United States Grand Prix: Roaring 50th for Max Verstappen!

Update Monday October 23 at 7am:

Lewis Hamilton and Charles Leclerc are disqualified from the race after finding an overly worn floor on their single-seaters.

Once again, the heat was significant at the start, 30°C in the air and 41°C on the track, despite some clouds. Enough to further compromise the tires. That’s why everyone started on mediums, except for Nico Hülkenberg and Lance Stroll, who used hards. The two Haas and Aston Martin cars started from the pit lane in order to adjust the settings of their single-seaters.

As is not customary in Austin, the start was very clean, with Lando Norris managing to get the better of Charles Leclerc before the first bend while Carlos Sainz slipped in front of Lewis Hamilton. The Spaniard tried to do the same against his teammate at turn 12 but the Monegasque held firm in front.

But from the fifth lap, the Ferrari drivers began to struggle with their tyres. Thus Carlos Sainz had to give way to Lewis Hamilton, then Max Verstappen. Charles Leclerc could only resist for one lap against the Mercedes driver. Meanwhile, Lando Norris had managed to open up a gap of more than three seconds. The gap was stabilized for many laps, before the seven-time world champion began to nibble away at his compatriot’s lead.

Offset Pneumatic Strategies

The first pit stop waltz for the leaders was launched by Max Verstappen, who moved up to fourth, at the end of the 16th lap. Lando Norris mimicked him on the next lap to cover. But the strategy was different: the Dutchman was able to put on a second set of fresh mediums while the Brit had to switch to hard tires, for lack of new sets available in mediums.

On the 29th lap, the Dutchman dived inside Lando Norris at turn 12 to take the lead. One might then think that the Briton had switched to the “plan B”, namely a single pit stop. But in the end, this was not the case since it was indeed he who first returned to the pits for his second stop, on the 34th lap. Followed on the very next lap by his closest rival, it was indeed Max Verstappen who came out ahead with his new hard tyres.

As for Mercedes and Charles Leclerc, the strategy was to extend the first stint as much as possible to try a one-stop race. It did not prove profitable since Lewis Hamilton ended up behind Max Verstappen when he finally stopped on the 20th lap. But the Brit was not able to pull it off, going back to the pits to take fresh mediums on the 38th lap. This allowed him to make a big comeback at the end of the race. He thus snatched second place from Lando Norris with eight laps to go but finished 2.2 seconds from the victory, he who has not won since Saudi Arabia 2021.

As for Charles Leclerc, he was the only one in the pack to make a single stop, having come into the pits at the end of the 23rd lap. The Ferrari driver thus emerged sixth but with a new set of hard tyres, to go all the way. However, once again, Ferrari distinguished themselves in their strategy and communication by asking him on the 44th lap if he wanted to switch to “plan D”… In the end, the poleman finished 6th, after he was asked to let Carlos Sainz pass at the end of the race and he bowed down to Sergio Perez.

We can also note the beautiful race of Lance Stroll, who moved up to ninth, behind Pierre Gasly. As for Yuki Tsunoda, he made a pit stop in the penultimate lap to switch to softs and thus secure the fastest lap in the race, earning two points along with his tenth place.

Three abandonments

On the side of retirements, Esteban Ocon was the first to be, as early as the 7th lap, his sixth of the season. His single seater was damaged at the level of the floor and right radiator from the start due to a touch with Oscar Piastri at the start. The Australian was able to stay four additional laps but the penalty was the same.

Fernando Alonso had a very good race, having moved up to eighth despite his start from the pit lane. But his floor was damaged and the Aston Martin returned to its garage on the 51st lap.

From our special correspondent in Austin

The result of the 2023 USA Grand Prix of F1

Updated after the disqualifications of Hamilton and Leclerc.