The world champion first in the long race after triumphing in the Sprint. Second Norris, fourth Hamilton and fifth Piastri. But now Max is -40 behind the leader of the standings
It’s a Max Verstappen in World Cup form. The Dutchman takes a bite out of the Austin weekend, also taking Sunday’s Grand Prix after taking pole on both Friday and Saturday and the Sprint race. The world champion in the standings is now just 40 points away from championship leader Oscar Piastri and is therefore fully back in the running for the title. Second position for Lando Norris, who in turn is closing in on his teammate, now only 14 points away. The Briton battled for several stages of the race with Charles Leclerc, who finished third. Excellent performance from the Monegasque, second until a few laps from the end, when he had to surrender to the superiority of the McLaren. Fourth position for Lewis Hamilton: Positive Grand Prix for Ferrari, which gains several points in the constructors’ championship over Mercedes, which now has only a 4 point advantage over the Cavallino. Fifth place for Piastri, the most disappointing of the American weekend, which now sees his rivals for the World Championship getting ever closer. Sixth position for George Russell, behind him Yuki Tsunoda, author of a decent weekend which further certifies Red Bull’s change of pace. Eighth place for Nico Hulkenberg, who put Oliver Bearman behind him. Fernando Alonso closes the top 10. Perfect weekend therefore for Verstappen, whose shadow is getting bigger and bigger for the McLaren drivers with five stages left until the end of the World Championship.
gp usa, the start
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Almost all the riders at the front started on the medium tyre, with the exception of Leclerc who chose the soft. Ideal start for Verstappen, who maintained first position after having had a perfect reaction to the traffic lights going out. Great inspiration at the start from Leclerc, who managed to get behind Norris by taking advantage of the compound advantage. Good first lap also for Piastri, who climbed to fifth position. Nice overtaking on the second lap by Sainz over Bearman: the Spaniard thus rose to eighth place. Positive start to the race for Ferrari, with Leclerc able to keep Norris behind him and Hamilton in fourth position to put pressure on the British driver from McLaren. Accident between Sainz and Antonelli on lap 7: the Williams driver rear-ended the Mercedes Italian at turn 15. The race direction therefore called the Virtual Safety Car regime to allow the removal of the Spaniard’s car.
gp usa, early stages
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The VSC ended on the ninth lap. In the following lap Piastri opened up on the radio to complain about the state of his left front tyre. Indeed, a high pace for the Australian, almost four seconds behind Hamilton on lap 14. In the meantime, Verstappen managed to create an equivalent advantage over Leclerc. Duel between the Monegasque and Norris on the fifteenth lap, with the Ferrari driver managing to maintain his second position. Another melee between the two four laps later: the number 16 defended himself well again, remaining in second position. Leclerc then capitulated on lap 21, with Norris finally managing to complete the overtaking. In the following lap Leclerc, after defending himself from an attack by Hamilton, made his pit stop: medium tire for him.
gp uses, max checks
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The battle with Leclerc cost Norris a lot: the gap between him and Verstappen on lap 29 was in fact more than 10 seconds. Leclerc overtook Tsunoda in the thirtieth lap, with the Monegasque moving up to sixth position. At this point in the race Russell, Norris, Hamilton and Verstappen had yet to stop. Stop for Piastri on lap 30: soft tire for the world championship leader. Same choice also for Hamilton, who stopped in the following lap. Pit stop for Norris on lap 32: the Briton returned to the track third behind Leclerc. The Englishman’s stop allowed Verstappen to stop without pressure on the following lap. Russell and Hulkenberg also stopped on the same lap.
gp usa, the finale
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On lap 35 there was a risk of collision between Tsunoda and Bearman: a dangerous maneuver by the Japanese, who changed direction while braking, forcing the Haas driver to go off the track to avoid it. Arriving on lap 41, Norris got back into Leclerc’s exhaust, but struggled to find the opportunity to overtake as before. After giving him a few laps in the DRS area, the Monegasque managed to put a two-second gap on the Briton. The McLaren driver closed in on the final stages, trying to put pressure on the Ferrari driver. The Englishman eventually managed to move up into second place, overtaking Leclerc at Turn 12 on lap 51.
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