Drama until the last minutes! Hamilton close to first place, but Verstappen celebrates his 50th career victory

The second Grand Prix in the United States was hosted by the Austin, Texas, circuit. Max Verstappen took his 50th career victory, despite starting from sixth place and experiencing brake problems. As in recent years, Lewis Hamilton was on the podium to Verstappen’s right. Lando Norris confirmed McLaren’s great form with his fourth podium in a row.

At the Circuit of the Americas, a driver who had started second in four of the previous five races led the race after the first lap. Lando Norris took advantage of his starting position to pass Charles Leclerc at the first corner. He quickly built up a lead over the Ferrari and didn’t allow the Monegasque to hit back using DRS.

Oscar Piastri also made a great start in the second McLaren. He shot from tenth place to sixth immediately and was closing in on Verstappen. But the Red Bull driver was able to handle the newcomer and hold on to fifth place. After a heroic first lap, the Australian lasted only another nine laps, a mechanical problem taking him out of the race.

Esteban Ocon also retired from the race after six laps. The French driver was losing a huge amount of downforce after a hard collision with Piastri on the first lap, so it made more sense for the team to pull his car back into the garage rather than unnecessarily lapping 50 laps in last place.

Gradually, Verstappen, who started from sixth place after a botched qualifying session, was closing in on the front-runners. He overtook both Ferraris before the pit stop, then pulled a huge amount of time on Norris after the pit-stop, who put on a harder compound.

It took Verstappen half the race to take the lead

Hamilton extended his first stint, but on worn tyres he had no chance of keeping up with Verstappen and Norris and dropped six seconds behind the Dutchman after a tyre change.

Verstappen took the lead on lap 28. With the help of DRS, he got ahead of Norris on the inside of Turn 12. Although the Briton didn’t let his rival get more than 1 second away for three laps, he didn’t get around to attacking.

Norris started the second round of pit-stops after 35 laps. Red Bull reacted immediately and called Verstappen to the pits a lap later. Despite the slower stop, he maintained his track position against Norris.

Fernando Alonso started the race from pit lane due to the replacement of numerous components on his monoposto. Aston Martin brought new upgrades to Austin that didn’t suit the Spaniard at all, so he reverted back to his old configuration. This risk paid off and he fought his way up to the points positions.

All the efforts of the experienced racer came to naught when he reported a rear axle failure on lap 48. Although the team initially replied on the radio that they didn’t see any fault, after two laps they noticed damage to the floor and pulled Alonso from the race.

Hamilton was gunning for the win

An alternative strategy for Hamilton meant the seven-time world champion had a medium tyre compound for his final stint. He was closing in on his compatriot Norris by leaps and bounds until lap 48, when he came within striking distance of DRS.

Norris couldn’t keep Hamilton behind him, even with some tough defence in turn one. The McLaren driver’s subsequent pace was significantly slower than that of the leading pair. So instead of fighting for the win, he had to start thinking about fending off the oncoming Sainz attack.

Leclerc was frustrated with the progress of his race. He was the only one to complete 56 laps with only one tyre change. He dropped from first place at the start to a final sixth.

In the closing laps, the first Verstappen was closing in on Hamilton, who had a faster set of tyres on. The seven-time champion was eventually able to close the gap to under two seconds, but with the laps dwindling, it was no longer a direct assault on the top spot.

Verstappen therefore celebrated his 50th career victory. Norris celebrated his 100th race in Formula One with his fourth podium finish in a row. Russell reached the same milestone this weekend, but his drive was only good enough for seventh place.

Once again, Sergio Pérez was one step behind throughout the weekend. The gap between him and Hamilton in the Drivers’ Cup has shrunk to just 19 points after the US GP.

RACE CLASSIFICATION (LAP 56/56)

Verstappen takes the chequered flag for the 15th time this season#F1 #USGP pic.twitter.com/qB6mlCmsz8

— Formula 1 (@F1) October 22, 2023

Source: F1TV, Twitter / X