Verstappen passes Hamilton to win US GP and equal F1 win record

Max Verstappen claimed a record-equalling 13th win in a single Formula 1 season and helped Red Bull clinch its first constructors’ championship since 2013 in a United States Grand Prix that was so nearly Mercedes’ first win of the year.

Verstappen had to fight back past Charles Leclerc’s Ferrari and Lewis Hamilton’s Mercedes to earn the win after a slow second pitstop dropped him down the order.

It was a stark contrast to Verstappen’s serene first part of the race. He’d beaten polesitter Carlos Sainz’s Ferrari off the line, and Sainz was then eliminated moments later by contact from George Russell that spun the Ferrari to the back and gave it a race-ending water leak, as well as earning Russell a five-second penalty.

With Leclerc down the order after his grid penalty and losing time while stuck behind the Aston Martins, and second-placed Hamilton unable to keep up with Verstappen, it looked like another straightforward win was on the cards for the champion.

But two safety cars before half-distance shook things up.

The first was for Valtteri Bottas spinning his Alfa Romeo into the gravel, and it allowed the yet-to-stop Leclerc to both make a ‘cheap’ first pitstop and regain the ground to the front lost in traffic.

The field then stayed bunched up due to a massive accident between Lance Stroll – who’d run third early on – and his 2023 Aston Martin team-mate Fernando Alonso on the restart lap.

Stroll’s late move to defend against the Alpine on the back straight sent Alonso airborne and into the barriers, while the Aston Martin spun down the middle of the road.

Onboard with Alonso during that collision with Stroll

Both drivers are ok and, amazingly, Alonso has managed to get going again #USGP #F1 pic.twitter.com/xyAHqiDry9

— Formula 1 (@F1) October 23, 2022

Remarkably Alonso’s battered car was able to continue in the race and he recovered to finish seventh!

At the restart, Verstappen led Hamilton, Sergio Perez (minus part of his front wing from a first-lap brush with Bottas) and Leclerc, who made it past Perez for third at the second attempt after initially running wide.

Hamilton was able to keep Verstappen in sight in this stint and then found himself in the lead when a problem on the left-front wheel at Verstappen’s final stop meant he was static for 11s.

That dropped him behind both Hamilton and Leclerc and potentially set the scene for Mercedes’ first win of a tough 2022, as by the time Verstappen had made it ahead of Leclerc (which also took two attempts after an initial Leclerc fightback) he was 5s behind old arch-rival Hamilton.

But this year Verstappen and Red Bull have just too much pace. Once he’d eventually caught the Mercedes, Verstappen was able to pass into the tight corner at the end of the back straight as soon as he was in DRS range.

LAP 50/56

Hamilton bravely defends but he can't stop Verstappen getting past

The Dutchman leads! #USGP #F1 pic.twitter.com/qTrJC2UPHy

— Formula 1 (@F1) October 23, 2022

Hamilton hung on to him at first, and Verstappen being on his maximum warnings for track limits before getting a penalty added some jeopardy too. Still, eventually, Verstappen inched clear to win by 5s. He dedicated the victory to Red Bull co-founder Dietrich Mateschitz, whose death was announced on Saturday.

Leclerc completed the podium between Hamilton and Perez, with Russell fifth after his penalty and a late pitstop to successfully chase the fastest lap.

McLaren’s Lando Norris made a late charge up to sixth, passing the heroic Alonso in the closing laps.

Sebastian Vettel had been on course for a top-six finish, and even led during the pitstop phases, but a very slow final stop dropped him to 13th. He battled back to eighth in spectacular style, passing sole one-stopper Kevin Magnussen with two corners to go. Yuki Tsunoda took the final point.

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