After two rain-hit races a heat wave welcomed the F1 drivers at the Circuit of the Americas.
Formula One grid girls wearing cowgirl outfits and cowboy boots holding the United States of America, Stars & Stripes flag in front of the Mercedes Safety Car on the start and finish straight, starting grid before the 2012 United States Grand Prix, Circuit of the Americas, Austin, United States, on the 18th November 2012. Photo by Darren Heath/Getty Images.
Formula One World Championship 2013, Grand Prix of United States, grid girls on November 16, 2013. Photo by Hoch Zwei / Corbis via Getty Images.
Formula One World Championship 2013, Grand Prix of United States, grid girls on November 16, 2013. Photo by Hoch Zwei / Corbis via Getty Images.
Formula One World Championship 2013, Grand Prix of United States, grid girls on November 17, 2013. Photo by Hoch Zwei / Corbis via Getty Images.
The shadows thrown by cowgirl outfit and cowboy boots wearing grid girls standing in a line in the pit lane during the Formula One drivers' parade at the 2013 United States Grand Prix, Circuit of the Americas, Austin, United States, on the 17th November 2013. Photo by Darren Heath / Getty Images.
A grid girl smiles in the pits during the free practice of the MotoGp U.S. Grand Prix of the Americas on April 12, 2014 in Austin, Texas. Photo by Mirco Lazzari / Bongarts / Getty Images.
Grid girl smiles in media center during the qualifying of the MotoGp U.S. Grand Prix of the Americas at Circuit of The Americas on April 13, 2019 in Austin, Texas. Photo by Mirco Lazzari / Bongarts / Getty Images.
Max Verstappen arrived in Texas as the fresh two-time world champion, whilst many others' weekend was shadowed by grid penalties due to power unit component changes.
Danica Patrick talks with Max Verstappen of the Netherlands and Red Bull Racing in the Paddock during practice ahead of the F1 Grand Prix of USA at Circuit of the Americas on October 21, 2022 in Austin, Texas. Photo by Mark Thompson / Getty Images.
Danica Patrick performs a live shot on the Sky Sports set near the garage area during F1 US Grand Prix prep day at Circuit of the Americas on October 21, 2022 in Austin, Texas. Photo by Ken Murray / Icon Sportswire via Getty Images.
Mario Andretti chats with friends near the garage area during F1 US Grand Prix prep day at Circuit of the Americas on October 21, 2022 in Austin, Texas. Photo by Ken Murray / Icon Sportswire via Getty Images.
Robert Shwartzman, free practice. Photo by Ferrari.
Charles Leclerc, free practice. Photo by Ferrari.
Charles Leclerc, free practice. Photo by Ferrari.
Carlos Sainz, free practice. Photo by Ferrari.
Carlos Sainz, free practice. Photo by Ferrari.
The biggest name drivers to face a penalty were Red Bull's Perez and Ferrari's Leclerc. The Mexican was to face a 5-place grid penalty, whilst Charles was to be dropped down by 10 places. Also Alpine's Alonso had been handed a 5-place penalty.
Carlos Sainz driving the Ferrari F1-75 leads Sergio Perez driving the Red Bull Racing RB18 during qualifying ahead of the F1 Grand Prix of USA at Circuit of the Americas on October 22, 2022 in Austin, Texas. Photo by Chris Graythen / Getty Images.
Due to Perez's and Charles' penalties the battle for pole was expected to be down between Verstappen and Sainz. Gusty wind made conditions tricky and the gaps were extremely tiny.
Carlos Sainz, qualifying. Photo by Ferrari.
Carlos Sainz, qualifying. Photo by Ferrari.
Knowing that his teammate was to face a penalty, Sainz extracted the maximum out of his SF75 and made it on pole for the third time in his career.
Charles Leclerc, qualifying. Photo by Ferrari.
Charles threw a good challenge to his teammate, but was left second by 65 thousandths of a second only. Verstappen, who had just heard the news of the passing of Dietrich Mateschitz, the 78-year-old owner of Red Bull, fought bravely but was left third by a 0.092-second gap to Carlos.
Charles Leclerc and Carlos Sainz, qualifying. Photo by Ferrari.
Perez put the sister Red Bull in fourth and the Mexican was followed by the Mercedes duo of Hamilton and Russell. Aston Martin's Stroll qualified 7th and McLaren's Norris 8th, but due to Charles' and Perez's penalties Stroll was promoted to P5 and Norris to P6. Again thanks to the penalties, Alfa Romeo's Bottas was promoted to P7 and Williams' Albon to P8. On the revised grid Perez was in P9 and Charles in P12.
Danica Patrick of Sky Sports on the grid before the F1 United States Grand Prix held October 23, 2022 at the Circuit of the Americas in Austin, Texas. Photo by Allan Hamilton / Icon Sportswire via Getty Images.
Yuki Tsunoda of Japan and Scuderia AlphaTauri looks on from the drivers’ parade prior to the F1 Grand Prix of USA at Circuit of the Americas on October 23, 2022 in Austin, Texas. Photo by Clive Mason / Formula 1 via Getty Images.
Carlos Sainz of Spain and Ferrari looks on from the drivers’ parade prior to the F1 Grand Prix of USA at Circuit of the Americas on October 23, 2022 in Austin, Texas. Photo by Clive Mason / Formula 1 via Getty Images.
Carlos Sainz before the race. Photo by Ferrari.
All teams apart from Alpine and Haas opted for the balanced medium Pirellis on Sunday.
The first decisive moment in the race was the start. Verstappen, who had decided to win the race in memory of late Dietrich Mateschitz, grabbed the lead immediately, as the lights went out.
Carlos Sainz of Spain driving the Ferrari F1-75 spins at the start during the F1 Grand Prix of USA at Circuit of the Americas on October 23, 2022 in Austin, Texas. Photo by Mark Thompson / Getty Images.
Russell and Sainz dramatically collided in Turn 1, which made the Ferrari pilot to spin and suffer a puncture. Sainz had to pit and it turned out, that his race was over. In the aftermath of the collision Hamilton was second and Stroll third. The day looked promising for Aston Martin, as Vettel was 5th. By lap three Perez had made his way from P9 up to P6.
Having recovered from the collision with Sainz, Russell made his way past Stroll, claiming P3. However, the British Mercedes driver was handed a 5-second time penalty for causing the first-lap collision with Carlos. A few laps later, Perez, too overtook Stroll and was now fourth in the race.
In terms of the top drivers, Hamilton opened the pit stop roulette on lap 13. Like expected, he switched to the hard compound and rejoined the track in P7. Both Red Bull and Mercedes reacted right away, and Verstappen and Russell were called in on the sequential lap. The Briton served his time penalty before switching to the hards. Perez, too pitted for a fresh set of hard tyres.
Lap 18 ended the race for Alfa Romeo's Bottas. The Finn lost control of his car and ended up stuck in the gravel. Safety car was deployed for the first time.
Charles Leclerc, race. Photo by Ferrari.
Charles benefitted from the safety car, as the Monegasque hadn't pitted yet. The pit stop under safety made Charles jump 4th.
Safety car was out for some four laps only, and the restart saw no changes in the pecking order. But the race was on for a lap only. Alonso crashed his Alpine into the rear of Stroll's Aston Martin, which made the Canadian spin and stop on track. Alonso was able to continue, although his front wing and right mirror were significantly damaged. Safety car was back on track.
Since the second restart Charles was putting pressure on Perez, challenging the Mexican for the third place. Charles attacked fearlessly into the inside of Perez, moving up to third. In terms of the second pit stops, once again it was Hamilton, who made the first move. On lap 36 Verstappen pitted from the lead. But the team had serious trouble with reattaching the Dutchman's front left tyre, and the pit stop took over 11 seconds! Charles, who had pitted at the same time, overtook Max on the pit lane. At this point it seemed, that this was the opportunity of the season for Hamilton to take his first win in 2022.
But Max didn't give up. He hanged on at the tail of Charles and was determined to make a pass. For a moment the duo went wheel to wheel, but after a thrilling battle Max took his place ahead of Charles, which entitled him to P3. In addition to Max, also Vettel in his Aston Martin had a nightmare pit stop. The German's stop lasted for 16 seconds, as the team had difficulties to attach his front left tyre. Sebastian's splendid points finish turned into tame P13 after the delayed pit stop.
With 13 laps to go, Hamilton had a 3-second lead to Verstappen. The two were driving on different tyres, as Hamilton was on hards and Verstappen on mediums. Verstappen closed the gap tenth by tenth with no hesitation. On lap 50 the flying world champion was at the very tail of Hamilton, who desperately tried to defend his lead, but against raging Verstappen there was nothing to be done. Max squeezed his RB18 past Hamilton's Mercedes and after all the difficulties laid his hands on the incredible 13th win of the season.
Verstappen drove to the chequered flag as the race winner for the 13th time this season, now equalling the record of most wins in a season with Vettel and Schumacher.
Charles Leclerc after the race. Photo by Ferrari
Charles Leclerc on the podium. Photo by Ferrari
Hamilton had to settle for bitter P2 and Charles completed the podium. Perez finished 4th for Red Bull, which meant an upper hand for Charles in terms of the second place in the drivers' championship standings. Mercedes' Russell, who had pitted for softs on the second last lap, took P5 and the extra point for the fastest lap time. Norris finished 6th for McLaren and Alonso 7th for Alpine. However, the Spanish two-time world champion was handed a massive 30-second time penalty after the race for driving an unsafe car (a broken mirror especially), which dropped him down to P15. Sebastian made a sensational last-lap overtaking move on Haas' Magnussen and moved up to 8th (7th after Alonso having the penalty). For the second time in a row, fans voted Sebastian as the Driver of the Day.
Race winner Max Verstappen celebrates winning the F1 World Constructors Championship with his team after the F1 Grand Prix of USA at Circuit of the Americas on October 23, 2022 in Austin, Texas. Photo by Dan Istitene / Formula 1 via Getty Images.
Race winner Max Verstappen celebrates with Kelly Piquet after the F1 Grand Prix of USA at Circuit of the Americas on October 23, 2022 in Austin, Texas. Photo by Clive Mason / Formula 1 via Getty Images.
With this result Red Bull secured their constructors' championship, which was the perfect way to honour Mateschitz's legacy.
The world championships have been nailed, but there are still three more rounds to go. Onwards to Mexico this week!
With passion for racing red,
Iina Huhmarniemi
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