Max Verstappen hit, but not sunk. Even disturbed in his triumphant march by a final pit stop that was completely missed, the reigning world champion won the United States Grand Prix on Sunday October 23 at the Austin circuit. The Dutchman was ahead of Lewis Hamilton (Mercedes), who once thought he had his first victory of the season, and Charles Leclerc (Ferrari). This success – the 13th in 2022, a record equaled in the same Formula 1 season – definitively validates the constructors’ title of Red Bull, the day after the disappearance of its founder, Dietrich Mateschitz, who died on Saturday.
There will not have been a quiet day to calmly pay tribute to the founder of the brand. But, for once, Red Bull has given the competition a rare opportunity to disrupt the established order. A problem with an air gun during Max Verstappen’s tire change could have upset everything twenty laps from the checkered flag. Lewis Hamilton then took control, leading the dance ahead of Charles Leclerc.
Hunt for the single-season winning record
But this 2022 opus is definitely stamped with the seal of “Super Max”, which darkened its two competitors after the error of its team. Charles Leclerc did not resist for long, before the Lewis Hamilton stopper jumped six laps from the finish. Max Verstappen will now have three opportunities, including one next Sunday in Mexico, to seize the record for single-season victories alone, after having equaled, this Sunday, Sebastian Vettel (2013, on Red Bull) and Michael Schumacher (2004 , on Ferrari).
BREED CLASSIFICATION (LAP 56/56)
Verstappen takes a record-equalling 13th win of the season #USGP #F1 pic.twitter.com/htHTF4pJ72
— Formula 1 (@F1) October 23, 2022
For Hamilton, the hope of a first bouquet this season, the first also for a formation other than the Red Bull-Ferrari tandem, was concrete and offers reasons to still believe in it. Behind him, Charles Leclerc can almost consider himself happy with his 3rd place, after starting 12th, because of a penalty. The Monegasque recovers 2nd place in the drivers’ standings, taking advantage of Sergio Perez’s 4th in Austin. His race went much better than that of his teammate Carlos Sainz, who started in the lead on the grid, but was spun by George Russell (Mercedes) from the first corner. Behind, the race for the constructors’ classification could have been turned upside down, at the expense of Alpine. But the French team finally limited the damage, with the seventh place of Fernando Alonso, however seriously injured at mid-race and left in gliding flight in the back of his future teammate at Aston Martin, Lance Stroll.
But in the safety car game and thanks to his driving skills, the Spaniard finished just behind Lando Norris and McLaren, who picked up but remained 5th among the constructors. Painful race on the other hand for Esteban Ocon (Alpine), 11th after starting from the pits, and for Pierre Gasly (Alpha Tauri), 14th after several penalties.