to build a safe gap over Norris, as they both passed Leclerc, while Hamilton and Perez swapped tyres, and the Dutchman confidently led the way for the final 15 laps, until the final lap or two, when the fast-paced Hamilton overtook mid-lap. – who passed Norris with eight laps to go – was already closer by more than two seconds, but Verstappen’s win was not in danger overall.
Norris finished third, followed by Sainz, then Perez and Leclerc, who was the only one in the field to stop in the pits.
The World Cup continues in a week with the Mexican Grand Prix.
