This will be a Sprint in America for Verstappen like Usain Bolt completed during the Olympic Games, right?
Tomorrow it will be a battle for Max Verstappen in the early stages of the race. After a messy qualifying, he only starts sixth. But, for the Sprint, our hero can ‘just’ start at P1. So that normally turns out to be a piece of cake. Died in the first corner and then did 19 laps.
Max’s biggest competitors are numbers two and three Leclerc and Hamilton. The Monegasque is having a nice weekend and seems to have taken over from Sainz as the fastest Ferrari man. For LEC it will have to happen in the first corner, as the red car normally eats through the tires harder. Hamilton may have a chance to win with the updated Merc?
Start
Verstappen aggressively squeezes Leclerc like Schumacher did in his best days. LEC smokes a heavy pipe and is outwitted on the outside by Hamilton. Whether Verstappen should be happy about that remains to be seen. Where LEC loses a spot, SAI advances a spot. He intervenes on the soft tires of Norris after the second straight. Sainz is the only driver who has gambled on the softs, while the rest are on mediums. Usually you’re stupid, but maybe Carlos is a genius…
Perez passes Piastri on lap three. The punished Russell joins in, but according to his pursuers he overtakes outside the track. That may be a punishment for the Briton, who does not seem to have the speed of his experienced teammate this weekend. Ricciardo and Alonso have fallen back a bit further in the field. This makes points seem out of reach for both.
Mid Race
Russell indeed receives a five-second penalty. But that will be worth it for Mercedes to get past Piastri. The Australian is the same off the pace this weekend versus Norris. That is uncharacteristic for the rookie and so you would say that the car is not completely healthy. In any case, PIA also falls behind Gasly and Albon.
Tsunoda has a nice fight with Magnussen for the emperor’s beard. But in the points the battle is for Sainz’s fourth place. The Spaniard is unsurprisingly exhausted. Norris passes him again on lap 10. Perez will probably be next. And indeed, one lap later the Mexican goes to P5. The gamble on soft tires is not going to pay off for CS55 today.
For the time being, the new Haas is not yet bearing fruit. The latest Red Bull copy in the field should be faster and also much friendlier to the tires. But there is little good news to report on either front. Hulkenberg and Magnussen drop back to the tail of the field after about ten laps. Even the Alfas and Sargeant are faster on the road.
Finish
The battles at the front are over. Verstappen drives away from Hamilton by about 7 seconds in 19 laps and undoubtedly there could have been more. So that will mean winning again tomorrow. Hamilton, in turn, has approximately the same lead over Leclerc. So the Mercedes is indeed faster than the Ferrari, but not fast enough to threaten Max. Perez comes closer to Norris, but the latter expertly repulses the incipient attack.
The question is whether Sainz can make himself so wide that he still has some dots left on the line. Ultimately he succeeds. Russell really tries in the first corner. But Sainz is intelligent, chooses a wide line when entering the bend and then ‘comes back under’ at the exit of the bend. That breaks the charge of RUS, who still has to give up his place to Gasly at the finish due to his penalty. He remains just ahead of Albon, by five tenths of a second.
The points scorers are Verstappen, Hamilton, Leclerc, Norris, Perez, Sainz, Gasly and Russell. The rest can try again tomorrow. But based on the pace today it will be very difficult to beat Max. Perhaps Hamilton and Norris have a chance if everything goes right for them and everything goes wrong for Max. Anyway, just watch it again tomorrow at 9:00 PM.
Result Sprint America 2023
- VERSTAPPEN – Red Bull
- Hamilton-Mercedes
- Leclerc-Ferrari
- Norris-McLaren
- Perez – Red Bull
- Sainz-Ferrari
- Gasly – Alpine
- Russell-Mercedes
- Albon-Williams
- Piastri–McLaren
- Ocon – Alpine
- Ricciardo – Alpha Tauri
- Alonso – Aston Martin
- Tsunoda – Alpha Tauri
- Hulkenberg – Haas F1
- Bottas – Alfa Romeo
- Zhou – Alfa Romeo
- Magnussen – Haas F1
- Sargeant – Williams
DNF
Stroll – Aston Martin
This article Formula 1 results: Sprint in America 2023 first appeared on Autoblog.nl.
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