Max Verstappen makes the championship as Red Bull tames the winners and losers of the Mercedes: US GP

Winners

Max Verstappen
Double your championship lead on the so-called Mercedes track? Verstappen would certainly have received it over the weekend. But it’s not just the slightly unexpected pace that was so impressive at Max in Austin, but this was a flawless performance from a driver who has quickly evolved into a complete F1 package.

Not only was Verstappen quick when needed, faster than Lewis Hamilton in time and race, he showed more of his spring on Sunday as he negotiated his team’s strategy (and not even his own, but his teammate’s). also carefully and masterfully cared for his tires to make sure he had enough to keep the Mercedes at the end.

Thanks to Red Bull’s “very aggressive” strategy, Verstappen has never looked more like a champion. Now 12 points apart after five races, one would think that – with the exception of DNF – two wins could only seal Verstappen’s first crown. It is the destruction of his championship.

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Christian Horner admits there were nervous moments on Red Bull’s depot wall when Max Verstappen wanted to win a dramatic U.S. GP.

Red Taurus
Sure, it wasn’t quite the perfect weekend – Sergio Perez did little to lock the front row when he finished a distant third in the race – but make no mistake, the US GP represented Red Bull with a big, big win. , one at the right time and one that gives them a boost back to the last five races.

After three consecutive races dominated by Mercedes, Red Bull would certainly have feared the worst after Friday’s rehearsals at COTA – the Mercedes Fortress – and the best part of the second was between the two cars. But the line-up changes on Friday night did the trick, and then some, and the team was completely rampant ever since.

Verstappen placed ahead of Hamilton and Perez placed third after the sixth cut by the punished Valtteri Bottas. The Mercedes manufacturers ’championship leads in just 23 points, and team manager Christian Horner admitted that“ this is a big deal ”as Red Bull now heads to their favorite destinations. owns in Mexico City and Interlagos.

Ferrari
Engine upgrades don’t always make a big difference in the F1, but the new battery introduced to Ferrari in Russia has apparently done just that, and perhaps decisively in their championship battle with the third McLaren.

This was the first weekend in which Ferrari could use the new power unit without Charles Leclerc or Carlos Sainz receiving a grid penalty, and the results were overwhelmingly positive – Leclerc secured a very nice fourth, while Sainz would also likely have changed his grid position (5th) to that race result, unless the soft-ring departure and the battles of Daniel Ricciardo.

Always combining a very good car with a faster and more drivable engine, Ferrari is a team that needs to be considered. It has scored five consecutive top five goals, and they are now just three and a half points behind McLaren.

F1
Has F1 finally broken America and opened up a new wave of popularity? The species ’ever-growing fandomi Stateside was in full display over the weekend, when at the first U.S. race then before the pandemic, crowds (400,000 on Sunday) filled the COTA hills and auditoriums and seemed to love all the action. We dare say that the noise and carnival atmosphere felt very much like US-Silverstone, to which American celebrities and sports stars had been added.

“It feels like this is our acceptance into the United States,” Hamilton admitted. Keep in mind that there will be two races in the U.S. next year with the addition of Miami.

Daniel Ricciardo
Ricciardo clearly loves Texas – and no, we’re not saying that just because of the sideboard, the accent and the cowboy hat. Ricciardo always seems to find his shape in Austin and did so again this weekend, pruning his teammate Lando Norris and then winning even more impressively in the Sainz Ferrari race – raising his elbows when he was forced. Ricciardo’s position fifth also saved McLaren’s slim leadership against Ferrari.

Sebastian Vettel
It wasn’t an actual ascent through the field from Seb, but starting with a motor penalty in 19th place and finishing in 10th place is no trivial achievement as Antonio Giovinazzi made a late depot stop and overtake that lifted his cherry back to the top. drive.

Losers

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Lewis Hamilton says Mercedes did everything they could to win the race but was ultimately unable to compete at the pace of the Red Bulls

Mercedes
“For me personally, P2 was better than I expected.”

Toto Wolff’s words after Sunday’s race summed up how far Mercedes ’hopes had fallen since the start of a strong weekend. The Mercedes was pretty stationary on Sunday from an operational standpoint, and Hamilton also didn’t just put a foot in the wrong way, but it couldn’t make up for Red Bull’s obvious lack of momentum that so few were waiting for.

How did the tables turn so fast? A combination of a Mercedes car that doesn’t really withstand COTA loads as well as others, and a significant improvement from Red Bull? Possibly. Whatever it is, Red Bull has set an ominous mark for the rest of the season, and Mercedes needs to get control of its package, which was hailed as the weekend’s seemingly seamless upgrades.

And it probably wasn’t even at their lowest in Austin. What might be a bigger concern for the team is that it continues to be plagued by engine unreliability, as Bottas was forced to run his sixth (!) Engine of the season, while Mercedes engines George Russell and Vettel also made penalties. “I think we understand it much better now that it is, but that means that using them isn’t sustainable and that means potential DNFs,” Wolff said. Will Hamilton be penalized next?

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Ferrari’s Carlos Sainz contacted McLaren’s Daniel Ricciardo while trying to move outside the Australian.

McLaren
What was a racing McLaren car is now back in midfield, and what was a pretty nice bumper for Ferrari a few races ago has now dropped to three points. McLaren has a role to play in stopping Ferrari’s pace as they strive to achieve a huge achievement in the consecutive third place in the championship.

“The last races have been very fast,” said Lando Norris, who finished eighth in Austin. “We have to work hard, try to find some extra little things for improvement.

“Right now, they have an advantage in us, both in Qualy and in the race, and it’s not a nice place to be in such a late season. We definitely have to try to find something against the attack.”

Pierre Gasly
Pierre Gasly’s second Q3 appearance – he has missed only three times throughout the season – but what had already been a tough race with Ferrari and McLaren’s interest turned into an impossible task as his pre-race engine worries were followed by a mid-race suspension due to suspension failure. He had also passed Bottas at the beginning.

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Antonio Giovinazzi and Fernando Alonso took part in the entertaining scrap, and the Alpine driver rose to the top

Alpine
They haven’t been the most competitive midfield team this season, but believe it or not, Alpine was in the 15-point race to come to the US GP. Then came a rather disappointing weekend when Esteban Ocon lacked momentum and then withdrew, while Fernando Alonso took the engine penalty and then spent a very hectic Sunday – entertaining battles with both Alfa Romeo cars before heading himself to the garage early. At least they stay in fifth place.

Kimi Raikkonen
Kimi would probably have been a winner here without his late mistake. The 42-year-old had fought so well on Sunday, and after visiting years back to pass Alonso from outside – picking up some damage in the process – he seemed prepared to get only his fourth point this season. But as his former teammate Vettel approached, Räikkönen spun in Esses after four laps. Will the holder of the F1 race record get a second chance in the top10 during his last five races?