Beautiful duel of strategies between the Dutch Red Bull who hits the first pit stop and then manages the tire on the return of the English who closes glued. Max extends the World Cup to +12
& commat; giustoferronato
A practically perfect Max Verstappen, a Lewis Hamilton no less brilliant but this time perhaps betrayed by a hesitation of his wall, which instead often led him to great victories. The US GP was decided in the pits and the Dutchman and Red Bull can say they were the best. A victory that weighs a ton because it allows Verstappen to extend to +12 in the World Championship with 5 races to go. It’s not much, but in this phase of the championship every little break can be decisive and Max has succeeded, giving even more confidence to his team which now has two races ahead where traditionally it is strong, Mexico and Brazil. On the podium the other Red Bull of Perez in front of the Ferrari of Charles Leclerc, which preceded the McLaren of Daniel Ricciardo. Sixth Valtteri Bottas, seventh Carlos Sainz, eighth Lando Norris, points Yuki Tsunoda and Sebastian Vettel, 11th Antonio Giovinazzi.
The departure
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At the start there was a great start from Hamilton who burned Verstappen while keeping his foot down in curve 1. The Dutchman attempted a desperate closure, but could not help but leave room for Lewis who closed the left turn well and was took the head. Perez covered Verstappen and Leclerc moved into fourth position ahead of Ricciardo’s McLaren, author of a beautiful overtaking against Sainz. Seventh Norris on Tsunoda and Gasly, while in the rear Latifi rammed Stroll in turn 1. In 5 laps the two championship leaders left, trimming 3 ”5 to Perez and 11” to Leclerc. Bottas, in tenth position on lap 6, found himself 24 seconds behind the leading duo. On lap 7 the first to stop for a tire change was Alonso with the Alpine, followed by Tsunoda in 10th.
The first pit stop
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Surprisingly 10th Verstappen anticipated the break by mounting the white and returning fifth. And as soon as he got back on the track he bypassed Ricciardo’s McLaren, who then returned to the pits to change tires together with Sainz. At the 13th stop for Perez, who recovered the averages. And at the end of the same lap, Hamilton returns. But the Mercedes pit stop turned out to be late as Lewis returned to the track 6 ”behind Verstappen, who succeeded in the most classic of undercuts. And here it can be said that Mercedes probably slept a bit, waiting too long to mark Max, who found himself on the track with hard tires much faster, while Lewis inexorably lost ground and the advantage of the first position.
Situation reversed
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It was the decisive moment of the race, because the strategic situation was completely reversed. At that point it was Red Bull who had the ball in hand. Hamilton tried to reduce the gap and went to 3 ”, but Verstappen anticipated the game and stopped on lap 29 for the second stop, followed the next lap by teammate Perez. Hamilton obviously stayed on track in hopes of making his tires last as long as possible. He did it up to lap 37, to play the last 18 laps at full speed against the less fresh tires of his rival.
The grand finale
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A duel of strategy, of fast laps, of tire management. But the idea of the Mercedes wall turned out to be correct because Hamilton quickly reduced the 9 second gap to 4 ”4 on lap 44, with 12 laps still to go. On lap 49 Hamilton went to 2 “1 and on lap 52 to 1” 7. Attack imminent? Certainly a thousand emotions. But Verstappen’s answer came: the Dutchman still had rubber to manage to keep Hamilton at 1 ”3, what it took to take home 25 points. Which can mean a lot.
Order of arrival
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US GP arrival order:
1. Verstappen (Red Bull)
2. Hamilton (Mercedes) at 1 ”3
3. Perez (Red Bull) at 42 ”2
4. Leclerc (Ferrari) at 52 ”2
5. Ricciardo (McLaren) at 1’16 “8
6. Bottas (Mercedes) at 1’20 “1
7. Sainz (Ferrari) at 1’23 “5
8. Norris (McLaren) at 1’24 “3
9. Tsunoda (AlphaTauri) at 1 turn
10. Vettel (Aston Martin) at 1 lap
11. Giovinazzi (Alfa Romeo) at 1 lap
12. Stroll (Aston Martin) at 1 turn
13. Raikkonen (Alfa Romeo) at 1 lap
14. Russell (Williams) at 1 lap
15. Latifi (Williams) at 1 lap
16. Schumacher (Haas) at 2 laps
17. Mazepin (Haas) at 2 laps
18. Alonso (Alpine) rit.
19. Ocon (Alpine) rit.
20. Gasly (AlphaTauri) rit.
These are the rankings of the World Cup:
1. Max Verstappen (OLA) 287.5 points
2. Lewis Hamilton (GB) 275.5
3. Valtteri Bottas (FIN) 185
4. Sergio Pérez (MES) 150
5. Lando Norris (GB) 149
6. Charles Leclerc (MON) 128
7. Carlos Sainz Jr (SPA) 122.5
8. Daniel Ricciardo (AUS) 105
9. Pierre Gasly (FRA) 74
10. Fernando Alonso (SPA) 58
11. Esteban Ocon (FRA) 46
12. Sebastian Vettel (GER) 36
13. Lance Stroll (CAN) 26
14. Yuki Tsunoda (GIA) 20
15. George Russell (GB) 16
16. Nicholas Latifi (CAN) 7
17. Kimi Räikkönen (FIN) 6
18. Antonio Giovinazzi (ITA) 1
1. Mercedes 460.5 points
2. Red Bull-Honda 437.5
3. McLaren-Mercedes 254
4. Ferrari 250.5
5. Alpine-Renault 104
6. AlphaTauri-Honda 94
7. Aston Martin-Mercedes 62
8. Williams-Mercedes 23
9. Alfa Romeo Racing-Ferrari 7
10. Haas-Ferrari 0
October 24, 2021 (change October 25, 2021 | 00:02)
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