Max Verstappen started the United States Grand Prix sixth on the grid but nursed his tyres to perfection as Red Bull outsmarted McLaren and Mercedes in the strategy department.
McLaren may have thrown away a golden chance for Lando Norris to finally win a Formula 1 race with a questionable strategy call which gifted United States Grand Prix victory to Max Verstappen – his 50th in the sport.
Norris led the first half of the Austin race after flying past pole-sitter Charles Leclerc at the first corner. Lewis Hamilton was soon on his gearbox while Verstappen made quick progress to be up there with them battling for the podium places.
After the first round of pit stops the McLaren man still had the lead. But the team made a wise decision to pit against another set of hard tires again. This meant Norris lost track position to Verstappen after he also stopped, giving the Red Bull man the lead of the race before pulling away.
And Hamilton’s use of newer mid-size tires meant he was an easy target when the Mercedes man passed him. As a result, Norris had to settle for the final step of the podium instead of potentially claiming his first win, while Hamilton was just a second off but simply ran out of time to catch the champion .
Norris started on the favorable part of the track, which gave him a huge advantage going into the first corner. The second starting car has led after the first corner in four of the previous five races at COTA and the Briton added to that tally by passing Leclerc.
And he quickly moved out of DRS range and into a command position. He was chased by both Ferraris in the opening stages, after Carlos Sainz overtook Hamilton in the first corner.
But it wasn’t long before the seven-time world champion overtook the Spaniard to reclaim third place. And he also made Leclerc’s job easier, as the Ferraris were clearly uninterested in defending too tightly in the early stages and risking ruining their tire strategy.
Verstappen was up to fourth by lap seven, having also flown past Sainz. It was perhaps slower progress than many might have expected, but it was clear that the Dutchman was not pushing flat out and saving his own tyres to make sure he was able to go longer on those yellow-walled mediums.
Esteban Ocon was the first retiree, forced to end his race after just seven lap owing to the huge hole in his sidepod after contact with Oscar Piastri. The Aussie was able to carry on for a few more laps, but the collision damaged a radiator on his car which sparked a water leak and meant he too was soon glumly returning to his garage.
Norris was still leading and managing to hold Hamilton to about two seconds behind him. And Verstappen was four and a half seconds back and not getting any closer. But Red Bull made the first move in the strategic chess game and pitted another set of mid-sized tyres, luring the Dutchman into a two-stop strategy.
McLaren soon followed by bringing Norris in for hard tyres, keeping a one-stop open to the Brit. Hamilton was left to lead the race for a few laps in his absence, but was struggling on those tyres and was very unhappy about it as he slid around on the track.
When he did eventually pit, he came back out behind both Norris and Verstappen, though Mercedes reassured him that it was all part of the plan. When Leclerc became the last to change tyres, giving the McLaren man clean air, there was just two seconds between the two front-runners.
It soon developed into a dogfight between them. Verstappen had the advantage of medium tyres to get the better of the McLaren and it was the 28th lap of the race when the Red Bull dove up the inside of Norris to take the lead. But the strategy would remain key to the outcome of the race with the Brit not obliged to pit again, while Verstappen needed to.
And McLaren blew it. They inexplicably pitted Norris first, while he was leading, for hard tyres which meant Verstappen could simply pit on the following lap to match and come back out with track position and fresher rubber. From there, he sped off into the distance and built enough of a gap to ensure Hamilton, on the mediums, could not catch him in the late stages.
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