Yesterday Max Verstappen managed to take pole position from Lewis Hamilton at the last minute. The two title contenders will start from the front row today. Behind that, Pérez and Leclerc start from P3 and P4.
Lewis wins the start
When the red lights go out in Austin, Hamilton is better off than Verstappen. The Brit takes the lead as the drivers dive into turn one. Verstappen tries to fight back, but knows he is driving for a championship. That is why Max is satisfied with P2 for now.
Red Bull brings Verstappen in early
In the laps that follow, Verstappen continues to drive right behind Hamilton’s Mercedes. However, it fails to recapture the lead. On lap ten, Red Bull decides to bring in Max for new hard tires. Hamilton comes in four laps later. Verstappen drove faster in those four laps. When Hamilton returns to the track, Verstappen has recaptured the lead with a lead of six and a half seconds.
After the pit stops, Verstappen manages to keep his lead. However, a few laps later Hamilton starts to pick up steam. The gap between number one and number two is getting smaller and smaller. Red Bull therefore decides on lap 30 to give Max new hard tires one more time. Hamilton wants to drive longer in this pit stop lap, so that he has fresher tires at the end.
Lewis goes for a catch-up race
Hamilton comes in on lap 38 for his pit stop. He then has to make up for a deficit of just under 9 seconds in 18 laps. Traffic plays a major role and both Hamilton and Verstappen lose time by passing the laggards. Lap after lap, Hamilton is catching up with the Red Bull.
With two laps to go, Hamilton comes within one second of Verstappen. Ultimately, the Mercedes driver can no longer attempt to overtake. Verstappen manages to win the American GP in the nick of time and extends his championship lead. Hamilton is second and Pérez takes the last podium.
Result of the American GP 2021
1 | Max Verstappen | |
2 | Lewis Hamilton | |
3 | Sergio Perez | |
4 | Charles Leclerc | |
5 | Daniel Ricciardo | |
6 | Valtteri Bottas | |
7 | Carlos Sainz Jr. | |
8 | Lando Norris | |
9 | Yuki Tsunoda | |
10 | Sebastian Vettel | |
11 | Antonio Giovinazzi | |
12 | Lance Stroll | |
13 | Kimi Raikkonen | |
14 | George Russell | |
15 | Nicholas Latific | |
16 | Mick Schumacher | |
17 | Nikita Mazepin | |
18 | Fernando Alonso | |
19 | Esteban Ocon | |
20 | Pierre Gasly |
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