Clearly. Dry. Air +30…31С, highway +41…42С
The weekend in Austin was held for the first time in a sprint format on Saturday. Organizers said this had no impact on ticket sales, but not a single apple fell in the stands. In the evening after the sprint, the band Queen with Adam Lambert performed on the track – the audience was happy. Everyone was waiting for the main event: Sunday’s race.
The sprint format provides for a one-hour training session on Friday morning, so it was not possible to assess the potential of the tires over a long distance, nor to test new products – several teams came up with solutions for the next season, which are important to to test now.
Verstappen showed the best time in training and in Friday qualifying Max was only sixth – his best lap in the qualifying final was canceled due to leaving the track. But on Saturday the Dutchman won both the Sprint Shootout and the Sprint.
In the race, Leclerc and Norris shared the front row of the starting field, Hamilton and Sainz – second, Russell and Verstappen – third.
Both Haas F1 drivers started from the pit lane – in a closed park, the team changed the settings and recognized their previous option as incorrect.
Aston Martin also decided to start from the pit lane to compare the effectiveness of the two configuration options. The new items were removed from Alonso’s car; he used the previous configuration, prepared for the Qatar stage. They kept the new features on Stroll’s car, but changed the settings.
Pirelli once again brought the three ‘medium’ compounds to the podium – C2, C3 and C4, labeled Hard, Medium and Soft. Hulkenberg and Stroll chose Hard for the first stint, the rest started on Medium.
At the start, Norris overtook Leclerc to lead the race. Russell lost three seats. Hamilton let Sainz pass.
Top ten in round 2: Norris – Leclerc – Sainz – Hamilton – Verstappen – Piastri – Ocon – Russell – Perez – Gasly.
Ocon’s car suffered damage after contact with Piastri, causing him to lose downforce and speed.
On lap 3, Russell and Perez passed Ocon.
On the fourth lap, Ocon let Gasly pass, after which Esteban got ahead of Tsunoda – and he fell back to last place.
Hamilton overtook Sainz and regained third place.
On lap 6, Verstappen was ahead of Sainz, Hamilton ahead of Leclerc and Stroll ahead of Hulkenberg.
On the seventh lap, Ocon stopped the car in the pits and retired.
On lap 8, Perez passed Gasly for eighth place.
Top ten in round 10: Norris – Hamilton – Leclerc – Verstappen – Sainz – Piastri – Russell – Perez – Gasly – Tsunoda.
On the 10th lap, Zhou changed tires. Russell passed Piastri. Oscar’s car lost speed, he drove slowly to the pits and left the race – after contact with Ocon at the start, the radiator was damaged and a leak developed in the cooling system.
On lap 11, Albon, Bottas and Magnussen made a pit stop.
Verstappen overtook Leclerc, pushed his opponent off the track and moved up to second place.
On the 12th lap Sargent changed tires, on the 17th – Verstappen, on the 18th – Norris, Sainz, Perez and Tsunoda, on the 19th – Gasly, on the 20th – Alonso and Hulkenberg, on the 21st – Hamilton and Stroll, Russell in 22nd, Ricciardo in 23rd.
Alonso climbed to 11th place ahead of Bottas and Albon.
On the 24th lap Leclerc made a pit stop. Alonso overtook Zhou for 10th place. Magnussen was warned with a black and white flag for violation.
Top ten in round 25: Norris – Verstappen – Hamilton – Sainz – Perez – Leclerc – Russell – Gasly – Tsunoda – Alonso.
On lap 26, Albon passed Zhou and Stroll passed Ricciardo.
On lap 28, Zhou changed tires and Verstappen passed Norris to take the lead.
On the 29th lap Bottas changed tires, on the 30th – Albon and Magnussen.
On lap 32, Hulkenberg passed Sargent for 12th place.
On the 33rd lap, Sargent made a pit stop, on the 35th – Norris, Tsunoda and Hulkenberg, on the 36th – Verstappen and Sainz, on the 38th – Perez and Gasly.
Sainz stayed ahead of Russell in the battle for fifth place, and Verstappen stayed ahead of Leclerc in the battle for the lead.
On lap 39 Hamilton changed the tires. Norris overtook Leclerc for second place.
On the 40th lap, Russell made a pit stop during the 41st – Stroll.
On lap 42, Albon passed Ricciardo for 12th place. Sargent was warned with a black and white flag for trespassing.
On lap 43 Alonso changed the tires. Hamilton beat Leclerc for third place.
On lap 45, Alonso passed Tsunoda and moved up to ninth place.
Top ten in lap 45: Verstappen – Norris – Hamilton – Leclerc – Sainz – Perez – Russell – Gasly – Alonso – Tsunoda.
On lap 46, Sargent overtook Ricciardo for 14th.
On lap 48, Stroll passed Tsunoda for 10th place. Ricciardo changed the tires.
On lap 49, Hamilton overtook Norris for second place. Tsunoda moved ahead of Alonso and moved up to 10th place.
On the 50th lap, Alonso pitted the car and retired due to underbody damage. Leclerc allowed Sainz to pass on worn tires at the team’s request.
Albon received a five-second penalty for a repeated violation.
On lap 53 Perez overtook Leclerc for fifth place.
On the 55th lap Tsunoda changed the tires, went Soft and set the best lap.
Max Verstappen won the US Grand Prix with his 15th win of the season and 50th of his career. Lewis Hamilton finished second, repeating his best result of the season. Lando Norris reached the podium for the fourth race in a row.
The battle continues next week in Mexico City.
After the finish, a random technical inspection revealed that the control rod under the floor of the cars of Lewis Hamilton and Charles Leclerc was worn more than required and did not meet the requirements of the technical regulations. Both riders were disqualified.
Race results
| Pilot | Team | Time | Speed | Pete |
| 1. M. Verstappen | Red Bull | 1:35.21.362 | 194,054 | 2 |
| DQ. L. Hamilton | Mercedes | +2,225 | 193,979 | 2 |
| 2. L.Norris | McLaren | +10,730 | 193,691 | 2 |
| 3. K. Sainz | Ferrari | +15.134 | 193,542 | 2 |
| 4. C. Perez | Red Bull | +18.460 | 193,430 | 2 |
| DQ. S. Leclerc | Ferrari | +24.662 | 193,221 | 1 |
| 5. D. Russell | Mercedes | +24,999 | 193,210 | 2 |
| 6. P. Gasly | Alps | +47.996 | 192,440 | 2 |
| 7. L. Walk | Aston Martin | +48.696 | 192,417 | 2 |
| 8. Yu.Tsunoda | AlphaTauri | +74.385 | 191,564 | 3 |
| 9. A.Albon* | Williams | +86.714 | 191,157 | 2 |
| 10. L. Sargent | Williams | +87.998 | 191,115 | 2 |
| 11. N. Hulkenberg | Hare | +89.904 | 191,052 | 2 |
| 12. V. Bottas | Alfa Romeo | +98.601 | 190,767 | 2 |
| 13. G.Zhou | Alfa Romeo | +1 round | 190,466 | 2 |
| 14. K. Magnussen | Hare | +1 round | 190,317 | 2 |
| 15. D. Ricciardo | AlphaTauri | +1 round | 190,291 | 2 |
* – A. Albon was punished with an extension of 5 seconds for exceeding the limits of the track
Best round: Yuki Tsunoda (AlphaTauri) – 1:38.139 (56 laps, 202.231 km/h)
Reasons for the meetings
| Pilot | Team | Kroogov | Cause |
| E. Okon | Alps | 6 | accident |
| O. Piastri | McLaren | 10 | leakage in the cooling system |
| F. Alonso | Aston Martin | 49 | bottom |
Championship Position: Individual Competition
Championship position: Constructors’ Championship
| Team | Engine | Glasses | |
| = | 1. Oracle Red Bull Racing | Honda RBPT | 706 |
| = | 2. Mercedes-AMG PETRONAS F1 Team | Mercedes | 344 |
| = | 3. Scuderia Ferrari | Ferrari | 322 |
 |
4. McLaren F1 Team | Mercedes | 242 |
 |
5. Aston Martin Aramco Cognizant F1 Team | Mercedes | 236 |
| = | 6. BWT Alpine F1 Team | Renault | 100 |
| = | 7. Williams Racing | Mercedes | 26 |
| = | 8. Alfa Romeo F1 team stakes | Ferrari | 16 |
| = | 9. MoneyGram Haas F1 Team | Ferrari | 12 |
| = | 10. Scuderia Alpha Tauri | Honda RBPT | 10 |
Source: F1 News
I am Christopher Clyde, an experienced journalist and content writer with a passion for sports. I have been writing about Formula 1 news for the past five years and am currently employed as an author at athletistic.com, one of the top sports websites in the US.
