Max Verstappen took the checkered flag first at the US GP and Red Bull clinched the constructors’ title, a race after the Dutchman clinched the drivers’ title. The Austrian team prevailed after eight years, a success that was emotionally charged by the death of Dietrich Matesic.

The two-time world champion put up a great battle with Lewis Hamilton, who finished second and missed a great opportunity to claim his first win of the year.

Charles Leclerc finished the race in third place who, despite having started 12th, was trying to claim victory. Sergio Perez was fourth.

Where was victory decided?

Max Verstappen finished first in the US GP, poleman Carlos Sainz finished the same time. Russell collided with the inbound Ferrari at the first corner, the Brit received a penalty and the Spaniard retired.

The deck was reshuffled for hard rubber after pit stops, with Verstappen still leading. On lap 18, Bottas caused a safety car that retired on lap 21 and returned shortly after with a second accident. The world champion continued to lead, followed by Hamilton.

In the 34th lap, Verstappen came to change tires. There was a problem with the aerolock which saw him lose 11 seconds and find himself behind Hamilton and Leclerc. After passing the Monegasque, the fight then focused between the Dutchman and the British champion.

Verstappen caught up with Hamilton and by lap 50 the Dutchman was back at the front of the race. In fact, the Brit complained about Verstappen’s exits, with Red Bull also warning his driver.

The Dutchman continued to increase his gap in the final laps and was the first to see the checkered flag.

The match phase

The racing phase took place on the 22nd lap of the GP. In particular, Stroll and Alonso had an accident in a fight with each other. The Spaniard tried to overtake Stroll, but the Canadian swerved to the left.

They touched down at very high speed, the Alpine lifted its nose in the air for a few seconds and hit the crash barriers lightly. Unlike Stroll, who left the race, Fernando Alonso entered the pits and continued his race.

The match guide

The Formula 1 crowd voted Sebastian Vettel driver of the day. The German Aston Martin driver, who brings the latest achievements in the sport, took 8th place.

Vettel followed a strategy that put him in the front places, put up some nice fights and finished in the top ten.

You impressed us

In the particular conditions of the Austin track, the Red Bull RB18 proved to be an all-terrain car as Max Verstappen won comfortably by taking good care of his softer Medium tire and was 6 seconds ahead of Hamilton with 15 laps to go due to the airlock problem at his second pit stop.

But the most impressive of the day were the former multiple F1 champions. Lewis Hamilton and Mercedes made the most of the fact that they were running the harder tires and used every last tenth of a second the heavily upgraded W13 had to offer – and got closer than ever to their first win of the year. “So close and yet so far,” perhaps as Lewis said at the end.

Sebastian Vettel then managed to climb from 13th to 8th – due to a suitably disastrous delay at his second pit stop – while Fernando Alonso managed another climb, despite previously being involved in a bad crash with Lance Stroll, who was riding his Alpine and took off slammed against the barriers. The psyche of such a great world champion, in all three, never fades.

You let us down

Apart from the fact that George Russell seems to be losing touch with Hamilton and himself in the last few races, he made the mistake in the first turn that took Carlos Sainz out of the fight. On the other hand, if he hadn’t started so poorly, Saint wouldn’t be in such a vulnerable position. Although of course it was only a racing event.

Lucky to be running on the harder tires and not struggling with overheating on the soft ones, Ferrari did everything perfectly – including the luck of a free pit stop with the first safety car – to move Leclerc from 12th to 3rd bring to.

But it remains disappointing that the car, which starred until July, no longer has a chance to match RBR, as demonstrated when Leclerc passed Verstappen on the second pit stop – and with its higher-tuned engine on its latest upgrade, the brought the Scuderia here. And now the Italians are being called upon to close a big gap with Red Bull in the development of this year’s cars for 2023 this winter.

What’s next

Three races remain until the end of the 2022 Formula 1 season. The world championship travels to Mexico for the three days from October 28th to 30th. The qualifying tests will take place on Saturday (10/29) at 11:00 p.m., while the race will take place on Sunday (10/30) at 10:00 p.m.