AS Formula1 went Stateside for the first time in 2023 in Austin, Texas, the powers that be tried to impress our American friends with the hope of attracting more dollars into the sport.
The existing F1 teams might be making it difficult for new teams to enter the Championship, but F1 needs new blood to keep things fresh, and the inclusion of teams like Andretti now feels like an inevitability.
On the track Verstappen set the fastest time in main race qualifying, only to have it deleted for track limits, dropping him to sixth on the grid with Leclerc taking pole.
In sprint qualifying, Verstappen topped the standings. In the sprint race Verstappen took a dominant win, his third of the season, beating Mercedes’ Lewis Hamilton to the flag by more than nine seconds, with Charles Leclerc taking third, fourth was Lando Norris, fifth Sergio Pérez, sixth Carlos Sainz, seventh Pierre Gasly and eighth George Russell.
In Sunday’s Grand Prix, Verstappen took his 50th win, rising from that sixth on the grid to finish just 2.2 seconds ahead of Hamilton with long-time race leader Norris taking the final podium place.
Verstappen had to work for his third consecutive win in Austin as he battled brake issues throughout. But once the three-time champion had muscled past Norris at half distance he began to take control. Hamilton passed Norris to give the Dutch leader pause for thought, but despite a lack of comfort under braking, Verstappen was able to hold the lead to the flag.
Norris got away best at the start and took the lead from polesitter Leclerc. Behind them, Sainz got past Hamilton to take P3, while Verstappen beat Russell off the line to take P5. Hamilton was soon past Sainz on lap 5, and soon after Verstappen also powered past the Ferrari driver. Hamilton made his way past Leclerc to take P2 and Verstappen followed to make it to the podium places. Hamilton was three seconds behind Norris, with Verstappen a further two seconds back.
After the first pit stops Norris led from Verstappen with Hamilton seven seconds back in P3. Sainz now held fourth place, three seconds ahead of Pérez. With half distance approaching, Verstappen closed in on Norris and on lap 28 went into the lead. Hamilton made his final stop at the end of lap 38 and the Mercedes driver emerged in P5 on medium tyres as Verstappen powered past Leclerc to take the lead once again. With control of the race secured, the Dutch driver began to eke out a slim gap. Verstappen crossed the line a narrow but ultimately safe 2.2 seconds clear of Hamilton with Norris a further eight seconds back in third.
Sainz held on to fourth three seconds ahead of Perez. Leclerc took sixth ahead of Russell, with Gasly eighth ahead of Lance Stroll and Yuki Tsunoda took the final point on offer in 10th place.
After the race, however, the stewards disqualified both Hamilton and Leclerc for technical issues, namely, excessive wear on the underfloor of their cars, suggesting that the cars were running too close to the ground and therefore illegal. The disqualification moved Norris up to second and promoted Sainz to the podium. Perez moved to fourth and extended his lead over Hamilton in the fight for second in the Drivers’ Championship. Russell jumps from seventh to fifth, Gasly to sixth and Stroll to seventh.
Yuki Tsunoda was eighth, with the Japanese racer also grabbing the bonus point for fastest lap on a good day for AlphaTauri. It also meant that Williams scored with both cars, Alex Albon inheriting ninth place and Logan Sargeant grabbing his first F1 point with P10 on home soil.
