The Dutchman Max Verstappen (Red Bull), crowned three-time Formula One world champion two weeks ago in Qatar, extended his outstanding streak by winning the United States Grand Prix this Sunday. at the Circuit of the Americas in Austin (Texas), where he scored his fiftieth victory in the premier category; equaling his own record for victories in the same season: fifteen.
Verstappen, 26, won for the third time (in a row) on the bumpy and hot Austin track, ahead of the Englishmen Lewis Hamilton (Mercedes) and Lando Norris (McLaren), second and third, respectively, in a race that Spanish Carlos Sainz (Ferrari) finished fourth, one place ahead of Mexican Sergio Pérez, teammate of the new monarch of the premier category.
The other Spaniard, Fernando Alonso (Aston Martin), who had left the pit lane and was making a great comeback – which would have presumably left him eighth at the end – had to abandon due to a problem with the flat bottom of his car. , with five of the 56 laps remaining on the Texan circuit.
This was Verstappen’s resounding victory in Austin
This time giving it more excitement and managing slightly deteriorated brakes in the last turns, Verstappen demonstrated for the umpteenth time that he is the undisputed king of the honor division of motorsport.
On Friday, after setting the best time in the only practice of the fifth of the course’s six sprint format weekends, he went from less to more in qualifying. In which he would have signed the ‘pole’. But, for exceeding the track limits, the time for that lap was annulled and he finished sixth in qualifying. Position from which this Sunday he won on a track where no one had done it before, starting from behind the front row. He added his 50th victory by signing the fifteenth of the year, equaling his own historical record, which no one doubts will improve in the four remaining races.
He was just one away from the fourth all-time winning record, that of Frenchman Alain Prost; and in what remains until the closing – next November 26, in Abu Dhabi – he could equal, or even surpass, the third; held by the other quadruple world champion, the German Sebastian Vettel.
‘Mad Max’ had quickly got rid of Friday’s thorn by leading the reduced qualifying before winning the Saturday sprint, ahead of Hamilton and the Monegasque Charles Leclerc (Ferrari), who started first and finished sixth this Sunday, after having scored on Friday his twenty-first pole position in F1. A record that places him first among non-world champions in that section.
Norris started alongside the Dutch star; and next to Hamilton, on the second row, was Sainz, fourth in qualifying on Friday and sixth in the sprint on Saturday. Just one place behind ‘Checo’, who faced the race ninth, along with the Australian debutant Oscar Piastri, the fashionable man of F1; who arrived in Austin after having been third in Japan and second in Qatar. Where, in addition, he had won the sprint; the day Verstappen mathematically became three-time champion, this Sunday in the third row, next to the other Mercedes, that of Englishman George Russell. Seventh at the end.
For Alonso, and especially for Aston Martin, things went wrong from the start of a Grand Prix in which they barely ran in the only test of the worst weekend of the year for the Silverstone team. Before the Asturian double world champion – previously always present in all seventeen Q3s of the year – was eliminated in Q1. Instance in which his partner, the Canadian Lance Stroll, had also fallen. Unlike the man from Oviedo, he was able to complete his comeback and finished ninth.
Fernando, seventeenth in qualifying (thirteenth in the sprint), and Lance – who did not even finish the short test -, nineteenth, started from the ‘pit lane’, after breaking the ‘parc ferme’ to change all the settings once they The improvements brought in the aerodynamic package had no effect. For the same reason, the two Haas of Dane Kevin Magnussen and German Nico Hülkenberg also started from the garage corridor.
Except for the latter and Stroll – with hard ones – all started with medium compound tires. In a race in which Lando passed Leclerc at the first opportunity, the same thing that Carlos did with Sir Lewis; and ‘Mad Max’ with Russell.
Piastri was the one who made the most of the first stages of the test, in which he advanced four places in one fell swoop to circulate sixth in the second of the 56 laps that were given to COTA; where no one had won starting from behind the second on the grid.
But the Dutch star is insatiable. And also, eat separately. On board the powerful ship designed by the brilliant English engineer Adrian Newey – a true guru of aerodynamics – in the fifth lap he was already rolling in fourth position after passing Sainz, who Hamilton had noticed; that on the sixth lap he passed Leclerc to place second, behind his compatriot Norris.
‘Checo’, stopped by Russell, had only advanced two places in tenth, after the retirements of Piastri – who could not extend his good streak – and the Frenchman Esteban Ocon (Alpine); one lap before Verstappen placed third, behind the two Britons, by overtaking the Monegasque polesitter.
The idol of the Netherlands fans repeated mediums in the 17th, one before Carlos did the same and Norris installed the hard ones. Hamilton, whose six victories in the United States (five on this track) are unmatched by anyone, pushed hard in lap 20 – when Leclerc, who had not yet stopped, provisionally assumed the lead -, one before the other Mercedes, the by Russell.
Leclerc entered the garages on lane 24 and, with the rearrangement, Norris was running first, ahead of Verstappen and Hamilton; with Sainz fourth and ‘Checo’ – who had repeated half in the 19th – fifth. With Alonso, in the same action as the Mexican one lap later, he overtook the Finnish Valtteri Bottas (Alfa Romeo) to reach tenth place and enter the points zone.
The super-predator stalked its latest prey; and in lap 28, exactly at the halfway point of the race, Verstappen overtook Norris, placed himself first and began to think clearly about lap 50, which would equal his own historical record for victories in the same course (15).
Norris stopped at 35 and put on hard tires, one lap before Verstappen and Carlos did the same maneuver. Four further ahead, ‘Mad Max’ overtook Leclerc – who was passed shortly after by Norris – and from there he drove to the finish line – not without the aforementioned problems with the brakes and under pressure from Sir Lewis – the fifteenth: a record that he will be able to extend in the races. four races remaining.
Races in which he will also be able to surpass Prost’s 51 wins and equal or even improve Vettel’s 53. Thus becoming the third most victorious driver in the entire history of the premier category, behind the two seven-time world champions: the German Michael Schumacher, the ‘Kaiser’, triumphant 91 times; and Hamilton, who played ‘God Save The Queen’ 103 times after an F1 race. And this Sunday he passed his compatriot Norris with seven to go, securing second place and distancing himself from Alonso in the overall standings (the Briton is third, with 219 points, 36 more than the Aston Martin captain)
With eleven to go, Alonso overtook the Japanese Yuki Tsunoda (Alpha Tauri, who set the fastest lap and finished tenth) and placed ninth. The brilliant Asturian driver, who was aiming for eighth place in a race that he had started in the pit lane, suffered problems on the flat bottom and ended up retiring five minutes from the finish line.
Carlos, with another brilliant performance, had surpassed Leclerc shortly before and secured fourth place in the race. A position that he is getting closer to in the general classification, still held by his compatriot. Which leads him by fifteen points (183-168)
Stroll was able to complete his comeback and finished ninth this Sunday in Austin. Where it could not prevent, however, McLaren (239 points) from snatching fourth place in the Constructors’ World Championship, in which Aston Martin is fifth, seven units behind the Woking team.
In his eagerness to finish runner-up in the world, ‘Checo’ minimized damage. But, with 238 points, he has Hamilton only 19 behind, so it will be essential that he complete a great performance next weekend, in front of his fans, at the Autódromo de los Hermanos Rodríguez: home of the Mexican Grand Prix .
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