And with that, farewell. It was a great Formula One race, really – filled with drama on the track rather than controversy, marred only by crash at the start that took out pole-sitter Carlos Sainz.
See you next time. I need new tyres.
Updated driver standings:
391 Verstappen
267 Leclerc
265 Perez
218 Russell
202 Sainz
198 Hamilton
109 Norris
78 Ocon
71 Alonso
46 Bottas
36 Vettel
29 Ricciardo
Interviews:
Charles Leclerc: “P3, starting from P12, is not bad.”
Lewis Hamilton waves to an appreciative crowd: “First, a huge thank you to the crowd. … I want to give a big shoutout to my team. We came here with upgrades, we closed the gap a little bit. Great race by Red Bull, and my condolences to the team.”
Max Verstappen: “It was a tough one. It was all looking good. The pit stop was a bit longer. … It was a difficult weekend for us, and this one is dedicated to Dietrich.”
More Max: “This is a great track for battling. If you’re passed in one corner, you can come back in the next.”
Andrew Benton: “Oh, maybe not.” Yeah. Hamilton has the experience. Verstappen had the tires and probably a better car.
Giles Horner: “I should clarify, Giles Horner (no relation).” That would be a reference to legendary US cyclist Chris Horner. Oh, wait, that would be Red Bull boss Christian Horner.
And Anne Williams thanks me for the commentary. Thank you for reading and the correspondence.
Alan Sampson: “Just to add to the debate, in Bulgaria a tyre is a gumi. In Turkey it’s a lastik. Language is wonderful. :-)”
The final top 10 …
1 Verstappen (Red Bull)
2 Hamilton (Mercedes)
3 Leclerc (Ferrari)
4 Perez (Red Bull)
5 Russell (Mercedes)
6 Norris (McLaren)
7 Alonso (Alpine)
8 Vettel (Aston Martin)
9 Magnussen (Haas)
10 Tsunoda (AlphaTauri)
I’ll wrap up emails, then see if I can compile the updated season standings.
Max Verstappen wins the US Grand Prix
Even with a dodgy pit stop, the Red Bull driver just had the horses that the rest of the field did not, and Red Bull has claimed the constructors championship. A fitting tribute to Dietrich Mateschitz.
Norris does indeed pass Alonso.
Russell did indeed post the fastest lap.
Vettel has an epic battle with Magnussen and finally passes him for seventh.
Lap 56/56: OK, here we go with the thrilling conclusion. Will Verstappen let his tires dip off the track and suffer a five-second penalty that will hand Hamilton his first win of the season?
Probably not. The only drama here will be Norris chasing Alonso for sixth.
Lap 55/56: Verstappen is now 2.3 ahead. Meanwhile, Perez’s challenge to Leclerc has faded, and … Russell is pitting! Apparently a bid for the fastest lap. He comes out still safely in fifth.
Lap 54/56: “He’s off at Turn 20! And possibly Turn 9!” Hamilton has turned commentator as he can only watch Verstappen.
And now Hamilton is on a black-and-white flag. Please don’t broadcast his reaction to that news.
Lap 53/56: As mentioned earlier, Lando Norris has a good shot at P6. He’s within a second of Alonso.
But Russell is too far ahead for Norris to think about the top five.
Lap 52/56: Perez is within two seconds of Leclerc.
Vettel passes Albon for ninth.
Tsunoda passed Zhou somewhere.
Oh, but it’s a black-and-white flag for Verstappen! One more mistake, and it’s a five-second penalty. Can Hamilton stay within five seconds?
Lap 51/56: Andrew Benton writes, “Hamilton’s a shrewd biscuit (cookie), he’ll keep the big Verstappen at bay.”
The email arrives just after the overtake.
Hamilton says Verstappen is going off the track. That sounds like a desperate appeal, but Verstappen’s radio crackles with an alert that he needs to color inside the lines the rest of the way.
Lap 50/56 (still): Anne Williams hopes the leaders don’t take each other out. I doubt they will. The rivalry has faded a bit into mutual respect, and Verstappen is a smarter driver than he was.
And indeed, they go back and forth in a thrilling duel! But no, Verstappen has better tires. He pulls ahead. The postrace meeting at Mercedes will be interesting. Could Hamilton have picked up his first win of the season on medium tires?
Lap 50/56: Perez is gaining on Leclerc for third.
But it seems like a question of when, not if, for Verstappen on Hamilton.
Lap 49/56: Ocon has faded badly, and Zhou is now in 10th. Then it’s Tsunoda, then the resilient Vettel.
What else is going on? Oh, right. Verstappen has a faster car than Hamilton and is within a second.
Lap 48/56: Will Mercedes regret putting hard tires on Hamilton’s car instead of mediums? We’ll see. The gap is less than 1.5 seconds.
Lap 47/56: But Verstappen gets inside two seconds.
Have we mentioned that Hamilton hasn’t posted a win all season?
Lap 46/56: Meanwhile, Norris’ tires are considerably newer than those of the three drives ahead of him. Maybe a top-six finish ahead? There he goes past Ocon into eighth.
Hamilton is going strong, maintaining his lead for now.
Lap 45/56: Verstappen has cut the lead to 2.242 seconds. He’s on medium tires. Hamilton’s on hard tires. Ulp.
Lap 43-44/56: While we wait on Verstappen’s pursuit of Hamilton, let’s look at the rest …
Leclerc still has some designs on catching Verstappen, but more importantly, he has pulled away from fourth-place Perez.
Then it’s Russell, not likely to challenge for the podium but well ahead of Magnussen.
Alonso, Ocon and Albon have the next three, but Norris is very close to Albon … oh wait, he’s passed.
Zhou and Tsunoda are very much in contention for points.
Latifi has been penalized.
Lap 42/56: Vettel, racing on tires/tyres almost as old as he is, pits. And it doesn’t go well. He won’t be a factor the rest of the way.
That leaves open space between Verstappen and Hamilton. The gap is 3.3 seconds.
Lap 40-41/56: Replay shows Perez coming out of the pits and going side by side with Russell for a considerable distance, as if one man is asking the other for Grey Poupon. (Old US TV ad reference.) Perez comes out ahead.
Vettel is still out there, and it’s hard to see what he’s accomplishing other than adding to his career total of laps led.
But Hamilton pushes up and gets past the legend!
Lap 39/54: Verstappen goes after Leclerc, but Leclerc rises to the challenge! The crowd’s roar is audible over the engines.
Vettel leads but will pit at some point.
Verstappen goes again, and this time, he can’t be denied. He’s 4 1/2 seconds behind Hamilton.
Perez, who has pitted, is behind them but ahead of Russell.
Updated
OK, quickly:
Michael Holbrook asks me to stop talking rubbish please. You mean trash?
Jacques Roberge: “Fascinating to see a F1 race almost more about proper English words than the race itself. Just to add my grain of salt, the word for tire or tyre in Spanish is not tire but neumaticos, I think.”
Mark Woldin: “‘A gaggle of cars from 7th to 17th.’ And Beau fights back into a podium spot!”
Lap 38/56: I’ll get to all the grammar discussion shortly, but it’s all hotting up here.
“It’s a long way to go,” Verstappen’s crew tells him. “You don’t need to tell me that,” Verstappen replies.
Perez and Vettel are 1-2 but will surely pit. Hamilton is next, with Leclerc nearly five seasons back. Then it’s Verstappen, but the impetuous two-time champion has posted the fastest lap again.
Lap 37/56: “Beautiful,” Verstappen says with a hint of sarcasm. “(Bleep) beautiful.”
Resetting: Perez is in first, Russell second, and Russell is fighting to overtake. Why bother if you’re both going to pit anyway?
And Russell does so now.
Lap 36/56: Andrea Brewster asks if Lewis and Max are still in the race.
They are indeed, but Verstappen is having a horror pit stop!
Lap 35/56: Now Verstappen says the strat changes are affecting his drivability. Maybe he should switch to a Les Paul. (Guitar nerd humor.)
Hamilton pits. Everyone else probably will follow suit in the next 5-10 laps.
Lap 34/56: Verstappen is still complaining about the wind. Maybe if he’d let some other cars get closer to him?
Hamilton’s only 1.358 seconds back, so maybe it’s not over.
Anne Williams agrees that it’s “bollocks.”
Lap 33/56: Giles Horner writes, “Further is also the name of the bus used by Ken Kesey and the Merry Pranksters, not that I would think LSD would be helpful driving an F1 car.”
That would explain the name of the “Further Festival,” which I believe involved a gaggle of Grateful Dead-adjacent acts.
Lap 32/56: Can Russell also pass Perez? He’s getting closer.
Lap 31/56: Andrew Benton writes: “But you could have asked, in modern parlance, how will these safety car laps ‘impact’ the tires? This is really where these two branches of the English language come together again, because its total bollux to use impact like that, yet it happens all the time and all over the place, in both Britain and in America, I do believe, and further afield too. So, thanks for using affect, a proper word used well.”
I thought it was “bollucks.” Can I say that?
Anyway, the race for seventh has been impacted by a five-second penalty to Gasly, apparently affected by being not further enough from the safety automobile.
Lap 30/56 (still): Leclerc goes to the inside this time, and he passes! Brilliant overtake, and he zips away from Perez with third place in hand.
Updated
Lap 30/56: Leclerc goes to the outside of Perez! He goes off the track, though, and he avoids a penalty by letting Perez retain third place. For now.
Verstappen has just posted the fastest lap of the day.
Lap 29/56: Speaking of Star Wars, Lando Norris has some damage from all the debris. He’s running ninth. There is a gaggle of cars from seventh to 17th.
Lap 28/56: Verstappen is pulling away from Hamilton. Hamilton is more than a second ahead of Perez. The most interesting battle will be between Perez and Leclerc for third.
Leclerc says, “They are so quick down the straight.” Sounds like the immortal words of famous driver Darth Vader, when he said, “The Force is strong in this one.”
Lap 27/56: Verstappen says his drivability is (bleep).
“Drivability” is apparently a word.
Brad Pitt is here.
The top six has not changed.
Lap 26/56: Should Verstappen hold back Hamilton so Perez can pass? That sounds a bit dodgy, given that Hamilton could theoretically pass Verstappen. That’s allowed, right?
The safety car is off the track. No one has crashed or spun yet.
Lap 25/56: So how will these safety-car laps affect the tires?
No, seriously, I’m asking.
And note that the verb form is “affect.” Not “effect.” There, see? I speak anglais très bien.
Lap 24/56: My apologies for skipping a thrilling lap of safety-car racing.
The top five won’t change yet: Verstappen, Hamilton, Perez, Leclerc, Russell. Then Vettel.
Stroll will bow out of the race. Alonso will continue to run.
Mark Woldin writes: “Pieces fly FARTHER. Farther is real distance; further is figurative: He came further in his career than he imagined. Come on! Let’s keep the aspiditra flying!”
I spent the first several years of my career as a copy editor. Or, as I believe the English call it, a “sub-editor.” Or perhaps a lift. Or a tyre. Or football.
Anyone from Australia care to weigh in?
Lap 22/56 (still): The safety car is out, and we might get a red flag to clear a considerable amount of material that is no longer attached to a car.
A replay shows what happened. Alonso tried to pass Stroll but wound up running over Stroll’s left rear tire. Alonso flew over and bumped the wall. Stroll was sent into a 540-degree spin.
Both drivers report over race radio that they’re OK. Then some profanity and complaining.
Lap 22/56: The safety car is off the track, and Hamilton briefly challenges Verstappen.
Vettel gets a little feisty but still stands sixth behind Russell.
Perez and Leclerc still 3-4.
And OH DEAR ... what has happened to Fernando Alonso? He’s briefly airborne, and pieces of car fly further.
Updated
Lap 21/56: Some discussion of an incident with Stroll coming out of the pits and getting too close to Alonso, but the commentators believe nothing will come of it.
Hamilton says he’s struggling with his brakes.
We still have a safety car on the track.
Anne Williams writes: “I thought in English the spelling was tyres.”
Yes, but we’re speaking ‘'Merican now that the US is embracing the sport. (Well, at least your ‘Merican commentator is.)
Lap 20/56: To reset:
1 Verstappen
2 Hamilton
3 Perez (up six places from the start)
4 Leclerc (up eight places)
5 Russell (down two)
6 Vettel
7 Stroll
8 Gasly
9 Alonso (up five)
10 Norris
Updated
Lap 19/56: So Leclerc and Vettel get to pit with the safety car on the track, as does Fernando Alonso, who apparently had not pitted earlier despite information to the contrary.
Lap 18/56: Yellow flag flies in sector 3, and now we see Valtteri Bottas in the sand.
And now it’s a safety car.
Bottas laments that he “lost the back end.” He spun on his own with no contact.
Lap 17/56: So everyone has pitted now aside from Leclerc, who’s sitting in second for now with older tires and has asked his team about using “Plan E.” That seems like a lot of plans.
Lap 16/56: Stroll’s Aston Martin team decides to go with medium tires.
Hamilton zips along past Vettel. When Leclerc pits, Hamilton will return to second place.
Lap 15/56: Now it’s Perez coming in, and it’s just tires rather than any body work.
So it’s Verstappen ahead of Leclerc, who has not yet pitted, and Stroll, who has not yet pitted. Then it’s Vettel and Hamilton. A bit surprising that Vettel is ahead there – perhaps a faster pit stop?
Lap 14/56: Verstappen does indeed pit. So does Russell, who has to sit for an extra five seconds after the business at the start of the race.
Sergio Perez has the temporary lead.
Lap 13/56: Hamilton pits. Hard tires. That’ll temporarily drop him to seventh behind Vettel, who finally surrendered fifth place to Leclerc.
Russell is now in second – 12 seconds behind Verstappen with a penalty to come.
Verstappen asks what he should do now. “Push,” says the other end of the radio conversation.
Lap 12/56: Leclerc has sixth-placed Vettel in his sights. More importantly, within DRS range.
Verstappen continues to pull away from Hamilton. Nearly 4 1/2 seconds now.
“It’s hammer time,” we hear from Hamilton’s crew.
Lap 11/56: Many of the drivers near the back have already come in for a pit stop. A lot of hard tires now.
Lap 10/56: “Missing his right front endplate” is not something I’d want to hear about my car, but it doesn’t seem to be bothering Perez.
LAP 7/56
— Formula 1 (@F1) October 23, 2022
Perez moves past Stroll and up to P4...
The Mexican is missing his right front endplate but that's not slowing him down! 👀#USGP #F1 pic.twitter.com/boeWWvgHAR
Verstappen is still agitated with the wind.
Lap 9/56: Perez and Leclerc have each moved up by five places. It’s a safe bet they’ll both move up a bit more by the end of the race.
Perez came in with 253 points to Leclerc’s 252.
Russell is fourth at 207.
Lap 8/56: Hamilton is now more than three seconds behind Verstappen. Russell is third but barely ahead of Perez.
Lap 7/56: Sainz’s bad luck could play into Lewis Hamilton’s hands. Sainz started the day in fifth place, 22 points ahead of once-perennial world champion. Second place, for which Hamilton seems destined, awards 18 points.
Lap 6/56: It’s windy, says weatherman Max Verstappen.
Perez is next to pass Stroll. He’s up to fourth. Leclerc has surged to seventh. The battle for the places behind Verstappen this season could also be a battle for the places behind Verstappen today.
Lap 5/56: Lance Stroll started beautifully, but George Russell simply has too much power and streaks past him. Russell has that penalty upcoming, though.
Lap 4/56: A replay of the start shows how skillfully the drivers from the second row backwards avoided the spinning Sainz.
Lap 3/56: Vettel and Tsunoda have surged a few places ahead on the field. More importantly, so has Charles Leclerc, now up to ninth.
Russell will have a five-second penalty.
Meanwhile, Verstappen has zoomed out of Hamilton’s view.
Lap 2/56: The unfortunate Sainz says over race radio that he thinks he has a puncture.
It was George Russell who hit Sainz and may incur a penalty.
Sainz’s car is going into the garage. So unlucky for the pole-sitter.
Meanwhile, we have an old-school (well, as of the last two years, anyway) duel between Verstappen and Hamilton.
Ferrari's driver Carlos Sainz races at the start of the race before a collision with Mercedes' driver George Russell Photograph: Jim Watson/AFP/Getty Images
Updated
Lights out
And Sainz has been knocked into a spin as Verstappen takes the lead!
And another bit of analysis …
📊 La Track Map officielle du tracé d'Austin pour le #USGP ! 🇺🇸
— Off Track (@OffTrack_FR) October 19, 2022
5,513 Km
20 virages
2 zones de DRS#F1 pic.twitter.com/UaJ6gG0VLV
For those who love tires (or, as it’s spelled in proper English, “tires”), all the top drivers are on mediums. A few at the back are on the harder stuff.
Vettel was wearing an all-black outfit before the race start in memory of Dietrich Matesitchz 🖤#F1 #USGP #Motorsport pic.twitter.com/K9qsrpEfFh
— Motorsport.com (@Motorsport) October 23, 2022
Updated
Ger Nugent writes to ask about grid positions. Glad you asked:
Carlos Sainz, Ferrari (5th in the season standings)
Max Verstappen, Red Bull (1st, obviously)
Lewis Hamilton, Mercedes (6th)
George Russell, Mercedes (4th)
Lance Stroll, Aston Martin (15th)
Lando Norris, McLaren (7th)
Valtteri Bottas, Alfa Romeo (10th)
Alexander Albon, Williams (19th)
Sergio Perez, Red Bull (2nd)*
Sebastian Vettel, Aston Martin (11th)
Pierre Gasly, AlphaTauri (13th)
Charles Leclerc, Ferrari (3rd)*
Kevin Magnussen, Haas (14th)
Fernando Alonso, Alpine (9th)*
Daniel Ricciardo, McLaren (12th)
Mick Schumacher, Haas (16th)
Nicholas Latifi, Williams (20th)
Zhou Guanyu, Alfa Romeo (18th)*
Yuki Tsunoda, AlphaTauri (17th)
Esteban Ocon, Alpine (8th)*
Those with an asterisk have incurred a penalty, worst of all for Ocon, who must start from pit lane. It’s also bad news for Leclerc and Ferrari as they attempt to interrupt Red Bull’s march to a 1-2 season finish, though Perez also has a penalty to overcome.
The other Narrative of Note: Formula One is starting to make serious inroads in the United States at last. Perhaps it could be that younger, more progressive Americans are ill at ease with the “Let’s Go Brandon” NASCAR fanbase, and IndyCar simply doesn’t capture the imagination.
But it’s also part of some impressive efforts to make F1 cool. The Netflix series Drive to Survive has taken viewers inside the sport, and its charismatic drivers have done well on social media. Young US fans have become fans of drivers who aren’t even title contenders.
Next year, the US will host three races, including what’s sure to be a glitzy spectacle in Las Vegas. And Logan Sargeant became the first US driver to participate in a practice session, let alone a race, in seven years when he took to the track in Austin this weekend. He’ll have a full-time gig next year as long as he gets enough points toward his “Super Licence.” (Funny – in most US states, getting points on your license is a bad thing.)
The big story of the weekend, of course, is the question of whether Red Bull spending a gazillion dollars this season constitutes “cheating.”
It’s an earth-shattering accusation in a sport in which the technology and financial resources are secondary to the skill of the drivers and are you impressed that I managed to type that without laughing?
And it’s especially important in a sport that is known for consistent and reasonable application of the rules.
But to give credit where it’s due, Verstappen is no longer just an untamed prodigy but a true champion who has the potential to leave tread marks all over the record book by the time he’s done.
So back on track, so to speak – we’re getting late in the season now, so we should all be captivated by this thrilling title race between Max Verstappen and … oh, right … nobody.
Hello everyone, and before we get into the drama and occasional comedy of Formula One today, it seems appropriate to note the passing of Dietrich Mateschitz, the builder of the Red Bull empire of energy drinks and sports. Red Bull’s sports influence has been as big as any company other than perhaps the big shoe companies, with a presence in everything from soccer to action sports. That influence hasn’t been without controversy, but the brand certainly can’t be ignored, and Mateschitz in particular took an interest in Formula One.
Updated
Beau will be here shortly. In the meantime, here’s some news from Christian Horner:
The Red Bull team principal, Christian Horner, issued a scathing attack on criticism from competitors after the FIA announced his team had breached the Formula One budget cap. Addressing a letter written last week by the McLaren principal, Zak Brown, describing any breach of the cap as “cheating”, Horner said the accusations made against the team had even led to the children of employees being bullied.
Horner was speaking publicly for the first time since the FIA announced Red Bull had been in breach of the budget cap for 2021. The FIA decision was revealed only a day after Max Verstappen secured his second F1 championship at the Japanese GP two weeks ago.
In Austin for this weekend’s today’s US Grand Prix Red Bull’s breach overshadowed events on the track. Horner continued to make the case that his team had met the cap according to their interpretation of the regulations but, sitting alongside Brown at the press conference, he was furious with his fellow team principal.
“It’s tremendously disappointing for a fellow competitor to accuse you of cheating. To accuse you of fraudulent activity is shocking, without the facts, without any knowledge of the detail,” he said.
