Verstappen Wins Dramatic #USGP At COTA #F1
Max took a thrilling victory in the United States Grand Prix as Red Bull Racing scored a double podium for the second race in succession.
A special win, as it was Red Bull Racing’s 200th podium and came on the anniversary of Honda’s very first Formula 1 victory on this day back in 1965, when Ritchie Ginther won the Mexican Grand Prix in the Honda RA 272.
Starting from pole position, Max dropped to second place behind Lewis Hamilton at Turn 1 but smart strategy from Red Bull would soon reverse those positions. An early first pit stop for hard tyres - on lap 10 - gave him the undercut to regain the lead.
Sergio slotted into third place at the start and remained comfortably there, making his first stop on lap 12. Sergio switch to mediums and the change meant Hamilton had to respond on the next lap and that allowed Max to pull clear.
Yuki had made a good start to run eighth ahead of Pierre in tenth, but the Frenchman soon overtook Valtteri Bottas so that the two Scuderia AlphaTauri cars ran one behind the other. Yuki’s first stop came on lap nine, and Pierre came in one lap later but then was forced to retire after reporting a problem at the rear of his car.
With Hamilton closing in during the middle part of the race, Red Bull remained aggressive and called Max in for a second stop on lap 29, covering off the undercut as he then would go to the end on hard tyres. The team believed track position was the key and they were proved right.
Sergio made his second stop on lap 32 and comfortably remained in third place, while Yuki’s second pit stop came two laps later, rejoining on the edge of the points.
Max had stopped eight laps before Hamilton, so the Mercedes made inroads into his lead in the latter part of the race, but the championship leader was faultless in managing his pace and keeping Hamilton at bay. The pair started the final lap less than a second apart, but Max pulled clear to win by 1.3s and take his eighth victory of the season.
After racing without a drink for the majority of a very hot afternoon, Sergio took a very solid third place to help close the gap in the constructors’ championship by 13 points, while Yuki scored a very solid two points in ninth place.