Max Verstappen took a glorious victory in the USGP on Sunday at the Circuit of the Americas in Austin. The duel between the Dutchman and chief title rival Lewis Hamilton, which lasted until the last lap, made the race one of the most exciting seasons. Behind them Sergio Perez finished third and helped Red Bull to a second double podium in a row.
While the starting line-up prepared the USGP for a back-and-forth battle at the front, a midfield battle between the McLarens and Ferraris sparked further interest.
Verstappen extends the title lead ahead of Hamilton with USGP victory
Lewis Hamilton knocks out Max Verstappen in the first round of USGP 2021 at the Circuit of The Americas in Austin, Texas. (Photo by Jared C. Tilton / Getty Images)
Despite finishing second on the grid, Hamilton managed to overtake Verstappen with a fiery start in the race up to the first corner. The two drivers were close together on the first laps and Red Bull Racing used the available pit window by pitting the Dutchman on lap 11.
Hamilton tried to get a healthy lead in clean air, but when Perez also made an early stop, this also forced the race leader to pit so as not to be undercut by the Red Bulls. But that’s exactly what turned out, because after driving through the first lap of the station, Verstappen was in front.
The Red Bull ace followed the same strategy for his second pit stop on lap 29, while Hamilton tried to pull him 16 seconds ahead. However, the Brit would come back behind Verstappen on lap 37.
In theory, the strategy of pitting later than Verstappen the second time should have helped Hamilton, but careful tire management by the Red Bull man prevented the Briton from catching up with him. Despite a late attack by the Mercedes driver in the last five laps, Verstappen was able to maintain the lead with a lead of almost 1.3 seconds at the finish with a confident drive.
USGP midfield chaos between Ferrari and McLaren
</p>
<p>After the first three, Charles Leclerc and Daniel Riccardo took fourth and fifth place.</p>
<p>Leclerc had a relatively lone USGP, but his Ferrari teammate Sainz was chased by two McLarens early in the race. At the start, the Spaniard, who had started from fifth on the grid, fended off the two McLaren drivers. However, he lost to Ricciardo after a wheel-to-wheel duel on lap 43.</p>
<p>LAP 43/56 It gets sharp between Sainz and Ricciardo <br><br><br><img src=)
The two touch as Sainz tries to move around the outside of the McLaren 
# USGP 
# F1
The two touch as Sainz tries to move around the outside of the McLaren
# USGP
# F1 https://t.co/Qx1zDAQy7W
Although Sainz had beaten the Australian, the resistance on the track cost him fifth place. The Ferrari driver had contact with the McLaren man during his fight on the track on lap 43 and suffered damage. Bottas managed to split the Ferrari-McLaren train by finishing sixth after starting position ninth, while Sainz had to be content with seventh place.
McLaren driver Lando Norris finished eighth, reducing his team’s lead over Ferrari in the constructors’ championship to just 3.5 points.
</p>
<p>Alpha Tauri driver Yuki Tsunoda finished ninth. Aston Martin’s Sebastian Vettel took the last point in tenth. The German had to start from P18 due to an engine change penalty.</p>
<p>Vettel drove most of the time on P13 and improved on the grid after his last pit stop. However, his former teammate Kimi Raikkonen spun out of P10 on lap 5 in lap 53, which gave Vettel a free pass into the points.</p>
<p>The race had three retirees: Pierre Gasly, Esteban Ocon and Fernando Alonso. Ocon had to give up his Alpha Tauri due to a suspension problem while both Alpine drivers retired after damage to their cars during the race.</p>
<p><h3 class=)
also read
Full USGP classification
|
1 |
Max Verstappen |
Red Bull |
1 |
56 |
1: 34: 36.552 |
1: 39.096 |
|
2 |
Lewis Hamilton |
Mercedes |
2 |
54 |
1,333 |
1: 38.485 |
|
3 |
Sergio Perez |
Red Bull |
3 |
54 |
42,223 |
1: 39.566 |
|
4th |
Charles Leclerc |
Ferrari |
4th |
56 |
52,246 |
1: 39.303 |
|
5 |
Daniel Ricciardo |
McLaren |
6th |
56 |
76.854 |
1: 40.345 |
|
6th |
Valtteri Bottas |
Mercedes |
9 |
56 |
80.128 |
1: 40.147 |
|
7th |
Carlos Sainz |
Ferrari |
5 |
56 |
83,545 |
1: 40.377 |
|
8th |
Lando Norris |
McLaren |
7th |
56 |
84.395 |
1: 40.228 |
|
9 |
Yuki Tsunoda |
AlphaTauri |
10 |
54 |
+1 ROUND |
1: 41.151 |
|
10 |
Sebastian Vettel |
Aston Martin |
18th |
54 |
+1 ROUND |
1: 40.481 |
|
11 |
Antonio Giovinazzi |
Alfa Romeo |
12th |
55 |
+1 ROUND |
1: 41.145 |
|
12th |
Lance walk |
Aston Martin |
13th |
55 |
+1 ROUND |
1: 41.189 |
|
13th |
Kimi Raikkonen |
Alfa Romeo |
fifteen |
55 |
+1 ROUND |
1: 41.340 |
|
14th |
George Russell |
Williams |
20th |
55 |
+1 ROUND |
1: 41.120 |
|
fifteen |
Nicholas Latifi |
Williams |
14th |
55 |
+1 ROUND |
1: 41.818 |
|
16 |
Mick Schumacher |
Haas |
16 |
54 |
+2 LAPS |
1: 41.395 |
|
17th |
Nikita Mazepin |
Haas |
17th |
53 |
+2 LAPS |
1: 42.886 |
|
TO THE RIGHT |
Fernando Alonso |
alpine |
19th |
– |
– |
– |
|
TO THE RIGHT |
Esteban Ocon |
alpine |
11 |
– |
– |
– |
|
TO THE RIGHT |
Pierre Gasly |
AlphaTauri |
8th |
– |
– |
|
Edited by Sandeep Banerjee
Sign in to reply
