Everything according to script: Max Verstappen won the Sprint race in Austin, giving an appetizer to what could be tomorrow’s United States GP. The world champion used strong methods to contain Charles Leclerc’s initial sprint into the first corner and then held off Lewis Hamilton who had overtaken the Ferrari.
The seven-time world champion controlled the Mercedes for a few laps, then the W14 couldn’t keep up with the Dutchman’s pace and Max said goodbye to everyone, taking almost ten seconds ahead. The feeling is that Red Bull, even starting sixth tomorrow, can aim to win the American GP. Hamilton took second place which allowed him to extend the Star’s advantage to 27 points in the challenge with Ferrari in the place of honor in the Constructors’ World Championship. Lewis has benefited from the evolution at the bottom of the W14 and brings the black arrow to the role of second force, while George Russell has fallen to eighth place: the Englishman, penalized by three positions on the grid for impeding Leclerc, has got a 5 second penalty for overtaking Oscar Piastri in the first stages of the 19 laps completed off the track.
Charles Leclerc had to play defense: the Ferrari is excellent in traction and top speed, but suffers in the snake along the supporting curves: the SF-23 does not have the pace to challenge the Red Bull, given that the Monegasque has collected 17 seconds late, almost eight tenths per lap. At the end the Ferrari driver had to guard against the return of Lando Norris who was arriving at great speed with McLaren. The Englishman, fifth, managed to shake off a Sergio Perez who was unable to enter the contention for third place.
Carlos Sainz finished sixth, after a rocket start: the Spaniard was in Leclerc’s slipstream thanks to the adoption of the soft tyre. Ferrari played a wildcard to try to gather some information in view of tomorrow’s race: now the Prancing Horse technicians have a clear idea that it is not a choice to carry forward. Carlos, after the initial burst, had to reduce his pace to reach the finish: he reached the finish line in the same position in which he started. He suffered attacks from Norris and Perez, but managed to defend himself from Pierre Gasly, author of a very regular race with Alpine and was rewarded with seventh place. The last in points is George Russell ahead of Alexander Albon with Williams.
Oscar Piastri, after the contact at the start with Charles Leclerc, no longer had the MCL60 in order and gradually dropped back: he also took a 5 second penalty for failing to respect the track limits and finished tenth.
Outside the top 10 is Esteban Ocon with the second Alpine ahead of Daniel Ricciardo with the AlphaTauri and Fernando Alonso with the Aston Martin. The only withdrawn was Lance Stroll: the Canadian, who was ahead of his Spanish teammate, was forced to stop due to a brake problem on the AMR23. A problem that had already been seen in free practice was repeated. Bad signal for tomorrow, a sign that the problem has not been resolved…
#Verstappen #Austin #Sprint #Hamilton #Leclerc