GP United States 2022

Verstappen victorious at United States Grand Prix while Red Bull earns the Constructors Championship!

It was sunny skies and dry conditions that graced a record breaking 440,000 fans in attendance over the weekend. A sizeable crowd reflecting the increasing popularity of Formula One in a lucrative North American market that is ready to burst.

Securing his 3rd career pole position, high hopes were in place for Ferrari’s, Carlos Sainz while teammate, Charles Leclerc qualified in second. For Leclerc however, component changes to his power unit found him starting from P12 after receiving a ten-place grid penalty.

And he was not alone, additionally, Alonso, Perez, Zhou and Tsunoda each received five-grid placement drops while Ocon began from the pit lane after the replacement of his sixth ICE (internal combustion engine)

Now beginning from P2 position, Verstappen took the early lead skirting ahead of Sainz just before Turn 1. Sadly for Sainz, his podium hopes were quickly diminished as Russell made a late attempt into the same turn colliding with the Ferrari driver. With a puncture to the radiator, Sainz was forced to retire, while Russell was handed a five-second penalty served on the first pit stop.

As the race progressed, Verstappen continued to increase his lead showcasing efficient tire management. However, with 20 laps remaining, a slow pit stop cost the Red Bull driver his position, slipping to P5. Facing a considerable challenge, Verstappen found a way to deliver uncompromising speed, clawing his way back up the grid. With 9 laps remaining, his gap to the current leader, Hamilton was less than 1.6 seconds.

By Lap 50 and within DRS range, Verstappen made his move as a tight battle ensued throughout several corners between both the World Champions. Ultimately it was recently crowned Verstappen who secured P1, crossing the checkered flag to take his 13th win of the year.

Narrowly missing his first win of the season, Lewis Hamilton settled for P2.

“We came here with upgrades and closed the gap a little bit. So close” Hamilton said. “They were just a little quicker today. I’m shattered. The car was a handful today. We’ll keep pushing. It’ll come to us”

Finishing the podium with P3 was Charles Leclerc. The Ferrari driver took advantage of pitting during a safety car that was initiated by a spin into the gravel by Bottas. Throughout the race he continued a series of brilliant overtakes. Most notably up the inside of Perez on Lap 30.

Finishing with P4, was enough for Sergio Perez to earn the required points for Red Bull to win the 2022 Constructors Championship. For Red Bull, the emotions behind celebrating such an achievement was rooted in an extremely successful season and coupled with the announcement of the passing of Dietrich Mateschitz the previous day. Mateschitz was the co-founder of Red Bull and a central figure to the team’s legacy.

“Of course, it’s a very difficult weekend for us, so this one is definitely dedicated to Dietrich himself. What he has done for everyone... the only thing we could do today was win and, even

though after the pit stop it was not looking great. I gave it everything out there and pushed it to the limit to come back.” Verstappen explained.

After serving his five-second penalty from his collision earlier with Sainz, Russell was able to cross the checkered flag with P5 and gain an additional point for fastest lap of the race.

Lando Norris finished with P6 after several tight battles. Although sustaining earlier damage to his front wing, the Mclaren driver was able to find maximum pace and remarkable timing, managing four overtakes within three of the final laps.

In an earlier attempt to overtake, Fernando Alonso collided with Aston Martin’s, Lance Stroll who suffered considerable damage to his car leaving no choice but to retire. Alonso on the other hand, was able to continue, crossing the checkered flag with P7. With a post-race protest from Haas initially accepted, the Alpine driver was given a 30-second time penalty for unsafe conditions of his car, a brief decision that dropped him to P15.

*As of Friday, October 28th this decision was reversed by the FIA. Therefore, Fernando Alonso’s P7 finish has been reinstated.

A hard earned Sunday for Sebastian Vettel who similarly to Verstappen, dropped to P13 as a result of a 16.8 second pit stop. Fighting for position, Vettel passed Magnussen on the final corner to take P8 and Driver of the Day with the Haas driver finishing with P9.

Rounding out the top ten was AlphaTauri’s Yuki Tsunoda.

Following Tsunoda was Esteban Ocon, finishing with P11.

Taking P12 was Guanyu Zhou with P13 going to Williams driver, Alex Albon.

Although fighting for P8 position throughout the majority of the race, Gasly received two five-second penalties which were added to his time, placing the AlphaTauri driver in P14.

With his potential seat for 2023 hanging in the balance, Mick Schumacher was unfortunately unable to crack into the top ten, finishing with P15

Another challenging weekend for Mclaren driver, Daniel Ricciardo who finished with P16.

With a spin on Lap 6 that sent him to the back of the grid, Latifi was unfortunately unable to recover becoming the final driver to finish with P17.

This week Formula One heads to Sergio Perez’s home race. Held at the Autodromo Hermanos Rodriguez, it is the Mexico Grand Prix!