Verstappen hits 50 as Hamilton, Leclerc disqualified in Texas
Monday, 23 October 2023
Max Verstappen joined an exclusive club of F1® drivers to win a half-century of races with a third United States Grand Prix victory in a row, while Lewis Hamilton lost a podium result after his Mercedes was disqualified.
Max Verstappen matched his 2022 Formula 1® record-setting season with a 15th Grand Prix win of the year at the United States Grand Prix, the Oracle Red Bull Racing star victorious at the Circuit of the Americas for the third year in a row on a dramatic afternoon which saw second-placed Lewis Hamilton (Mercedes) and Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc disqualified over three hours after the race.
The Dutchman’s 50th career win – only Hamilton (103), Michael Schumacher (91), Sebastian Vettel (53) and Alain Prost (51) have more – came after he’d also won the Saturday Sprint from pole, but Sunday’s 56-lap race wasn’t as straightforward.
Advertisement
Starting sixth after a track limits infringement denied him pole position, Verstappen had to bide his time as early-race leader Lando Norris (McLaren) passed pole-sitter Leclerc (Ferrari) into turn one and bolted, Verstappen only taking the lead for good with 17 laps left.
Norris faded on worn tyres in the closing stages, opening the door for Hamilton to jump to second and hunt Verstappen down at one of the Mercedes driver’s strongest circuits on softer rubber for the final laps.
With Verstappen battling brake issues – leading to several now-customary testy exchanges with race engineer Gianpiero Lambiase over team radio – Hamilton closed in the final laps, but Verstappen had 2.225secs in hand for another 25-point haul.
Several hours after the chequered flag, Hamilton and Leclerc were thrown out of the results, after race stewards deemed the plank on the underside of both cars was not compliant with the sport’s technical regulations.
The pair of exclusions promoted Norris to second and Ferrari’s Carlos Sainz to third, while Williams duo Alex Albon and Logan Sargeant were elevated into the top 10, the American rookie scoring his maiden F1® points in his home Grand Prix.
Aussie watch
Sunday’s annual Austin outing was pointless and painful for both Oscar Piastri and Daniel Ricciardo, both suffering with damaged cars and Piastri forced into an early retirement as Ricciardo laboured to last place.
Piastri made a strong start from 10th on the grid to jump to sixth, but made contact with Esteban Ocon’s Alpine on the opening lap to end it with a damaged radiator, his engine temperatures rapidly climbing through the roof before the team asked him to retire the car on lap 10.
The non-finish ended a golden run for the McLaren driver, who came to Texas after a podiums in Japan and Qatar, and a Sprint race win last time out at Lusail. Piastri finished 10th and out of the points in Saturday’s Sprint.
Ricciardo, in his first race back for Scuderia AlphaTauri after missing five weekends with a broken left hand, admitted to some rust after he finished the Sprint in 12th.
His one-stop race strategy on Sunday looked solid when he ran inside the top 10 after the first third of the Grand Prix, but damage to his car from a piece of bodywork coming loose and wedging itself in his front wing saw him lose massive amounts of downforce until he pitted with nine laps left, falling to last and briefly owning the fastest lap of the race on new soft tyres. He crossed the line in 17th place, which became 15th when Hamilton and Leclerc were disqualified.
Unsung hero
Points have been hard to come by for Scuderia AlphaTauri this season, so Yuki Tsunoda wasn’t to apologise for some good fortune and a fast final lap as he took five of them in Austin, the Japanese driver benefitting when Fernando Alonso’s Aston Martin was forced to retire with rear suspension damage with six laps left, and adding two more points when Hamilton and Leclerc were disqualified to finish eighth.
Tsunoda, who was edged out of Q2 on Friday by 0.018secs to start 11th, spent 43 of the 56 laps in the points, but looked like he might miss out until Alonso’s exit. Under no pressure from behind, he then pitted for a set of soft tyres with two laps left and scorched around the 20-turn lap for a time of 1:38.139 on the last lap to bank an extra point, bringing AlphaTauri within two points of Haas for ninth in the constructors’ standings.
“We got slightly lucky in the end from Fernando, but still, we were able to maximise the performance,” he said.
“We’re making progress race-by-race, and definitely on the last lap with the fresh tyre I enjoyed it!”
Number to know
10: Sunday’s race was the 10th time in succession that Leclerc hasn’t won when qualifying on pole; the Ferrari driver has just five career wins from his F1® 21 poles.
Max was dealing with a brake issue throughout the race, as I’m sure you could hear...
United States Grand Prix: top 10
- Max Verstappen (Red Bull Racing) 1hr 35mins 21.362secs
- Lando Norris (McLaren) +10.730secs
- Carlos Sainz (Ferrari) +15.134secs
- Sergio Perez (Red Bull Racing) +18.460secs
- George Russell (Mercedes) +24.999secs
- Pierre Gasly (Alpine) +47.996secs
- Lance Stroll (Aston Martin) +48.696secs
- Yuki Tsunoda (Scuderia AlphaTauri) +74.385secs
- Alexander Albon (Williams) + 86.714secs
- Logan Sargeant (Williams) +87.998secs
Standings (top 5)
Drivers' championship
- Max Verstappen (Red Bull Racing) 466 points
- Sergio Perez (Red Bull Racing) 240 points
- Lewis Hamilton (Mercedes) 201 points
- Fernando Alonso (Aston Martin) 183 points
- Carlos Sainz (Ferrari) 171 points
Constructors' championship
- Red Bull Racing (704 points)
- Mercedes (340 points)
- Ferrari (322 points)
- McLaren (242 points)
- Aston Martin (236 points)
Next race
Round 19: Mexico, Autodromo Hermanos Rodriguez (October 27-29)
