F1: Verstappen outduels Hamilton to win USGP (Update)
BREAKING: Fernando Alonso has received a 30-second penalty as his car was sent back on track in an unsafe condition
He drops down to P15, with Vettel (P7), Magnussen (P8), Tsunoda (P9) and Ocon (P10) all moving up in the points.
October 23, 2022
In what was a fantastic race caused by a blotched pitstop for #1 Red Bull Honda driver Max Verstappen that set him back in third place behind Lewis Hamilton and Charles Leclerc, Verstappen then put on a clinic of a drive, first out dueling Leclerc, and then Lewis Hamilton to win the USGP.
Once Verstappen passed Hamilton, he took him to school and pulled away in the last several laps to win by 5.023s, the student schooling the teacher once again before an estimated 175,000 cheering fans.
Christian Horner to Max on the radio on the cool-down lap: “Max Verstappen, you are world champion, we are world champions. Thank you so much, and thank you, Dietrich Mateschitz for everything you have done. For everything you’ve done for this team and these championships are for you”
“Big shout out to my team, we came here with upgrades, we closed the gap a little bit,” said a defeated Hamilton.
“I did everything I could to stay ahead, but they had too much. Congratulations to Red Bull. I’m shattered, the car was a handful today. It felt amazing to be in the lead, we’ll hold onto that and keep pushing. It will come to us at some stage.”
On the radio he told his team, “I gave it everything guys. Best strategy. So close, but so far. I gave it everything.”
Verstappen had to survive two Safety Car restarts to keep the lead, but then his pit crew choked, and he lost the lead.
But Verstappen showed the world why he is the best driver in the world by putting his head down, keeping his cool and defeating Leclerc and Hamilton.
It was Verstappen’s 2nd straight win in the USGP, his 13th win of the year (tying the record) and his 33rd career F1 win.
Red Bull clinched the F1 world constructors’ title in Austin, while Mercedes closed to 53 points behind Ferrari in second place with three races remaining.
The victory puts Verstappen level with Michael Schumacher and Sebastian Vettel on F1’s single-season win record, with 13 apiece in one campaign for the multiple world champions.
“It was a tough one, it was all looking good, but I had to fight my way forward again,” said Verstappen. “We gave it everything out there, it was a difficult weekend for us, this one was for Dietrich. The only thing we could do today was win.”
He has written himself into another section of the record books with win number 13 of the season – can he get a 14th and hold the record outright? There are three more chances for the Dutchman, but first it’s time to savor this win in front of a record crowd.
Charles Leclerc brought his Ferrari home 3rd, 7.5s behind the Dutchman.
“Satisfied in a way because starting P12, a podium is a good achievement. But we had too much deg at the end of the race. We’ll keep working. It was a nice battle with Checo, but we need to keep working in order to challenge them a bit more.”
Sergio Perez was 4th in the 2nd Red Bull Honda as the Red Bull Honda team clinched the 2022 Constructor’s Championship.
George Russell came home 5th in the 2nd Mercedes and set the fastest lap of the race right at that the end. Russell took a five-second time penalty for his incident with Sainz on lap 1 en route to fifth, pitting late on to set the fastest lap on soft tires, having held enough of a window over sixth-placed McLaren driver Lando Norris.
Lando Norris was 6th for McLaren, passing the Alpine of Fernando Alonso late. Alonso bounced back from an engine penalty and a dramatic collision with Lance Stroll midway through the race, which briefly sent him airborne
It was eighth for Vettel, ninth for Kevin Magnussen, with Yuki Tsunoda grabbing the last point on offer.
What a race and what a driver. Verstappen started second, took the lead, managed two Safety Car restarts with ease and only a sticky tire came close to derailing him. But he put his head down, came back and overtook old foe Hamilton to win here for the second straight year.
In the end, no one had an answer to the pace of Red Bull. Verstappen and his team have been unstoppable all season, and have now secured both titles with three races still to go. It was a fitting way to celebrate the memory of Dietrich Mateschitz.
After the blotched Verstappen pitstop, Hamilton led Verstappen by over 7 seconds, as Verstappen set about chasing down Leclerc.
He quickly closed in the Ferrari driver and made his move into Turn 1 at the start of lap 39, diving inside Leclerc. But the Ferrari was able to nip back ahead on the exit before Verstappen used DRS to blast by down the back straight later on the same lap.
That left Verstappen with 4.5s gap to close against Hamilton, with a tire compound difference to factor in too, and Leclerc initially hanging on before fading back and out of contention.
Trying to not push his medium tires too hard, Verstappen gradually ate into Hamilton’s lead over the next few laps and entering the final 10 laps had trimmed Hamilton’s lead to a 2.0s advantage – reaching DRS range for the first time on lap 49 of 56.
The next time by, Verstappen DRS to close right in on Hamilton running down the back straight and he shot to the inside of Turn 12, with the Mercedes initially jinking left late to block Verstappen, but Verstappen is too talented for the 7-time champion and got the pass done.
Hamilton tried to come back, but Verstappen gave him a driving lesson over the final 6 laps to show the world he is now the best driver in F1.
See Race recap below Results Table.
USGP Race Results
| POS | NO | DRIVER | CAR | LAPS | BEHIND |
| 1 | 1 | Max Verstappen | Red Bull Racing Honda | 56 | +0.000s |
| 2 | 44 | Lewis Hamilton | Mercedes | 56 | +5.023s |
| 3 | 16 | Charles Leclerc | Ferrari | 56 | +7.501s |
| 4 | 11 | Sergio Perez | Red Bull Racing Honda | 56 | +8.293s |
| 5 | 63 | George Russell | Mercedes | 56 | +44.815s |
| 6 | 4 | Lando Norris | Mclaren Mercedes | 56 | +53.785s |
| 7 | 14 | Fernando Alonso | Alpine Renault | 56 | +55.078s |
| 8 | 5 | Sebastian Vettel | Aston Martin Aramco Mercedes | 56 | +65.354s |
| 9 | 20 | Kevin Magnussen | Haas Ferrari | 56 | +65.834s |
| 10 | 22 | Yuki Tsunoda | AlphaTauri Honda | 56 | +70.919s |
| 11 | 31 | Esteban Ocon | Alpine Renault | 56 | +72.875s |
| 12 | 23 | Alexander Albon | Williams Mercedes | 56 | +75.057s |
| 13 | 24 | Zhou Guanyu | Alfa Romeo Ferrari | 56 | +76.164s |
| 14 | 10 | Pierre Gasly | AlphaTauri Honda | 56 | +81.763s |
| 15 | 47 | Mick Schumacher | Haas Ferrari | 56 | +84.490s |
| 16 | 3 | Daniel Ricciardo | Mclaren Mercedes | 56 | +90.487s |
| 17 | 6 | Nicholas Latifi | Williams Mercedes | 56 | +103.588s |
| NC | 18 | Lance Stroll | Aston Martin Aramco Mercedes | 21 | DNF |
| NC | 77 | Valtteri Bottas | Alfa Romeo Ferrari | 16 | DNF |
| NC | 55 | Carlos Sainz | Ferrari | 1 | DNF |
* Provisional results. Note – Russell scored an additional point for setting the fastest lap of the race.
Race Recap
When the lights went out at the start, Verstappen reacted quickest and he passed polesitter Carlos Sainz. As the pair went into Turn 1, Sainz took a wide line and when turned in he was hit by Mercedes’ George Russell who had locked up on entry. The Ferrari was spun round and he eventually was forced to retire.
Sainz’s spin allowed Hamilton to take second place as Aston Martin’s Lance Stroll moved to third ahead of Russell. Behind them, Sergio Pérez made a good start from P9 on the grid and over the opening laps he rose to fifth place. The Mexican then closed in on Russell, who had been handed a five-second penalty for causing the collision with Sainz, and by lap 10 he was just half a second off the Mercedes driver.
On lap 19 the Safety Car was suddenly deployed when Alfa Romeo’s Valtteri Bottas spun off and was left beached in the gravel at Turn 19. The SC benefited Leclerc who had gone long on his first stint and the Ferrari driver was handed a free pit stop. He took on hard tyres and rejoined in fourth place behind Pérez who had risen to the podium position as stops occurred around him.
The caution ended on lap 21 and Verstappen controlled the restart well but within a lap the Safety Car was back on track. Alpine’s Fernando Alonso went to pass Stroll but the Canadian made a late defensive move and they collided. Alonso somehow managed to carry on but Stroll’s race ended there.
The Safety Car left the track at the end of lap 25 and once again Verstappen made the best of the re-start to stay ahead of Hamilton, with Pérez behind the Mercedes in third place. However, Leclerc, on fresher tyres, closed in on Pérez and the Ferrari driver was able to pass the Mexican in Turn 12.
Hamilton was again the first of the front runners to make a second pit stop, on lap 35. Red Bull covered the undercut by pitting Verstappen on the following lap, but there was an issue with the wheelgun on the front left and the Dutchman was stuck in his pit box for 11 seconds. Hamilton swept past, and Leclerc, who also pitted on the same lap as Max, was able to get out ahead of the Dutch driver.
Verstappen was soon on the hunt, however, and on lap 39 he powered past Leclerc in Turn 12 to take P3. Hamilton, now in the lead after passing Sebastian Vettel, who had gone long on his first and second stints, attempted to stretch away in the lead but as the laps counted down Verstappen edged closer and closer to the Mercedes. On lap 50 he made his move, powering past Hamilton into Turn 12. The seven-time champion tried to defend with a late move left but Verstappen was able to hold on through the following corners to seal the win.
“It was a tough one,” Verstappen said. “It was all looking good. But then of course the pit stop was a bit longer than we would have liked, so I had to find my way forward again. But we gave it everything out there today.
“It’s a very difficult weekend for us,” he added. “This one is definitely dedicated to Dietrich and what he has done for everyone. The only thing we could do today was win and even though after the pit stop it was not looking great, I gave it everything out there and I pushed to the limit to come back.”
Behind Max, Hamilton took second place with Leclerc third. Checo took a brave fourth place ahead of Russell and Lando Norris finished sixth for McLaren. Alonso recovered from his spectacular crash to impressively finish seventh and eighth place went to Vettel who fought back from a botched, 17-second pit stop to claim four points. Haas’ Kevin Magnussen was ninth and the final point went to AlphaTauri’s Yuki Tsunoda.