Dramatic conclusion in the USA! Hamilton loses more championship points, three drivers fail to finish the race

Formula 1 has entered the final third of the season, with the seventeenth race on the World Championship calendar already behind us. The U.S. Grand Prix gave a strong indication of how the championship fight will continue. What are the final results?

Max Verstappen is already within twelve points of the championship! The 24-year-old Red Bull driver won his eighth race of the season and was also voted best driver of the day.

As the saying goes, however, he didn’t have a bed of roses. Lewis Hamilton made the better start to the race, taking the lead after the first corner. Red Bull, however, used an aggressive strategy, stopping first and applying an “undercut” on Hamilton.

The end of the race was very dramatic, with the seven-time world champion closing to within eight tenths of a second of Verstappen! However, thanks to his flawless driving, the Red Bull driver handled it phenomenally and managed to win.

However, his first place and Sergio Pérez’s third place have an additional significance – his team reached the 200th podium position with this podium finish!

This race also gave a strong indication of how the fight for the championship title will not only continue.

In short, the tension is slowly rising and the two protagonists must avoid any mistakes. The last five grand prix will logically be absolutely crucial for the final championship standings.

In addition to the battle for the championship title, we are also watching a battle of wits between Ferrari and McLaren, in which McLaren has the upper hand for the time being. In the team standings, they are ahead of the Italian team in third position, but only by 3.5 points!

The gap between Mercedes and Red Bull is already more significant, with 23 points separating the two teams. The fact is that the battle for the Constructors’ Cup championship will also have a significant impact on how the two teams fare.

Sergio Pérez joined Verstappen on the podium, with Bottas finishing fifth. The Finnish driver overtook Carlos Sainz on the last lap, but lost important points for his team.

The U.S. Grand Prix went very badly for the Alpine F1 team, with both drivers, Fernando Alonso and Esteban Ocon, struggling throughout the race weekend and retiring for technical reasons during the race – Ocon on lap 42, Alonso on lap 11.

It should be noted, the US Grand Prix was a very difficult race for the drivers in particular. The Austin circuit requires great tyre work. Except for Sainz and Juki Cunoda, all the drivers started on medium specification tyres.

This specification, however, overheated considerably during the race, with the drivers making their first stops very early – for example, Alonso went to his mechanics on lap eight! He was followed by Juki Cunoda, George Russell and, on lap 11, Verstappen.

Almost all of them changed to the compound marked in white, the hardest compound. As a result of the high tyre degradation, the two pit-stop strategy was the clear choice.

Above you can see the final results of the US Grand Prix. It should also be noted that we are staying on the American continent. In two weeks’ time, on November 7, we will be at the Mexican Grand Prix.

The World Championship is slowly but surely coming to an end. And whether you’re happy with today’s results or not, one thing’s for sure – we’re going to have a lot of drama in the last five races.

And it’s highly likely that the world champion and other important positions will be decided in the last rounds of the season! We have 307 laps to go.

Source: F1 Live