World champion Max Verstappen has managed to hunt down Lewis Hamilton to take victory in the United States Grand Prix after a slow pit stop saw him lose multiple spots late in the race. The victory, Verstappen’s 13th of 2022, also saw Red Bull claim the 2022 Constructors Championship.
Thirteen wins in a calendar year also ties the all-time record held by Sebastian Vettel and Michael Schumacher, Verstappen with three more chances to top this in 2022.
Red Bull only needed to score 8 points more than Ferrari to secure the Constructors Championship, their efforts helped immediately at Turn 1 when a locked-up George Russell took out pole-sitter Carlos Sainz. The Spaniard had impressed with pace all weekend, only to suffer radiator damage after the T-Bone from the Mercedes. Russell received a 5 second penalty for causing the collision.
The other Ferrari, of Charles Leclerc, had started in 12th but worked its way through the field to round out the podium places, with third, just ahead of the second Red Bull of Sergio Perez.
Despite his penalty, Russell returned to the top five, Lando Norris, Fernando Alonso, Sebastian Vettel, Kevin Magnussen and Yuki Tsunoda rounding out the top 10 respectively
Aston Martin will be left rueing their chances in the race, both Vettel and Lance Stroll running in the top five for the first 20 laps. All that came undone when Stroll crashed out in spectacular fashion after trying to hold off a charging Alonso.
The contact sent the front of the Alpine airborne in a wheelie at speed on the back straight whilst Stroll veered left and made hard contact with the wall, spinning across in front of the field who all miraculously avoided collecting his wreckage.
Impressively, Alonso shrugged off the incident and worked his way back to seventh later on in proceedings.
Aston Martin’s troubles got worse on Vettel’s final stop, a stuck front left seeing them lose significant time after boxing from the lead. He returned outside the top 10 but worked his way forward to overtake Magnussen on the final lap for eighth.
The day, however, belonged to Verstappen, the 2022 title already secured heading into the event.
The Dutchman had looked like he was cruising for yet another race victory, steering clear of the drama around to lead comfortably throughout early proceedings.
Only a stuck front left put any doubt over his dominance, but he quickly put that to rest to claw back Hamilton to take the lead with few laps remaining.
The victory was significant for Red Bull as it remembers team owner Dietrich Mateschitz who passed away just yesterday.
The series will now head to Mexico for Perez’s home Grand Prix, plenty still left to race for with second spot in the Drivers Championship still there for the taking for multiple drivers.
Mercedes and Ferrari are also fighting for the runner-up spot in the Constructors Championship.
The Mexican Grand Prix begins with two practice sessions this Friday.
Race Report
Verstappen was the better of the front row starters, taking the inside line into Turn 1. Carlos Sainz slotted in behind to make it through the corner, only to be T-boned by a locked-up Russell.
Starting fourth, Russell and teammate Hamilton both attempted to out-brake each other heading into the corner, Russell sliding through and collecting Sainz at the turn exit.
Sainz spun as a result, returning to the rear of the field before the car was retired with a radiator water leak. It was the Spaniards sixth DNF of the season.
A five second penalty was awarded to the British driver for causing the collision, perhaps slightly lenient given the implications of the crash.
Verstappen, clear up front, started to build a lead, pulling away from Hamilton who now ran second.
Stroll had worked his way to third after Russell hit Sainz, only to lose that place back from the Mercedes come Lap 5.
The other Aston Martin of Sebastian Vettel also started well, working his way forward from 10th on the grid to be sitting fifth through early proceedings.
Perez, who started ninth after taking a grid penalty, worked his way forward to move ahead of Stroll and Vettel by Lap 6. Leclerc also followed, working his way towards the front as the race entered it’s mid-stages.
The first stops were made by the midfield on Lap 10, Hamilton the first of the leaders to follow on Lap 12.
Verstappen followed a lap later, whilst Russell came in on Lap 14 to serve his 5 second penalty. Perez was the benefactor from this, moving up to third to go about chasing down Hamilton in second.
The gusty conditions continued to trouble the drivers, Nicholas Latifi and Valtteri Bottas both having spins early in proceedings. It was the spin of Bottas that proved most costly to the field, his car beached in the Turn 19 gravel triggering a Lap 18 Safety Car.
Those who had not pitted took advantage of the cheap stop, Leclerc one of those to move up to fourth.
Once the field had all stopped it was Verstappen back in the lead over Hamilton, Perez, Leclerc and Russell rounding out the top five. Aston Martin ran sixth and seventh.
It was a drama-free restart as the field began spread, however Aston Martin’s early success quickly came undone when Fernando Alonso and Stroll made contact at speed on the back straight.
With better speed on the straight, the Spaniard was attempting an overtake on the Canadian on the left, Stroll veering left to cover slightly too late. The front right of Alonso made contact with the left rear of Stroll, launching the Alpine’s front two wheels into the air in a wheelie down the straight at speed.
Alonso veered left into the barriers, whilst Stroll went right, before bouncing off the wall back across track. Miraculously, the field avoided both cars, several drivers taking late evasive action to do so. Even more impressively, Alonso made his way back to the pits and went back out to rejoin the queue.
A Safety Car was in order with debris and Stroll’s wreck covering the back straight.
Things got back underway once again on Lap 26 with Verstappen picking up where he left off to start pulling away once again.
Perez and Leclerc locked in a battle for the final podium spot from here, the two running side-by-side at the end of the back straight come Lap 29. A lockup for Perez and Leclerc out-braking himself saw Perez hold his spot.
This only lasted a lap, Leclerc managing to pass at the same spot the very next lap.
A tight mid-field battle saw a DRS train formed, Pierre Gasly leading Yuki Tsunoda, Lando Norris and Mick Schumacher around the circuit. Gasly, however, became unstuck after being awarded a 5 second penalty for a Safety Car infringement during the earlier yellow flag period.
As Verstappen started to complain about engine issues in the lead, Hamilton came in for his final stop on Lap 35, the world champion following a lap later.
It was a horror tyre change for Verstappen, issues switching the front left seeing him held for 11 seconds. This saw Hamilton and Leclerc both jump the Dutchman.
Perez now held the lead over Russell with Vettel running third, that trio not having stopped yet.
Leclerc and Verstappen then went about battling for net second over multiple laps, the Red Bull finally getting the better of the Ferrari on Lap 39.
Not having stopped yet, Vettel led the Grand Prix to make it 3,500 laps led throughout his careers. Hamilton managed to take the lead on Lap 41.
Perez and Russell also battled each other at this point, Perez returning to fifth place.
Once Vettel came in for his final stop the front left also proved sticky, a disappointing 16 second box time seeing him return outside the top 10.
Impressively, Alonso had worked his way back up to seventh despite his earlier two-wheel venture down the back straight.
The gap between Hamilton and Verstappen was brought down to under three seconds, however the seven-time world champion was on hards compared to the defending champion’s mediums.
Perez, now fourth, also went about joining the three ahead, 9 seconds separating the top four with 8 laps remaining.
Verstappen was within DRS range of Hamilton on Lap 49, Leclerc having dropped back to make it a two horse race for the win.
The world champion finally took the lead back with just 6 laps remaining, a good battle between the two last multiple corners. Ultimately, the faster car took the position.
Vettel, from the back, had worked his car forward and re-entered the top 10 in the dying stages.
Track limits started to become an issue for multiple drivers, including the race leader who received a black and white flag for multiple excursions. One more time off would result in a time penalty for Verstappen.
Following close behind, Hamilton was quick to let everyone know whenever he thought the Red Bull exceeded track limits, he himself receiving the same flag for the same offence with three laps remaining.
It was not enough to stop Verstappen claiming the race win, Hamilton holding on for second ahead of Leclerc.
Perez finished fourth ahead of Russell, the Brit taking a late fastest-lap bonus point after a change to softs.
Norris had worked his way back to sixth, Alonso holding on for seventh despite his involvement in the earlier incident.
Haas ran a quiet one-stop strategy for Magnussen, working well to finish an impressive ninth after Vettel worked his way past on the very last lap to take eighth.
Yuki Tsunoda rounded out the top 10.
