Red Bull Wins Constructors’ Championship After Verstappen Takes Victory at US Grand Prix

Two-time World Champion, Max Verstappen, has taken victory at Circuit of the Americas to match a record thirteen victories in a FIA Formula 1 World Championship season; while bringing Oracle Red Bull Racing its first Constructors’ title since 2013.

The Dutchman, who was crowned as a double champion last time out in Japan, started alongside the Scuderia Ferrari driver of Carlos Sainz, but would take an early lead when the Spaniard was spun around at Turn One.

Verstappen remained in control for most of the race, holding off Lewis Hamilton, before an issue with his front left tyre on lap thirty-six resulted in an eleven-second pitstop. Hamilton took the lead and looked set to take his first victory of the season, but was chased down by an incredibly fast Verstappen, who overtook the Briton for the lead on lap fifty of fifty-six.

Meanwhile, Sergio Pérez was forced to nurse a damaged front wing for the entire race after some contact with Kevin Magnussen on the opening lap. Pérez would spend most of his race squabbling with George Russell, crossing the line in fourth place, but still bringing enough points home for Red Bull to take the title.

The rest of the podium

Despite his best efforts to keep Verstappen behind, a differing tyre strategy for Hamilton and the pure speed of the Red Bull in his mirrors meant an overtake was inevitable. Hamilton pitted for his second set of Hard tyres at the end of lap thirty-five, prompting Verstappen to follow a lap later. The number one driver’s slow stop would promote Hamilton to the lead, though with Verstappen and Charles Leclerc opting for the Medium tyre, the advantage was not in Hamilton’s favour, and he would cross the line in second.

Meanwhile, teammate Russell completed Sunday’s US Grand Prix with damage as a result of his lap one incident with Sainz. The Briton locked his front left tyre on the entry to the Turn One hairpin, and would hit the side-pod of the pole sitter, causing a water leak and putting him out of the race. Russell, who was able to carry on, was punished with a five second penalty, and would cross the line in fifth – taking the fastest lap point with him after pitting in the dying laps.

Leclerc put in a great performance to cross the line in third place, despite taking a ten-place power unit penalty and starting the race in twelfth. The Ferrari driver looked set to challenge Verstappen for second after jumping him in the second pit window, but didn’t have the pace to keep the Red Bull behind him for very long.

Image: Mark Thompson/Getty Images.

What happened behind?

Lando Norris was another well-performing driver at Circuit of the Americas this weekend, crossing the line in sixth place to take the best-of-the-rest position. The Briton stormed through the field at the end of the race, taking advantage of the DRS and braking later than everybody ahead of him. However, teammate Daniel Ricciardo, was unable to make an impression in America, having failed to make it out of Qualifying One, and only finishing the race in sixteenth – around thirty-seven seconds behind Norris.

Fernando Alonso certainly impressed this afternoon, taking the chequered flag in seventh place, despite being involved in a horrific accident with Lance Stroll at the Safety Car restart on lap twenty-one. After getting a promising exit out of Turn Eleven and on to the back straight, the double World Champion attempted a move on the Aston Martin Aramco Cognizant Formula One Team driver. However, a late move from the Canadian saw Alonso make contact and launch the front of his car in the air, land aggressively, and brush the barrier on the left-hand side of the track.

Stroll was sent spinning, somehow avoiding oncoming traffic, and would retire from the race, while Alonso pitted for a new front wing. The incident immediately brought the Safety Car back out, and the Spaniard was understandably shaken up from the incident.

Teammate, Esteban Ocon, also had a good recovery, narrowly missing out on a points finish despite starting from the pit lane. The Frenchman finished in eleventh place, just two seconds away from the points.

Sebastian Vettel put in an excellent performance to cross the line in eighth, despite a disastrous pitstop dropping him out of the points from the lead of the race. The four-time champion qualified tenth, but was fighting towards the front at the mid point of the race. Had it not been for his unlucky pitstop, the Aston Martin driver could have competed for the best-of-the-rest position at the end of the race. Though, Vettel deservingly was awarded as ‘Driver of the Day’.

Kevin Magnussen was able to finish in the top ten on Sunday afternoon, after a good qualifying session saw him advance to the second stage. However, Mick Schumacher was only able to finish fifteenth after taking damage from the incident between Alonso and Stroll. Overall, it was a bittersweet day for Haas F1 Team, who are currently one point ahead of Scuderia AlphaTauri in the Constructors’ Championship.

Speaking of which, Yuki Tsunoda rounded out the top ten, scoring his first points since the Spanish Grand Prix earlier this year, while Pierre Gasly was only able to bring it home to fourteenth after incorrectly serving a penalty – which added a further ten seconds to his time. It has certainly been a tough year for AlphaTauri, who will hope to leapfrog Haas in the standings in the final three races.

Alexander Albon finished twelfth after a midfield squabble in the dying stages of the race, in what was a good performance for the Williams F1 Team driver. Teammate, Nicolas Latifi, however, crossed the line seventeenth and last, after spinning at the start of the race and also being handed a five second time penalty for pushing another driver off track.

Guanyu Zhou finished in thirteenth place for Alfa Romeo F1 Team ORLEN, while Valtteri Bottas failed to finish the race due to losing the rear of his car at the penultimate corner, and getting beached in the gravel trap on lap eighteen. The Swiss outfit will certainly be disappointed with this result, as they hope to defend sixth place in the Constructors’ Standings from Aston Martin.

You can find the full results below, data courtesy of Formula 1.

POS	NO.	DRIVER	TEAM	NAT	TIME/GAP
1	1	Max Verstappen	Oracle Red Bull Racing	NED	1:42:11.687
2	44	Lewis Hamilton	Mercedes-AMG Petronas Formula 1 Team	GBR	+5.023s
3	16	Charles Leclerc	Scuderia Ferrari	MON	+7.501s
4	11	Sergio Pérez	Oracle Red Bull Racing	MEX	+8.293s
5	63	George Russell	Mercedes-AMG Petronas Formula 1 Team	GBR	+44.815s
6	4	Lando Norris	McLaren F1 Team	GBR	+53.785s
7	14	Fernando Alonso	BWT Alpine F1 Team	ESP	+55.078s
8	5	Sebastian Vettel	Aston Martin Aramco Cognizant Formula One Team	GER	+65.354s
9	20	Kevin Magnussen	Haas F1 Team	DEN	+65.834s
10	22	Yuki Tsunoda	Scuderia AlphaTauri	JAP	+70.919s
11	31	Esteban Ocon	BWT Alpine F1 Team	FRA	+72.875s
12	23	Alexander Albon	Williams F1 Team	THA	+75.057s
13	24	Guanyu Zhou	Alfa Romeo F1 Team ORLEN	CHN
14	10	Pierre Gasly	Scuderia AlphaTauri	FRA	+81.763s
15	47	Mick Schumacher	Haas F1 Team	GER	+84.490s
16	3	Daniel Ricciardo	McLaren F1 Team	AUS	+90.487s
17	6	Nicolas Latifi	Williams F1 Team	CAN	+103.588s
18	18	Lance Stroll	Aston Martin Aramco Cognizant Formula One Team	CAN	DNF
19	77	Valtteri Bottas	Alfa Romeo F1 Team ORLEN	FIN	DNF
20	55	Carlos Sainz	Scuderia Ferrari	ESP	DNF

Data courtesy of Formula 1.