The United States Grand Prix certainly didn’t disappoint on its return to the Formula 1 calendar after two years, with COTA delivering an exciting showdown between the 2021 title contenders.
Austin drew a thrilling conclusion to a classic race dominated by a strategic game of chess and delivered a result that could determine the final outcome of this year’s World Cup.
Here are our biggest winners and losers from the 17th round of the 2021 F1 season …
winner
Max Verstappen
A phenomenal performance by Max Verstappen, who defied the immense pressure of his championship rival Lewis Hamilton too late and was able to clinch his eighth win of the season.
Despite losing the lead at the start, Verstappen kept a cool head and owed Red Bull to the quick and aggressive strategy that helped him regain his position on the track.
Related articles
Even so, the Dutchman had yet to quit, and he did so on what may be the best drive of his career to date to perfectly manage his tires and fend off an attacking Hamilton without setting foot wrong.
It was an achievement worthy of a champion and one that brings him one step closer to that first world title after doubling his lead in the world championship.
Related articles
Charles Leclerc
It was a great – if lonely – Sunday afternoon for Charles Leclerc as he took another brilliant run on his way to a strong fourth place in Texas.
Much of Leclerc’s efforts went unnoticed by the televsion as he put down a flawless drive to turn his strong qualifying round into a “best of the rest” finish.
Leclerc was just 10 seconds off the podium and Sergio Perez ‘Red Bull as he vastly outperformed his closest rivals and maximized his US Grand Prix.
A great result for Ferrari too, as the Italian reduced the gap to McLaren to just 3.5 points after overtaking them in the second race in a row.
Daniel Ricciardo
Daniel Ricciardo continued his upward curve of recent performances with one of his toughest rides of the season in Austin.
The Australian’s opportunistic approach paid off, though initially losing ground to Carlos Sainz ‘Ferrari and teammate Lando Norris. Ricciardo went back under Norris after an entertaining first lap fight to regain a place before going on a nice train past Sainz at turn 18.
Things got hot between Ricciardo and Sainz when they touched on lap 43 of 56, with Ricciardo defending hard as he held P5 to share the faster Ferrari duo.
Yuki Tsunoda
2021 has more lows than highs for F1 rookie Yuki Tsunoda, but he’s started to show encouraging signs that he’s turning things around and finding much-needed consistency.
Austin marked the second consecutive event where he made it into Q3, and unlike Turkey, Tsunoda was able to convert that into a solid points score this time around. After stopping Hamilton’s Mercedes the last time, he stopped Bottas’ attack impressively.
On a day when his teammate Pierre Gasly had to retire and AlphaTauri’s main rival Alpine failed to score, Tsunoda was there to score two valuable points.
Sebastian Vettel
Sebastian Vettel won the battle for the best start among the drivers who suffered engine penalties in qualifying.
Aston Martin was battling for competitiveness at COTA, but Vettel made steady strides on the order and took some excellent steps in a remarkable achievement.
The four-time world champion was promoted to 10th place thanks to Kimi Raikkonen’s late scoring, but Vettel deserved to be rewarded with a bit of luck for his great commitment.
loser
Mercedes
The US GP was a tough pill for Mercedes and Hamilton came close to winning in the end.
Mercedes was beaten by a faster car and better strategy that day as it lost ground in both World Championships on a track where it has been so impressive in the past.
The result has undoubtedly clouded Hamilton’s title prospects. Had he been able to win, he would have run away from the US by two points in the World Championship, but it turns out he’s now 12 back on two tracks that are expected to favor Red Bull – and he might still need another engine penalty to take.
Meanwhile, Valtteri Bottas was unable to build on the momentum of his excellent win in Turkey in the sister car, as he experienced a difficult and frustrating race in which he only managed to make up three places after his engine penalty.
Lando Norris
For much of 2021 we were used to seeing Lando Norris take the upper hand over Ricciardo, but Austin was a rare occasion when the Brit fell behind compared to his McLaren teammate.
Norris was unlucky enough to lose a daring first-round duel to Ricciardo and Sainz that included a daring lunge at Turn 12, but from then on he struggled to keep up with the duo as he fell behind.
He was finally picked up by Bottas in the closing stages when he fell on a cautious P8.
Kimi Raikkonen
The fact that Raikkonen even finished in the top 10 was an impressive achievement, but the Finn lost the chance of scoring a rare point for Alfa Romeo with a spin in the closing stages.
It was an atypical mistake by the seasoned Raikkonen, who finished his last US GP 12th in the place where he had his last F1 win three years earlier.
In all likelihood, a missed point for Alfa Romeo in the Constructors ‘Championship won’t change much given Williams’ healthy buffer, but it was still a shame for Raikkonen to throw it away.
alpine
A day to forget for Alpine as America leaves Austin empty-handed thanks to a double retirement.
Early contact with Antonio Giovinazzi ruined Esteban Ocon’s race, forcing him to make an unscheduled stop before his Sunday ended prematurely on lap 40 when a problem with the rear of his Alpine surfaced.
Fernando Alonso was working his way through the field well with another battle feat when sudden damage to his rear wing ended his attack and his chance for the points battle.
Pierre Gasly
A suspected engine problem threatened to end Gasly’s race before it even started, but AlphaTauri was able to fix the problem in time for the start.
The Frenchman’s job, however, was done before he reached half the distance when he suffered a fatal suspension failure.
As Gasly was in the top 10 prior to his race, it was a missed opportunity for AlphaTauri to take full advantage of Alpine’s double DNF and further close the gap to P5 in the constructors’ championship.
The post Five F1 USA GP winners and five losers first appeared on monter-une-startup.
