UNITED STATES: Max Verstappen snatched his eighth win of the year in the United States Grand Prix, beating Lewis Hamilton at Circuit of the Americas in Austin, Texas. Perez took the final podium place at the end 42.2secs behind Verstappen. Verstappen extended his championship lead to 12 points at the end of the race.
Belgian-Dutch driver Max Verstappen claimed his eighth victory of the 2021 season in an exciting race for the Formula 1 title in the presence of some 140,000 spectators at the United States Grand Prix in Austin, Texas, USA.
By the words of Toto Wolff, Team Principal of Mercedes-AMG-Petronas F1Team, “This really was a race of interesting strategic games and great battles. We thought we had a sniff at the victory with Lewis and he put in a brilliant charge in the final laps, but in the end, it wasn’t enough.”
Highlights of the last day of the race
Verstappen started on pole position with his rival Hamilton joining him in the front row, who eventually overtook him. Verstappen regained first place when Hamilton made his first pit stop of the day and subsequently failed to clear the gap and finished second, while Verstappen’s teammate Sergio Perez completed the podium spots.
“It was an exciting race and it feels incredible to win here in front of all the fans,” said Max Verstappen, driver of Red Bull-Honda F1 Team. Christian Horner, Sporting Director of Red Bull-Honda F1 Team added, “What an incredible victory and double podium for the Team! It’s our first US GP win since 2013 and what a way to do it.”
Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc drove superbly to P4. He kept McLaren’s Daniel Ricciardo at bay at the start as Ricciardo previously took a spot at the expense of Charles’s teammate, Ferrari driver Carlos Sainz. This left Mercedes’ Valtteri Bottas in sixth place, recovering from ninth on the grid. Ricciardo’s McLaren teammate Lando Norris finished in eighth place.
Japanese rider Yuki Tsunoda started on the softs, pitted on lap 8 for the hard ones and again on lap 32, to take two points for the team. Tsunoda finished in P9 behind Norris.
Aston Martin’s Sebastian Vettel started 18th after an engine change penalty and finished 10th.
Antonio Giovinazzi took P11, while Lance Stroll earned a place overall to finish 12th ahead of Raikkonen. George Russell finished 14th ahead of Williams’ Latifi, who finished 15th after a front wing change. Mick Schumacher was 16th ahead of Haas’s Nikita Mazepin in P17.
The Frenchman Gasly and Esteban Ocon along with Fernando Alonso de Alpine were the three retired.
The statistics from Formula 1
US Grand Prix Top 5
- Max Verstappen (Team Red Bull Racing Honda), Time: 1:34:36.552, Points: 25
- Lewis Hamilton (Team Mercedes), Time: +1.333s, Points: 19
- Sergio Pérez (Team Red Bull Racing Honda), Time: +42.223s, Points: 15
- Charles Leclerc (Team Ferrari), Time: +52.246s, Points: 12
- Daniel Ricciardo (Team McLaren), Time: +76.854s, Points: 10
Driver Standing after US GP
- Max Verstappen (Red Bull Racing), Points: 287.5
- Lewis Hamilton (Mercedes), Points: 275.5
- Valteri Bottas (Mercedes), Points: 185
Constructors Standings after US GP
- Mercedes – (Hamilton / Bottas), Points: 460.5
- Red Bull Racing – (Verstappen / Perez), Points: 437.5
- McLaren – (Ricciardo/ Norris), Points: 254
About the Circuit of the Americas and the US Grand Prix
The prominent architect Hermann Tilke, in collaboration with the architecture studio HKS, designed the Circuit of the Americas. The circuit was inaugurated by 1978 F1 champion Mario Andretti on October 21, 2012. The first United States Grand Prix was held in the same year. The circuit, one of the most modern racetracks, has many similar features with the Silverstone, Suzuka, Hockenheim circuits, such as corners, curves and S-curves, to name a few.
The United States Grand Prix began more than a century ago and was known as the American Grand Prix. The Grand Prix then became part of the Formula One World Championship. Since 2012, the Circuit of the Americas has hosted the Grand Prix every year except 2020, when it was canceled due to a global health pandemic.
Overview
Hamilton’s point difference with Verstappen has increased from six to twelve after the conclusion of the United States Grand Prix. Now, with only five rounds and 130 points available in this year’s championship fight, each race will be more exciting as the drivers will do their best to score the most points, and in Formula 1 anything is possible.
What’s next
Coming next in the Formula One season for 2021 is the Mexican Grand Prix which is scheduled from November 5th to 7th, 2021, at The Autódromo Hermanos Rodríguez.
Click here to view the complete Formula One Calendar for 2021. To catch hold of the latest and related sports news please visit the Sports Section of Transcontinental Times.
