Texas Race Reaction
Image: Red Bull Racing
The Texas Grand Prix weekend was an interesting one to say the least! From Max Verstappen taking yet another win to Mercedes making a surprising comeback, there’s plenty to analyse from the most recent race in the USA — let’s dive in.
Qualifying
It was business as usual with Verstappen setting the pace in front, closely followed by the McLaren, Mercedes, and Ferrari cars. It was a surprising double-exit for Aston Martin, who trialled a new floor on Lance Stroll’s car. Hometown hero Logan Sargeant had a bit of a slide on his final run, leaving him plum last.
Track limits played a massive factor here, just like last time in Qatar. Daniel Ricciardo was a casualty of the track limits imposed for the weekend as he had his laptime deleted, leaving him out of contention. Magnussen and both Alfa Romeo and Alpha Tauri cars were knocked out in Q2.
The final top ten shootout saw Verstappen top the timing sheets but this was all in vain as the Dutchman had his laptime deleted for exceeding track limits at Turn 19. It was a head-to-head between the Ferrari pair for pole position and Charles Leclerc put in an amazing time of 1:34.723, just ahead of Lando Norris and Lewis Hamilton. With the grid decided for Sunday’s race, it was now time for the all-important sprint race.
Sprint Race
It was Verstappen who took pole for the session, dominating nearly the whole race. George Russell had a difficult start as he was handed a three-place grid drop for impeding Leclerc in the sprint qualifying shootout earlier in the day. Piastri and Sainz made contact at the start, hindering their races.
Piastri had an especially horrible race as the young Aussie continued to lose positions, inevitably coming home a dismal P10. Hamilton kept pressuring Verstappen for the lead, with the Red Bull driver complaining about the drivability of his RB19.
George Russell was given a five-second penalty for an unfair move on Piastri, dropping him to P8. Ninth place Alexander Albon was just three-tenths shy of George Russell, a fantastic effort from the Williams driver.
On the shoulders of giants
Image: Red Bull Racing
The latest in Verstappen’s 16 wins this season, the 26-year-old took claimed his 50th victory, landing himself a place in an exclusive club, becoming only the fifth driver in Formula One history to reach that milestone. And with Alain Prost and Sebastian Vettel just ahead at 51 and 53 wins respectively, Verstappen could be the third most successful driver in terms of wins by the end of the season.
Verstappen’s teammate, Sergio Perez, had a better race than usual, coming home P4, having battled with Russell and Sainz for position. This is the Mexican’s highest race finish since his second-place finish at the Italian Grand Prix. As his future in the sport hangs in the balance, Perez needs to put in an impressive performance at his home race in Mexico City if he wants to keep his seat, something we stressed in the latest instalment of the Race Reaction Podcast.
So close to 104
Image: Mercedes AMG F1
Arguably one of Lewis Hamilton’s best drives this season, his performance at the Circuit of the Americas should come as no surprise. The Brit has finished in the top four in every running of the US Grand Prix, displaying his clear talent. Sticking on the back of Verstappen for much of the race, the seven-time world champion did not make it easy for race leader Verstappen, who suffered brake issues yet again.
The valiant comeback was mesmerising with Hamilton’s first win in nearly two years just seconds away. This was all, however, in vain as Hamilton was disqualified for having his plank too thin. The race stewards said: “The rear skid in the area defined in the Technical Delegate’s report was outside of the thresholds outlined in Article 3.5.9 e) of the FIA Formula One Technical Regulations, which includes a tolerance for wear.”
Whether Hamilton can claim his first win since November 2021 will have to be seen as he chases Sergio Perez for second in the championship, trailing the Mexican by just 39 points.
Hit and miss for Aston Martin
Image: Aston Martin Aramco Cognizant Racing
Aston Martin’s up-and-down pace over recent weekends has been down to a number of things, namely its lack of development success. The team took the decision to bring upgrades to a sprint weekend despite only being able to test them in a single one-hour practice session. The team decided to put the upgrades on Lance Stroll’s car, which suffered from overheating brakes in the practice session, leaving him to complete just five laps with the new technical direction.
Even though Fernando Alonso kept the old setup, both Aston Martin cars started from the pitlane, having broken parc fermé rules to revert the cars back to the setup used in the Qatar Grand Prix.
Ultimately, Alonso had to retire due to floor damage from the bumpy tarmac at COTA, a disappointing result for the Spaniard.
“[It’s] still under investigation, I think something on the floor underneath or the rear suspension or something. It’s a very bumpy track, very aggressive on kerbs.”
