Talking points ahead of the United States Grand Prix
Thursday, 19 October 2023
A British pair bring up the ton, Red Bull looks to get its second driver out of a rut and some all-French fireworks could be on the horizon as F1® takes centre-stage in Texas.
Remember Abu Dhabi 2021? With all that happened on the controversial night that crowned Max Verstappen as a Formula 1® world champion for the first time in his fraught fight with Lewis Hamilton, it’s hard to forget...
What you might not realise is that since then, Verstappen has won 29 Grands Prix, Hamilton none, and Verstappen’s two-season tally by itself would make him the ninth most successful driver ever. Talk about a sliding doors moment…
As a 50th career win looms for Verstappen at the United States Grand Prix this weekend (October 20-22), it’s easy to assume that the final five rounds of this season will be low on intrigue given the drivers’ and constructors’ titles have been secured, but we’re not buying it. There’s still plenty to play for, with second in the drivers’ standings somehow up for grabs, McLaren’s recent form making the constructors’ table look like an error, and intra-team rivalries to be settled as we head from Austin to Abu Dhabi, with a trio of stops in between.
Along with Daniel Ricciardo’s return for AlphaTauri this weekend, here’s what else we’ll be talking about from Texas.
Russell, Norris hit 100
Wins are hard to come by for anyone not named Verstappen in F1® at the moment, but it still seems wrong to think Lando Norris and George Russell have one victory between them as the British pair each start their 100th Grands Prix in Austin.
Russell’s arrival at Mercedes – for now at least – has been very much a case of right place, wrong time; the 25-year-old’s final race for Williams was that aforementioned 2021 Abu Dhabi finale, and his standing in the sport has only increased since as Hamilton’s teammate. Hamilton leads Russell 434-407 on points in their nearly two seasons together, but Russell has Mercedes’ only victory in that span (Brazil 2022).
Norris, as he hits 100, has one more podium than his fellow centurion (11 to 10), but hasn’t yet cracked it for a win; the 23-year-old is only two podiums off Nick Heidfeld’s record of 13 rostrum visits without a victory. McLaren’s searing pace of late suggests you’d back him to snare several more podiums in the final five races, but a top step will likely require a Verstappen slip-up.
With McLaren and Mercedes showing pace – Russell came from the very back after being punted by Hamilton on lap one in Qatar to finish fourth – expect these two to be fighting for similar tarmac in Texas.
Perez all at sea
Remember when we said second in the drivers’ standings was ‘somehow’ up for grabs? That’s all to do with Verstappen’s teammate Sergio Perez, who had a miserable weekend in Qatar as Verstappen wrapped up his third world title in a row. Perez finished 10th and 80secs behind the Dutchman, earning three separate five-second penalties after exceeding track limits six times.
After the race, Red Bull team principal Christian Horner said the team “desperately” needed the Mexican to find his form. Perez has scored just five points across the Singapore, Japan and Qatar weekends, 11th on the grid over that span in by far the sport’s fastest car.
"We really need to sit down with Checo because we know what he's capable of and he's not hitting that form," said Horner, adding that Perez “needs to go back to basics” if Red Bull are to have its drivers finish 1-2 in the standings for the first time.
Hamilton’s first-lap DNF in Qatar – his only non-finish this season – let Perez off the hook, but holding his 30-point lead over Hamilton with no momentum will be a tough task with a maximum of 146 points available over five Grands Prix and the two remaining Sprints, the first of which comes at COTA.
A French fracas?
While there’s a chasm in performance between the drivers at Red Bull, there’s tighter fights elsewhere. Just eight points separate Ferrari’s Carlos Sainz and Charles Leclerc after 17 rounds, but it’s at Alpine where things might get spiciest as the series heads to America.
It’s been a year of instability at the French team with a revolving door of key personnel coming and going, but it’s hard to say Pierre Gasly and Esteban Ocon haven’t done the best with what they’ve had. What they’ve had – given the goal was to keep McLaren behind – clearly hasn’t been enough, with Alpine in a sub-set of its own in sixth place, 129 points behind McLaren, but 67 ahead of Williams. Gasly vs Ocon, though, has been a lot closer than that.
With five rounds remaining, Gasly has 46 points to Ocon’s 44, Ocon’s gutsy seventh place in Qatar after vomiting inside his helmet worth more than the six points it garnered. Sitting 11th and 12th in the standings won’t mean much for a pair of pilots who have finished seventh (Gasly) and eighth (Ocon) before, but when there’s not much else to play for, being top dog at a mid-grid team will provide ample motivation for teammates who, let’s not forget, have history...
The Formula 1® United States Grand Prix 2023 will be available to watch live on Foxtel and Kayo. See our What time does the 2023 United States Grand Prix start in Australia article for timings.
