AUSTIN, Texas — Red Bull Racing’s Max Verstappen was the class of the field in Sunday’s United States Grand Prix at Circuit of the Americas, tallying his 13th victory of the season.
As Verstappen wrapped up the victory, Red Bull would secure their their first constructors’ title since the 2013 season.
“It was tough one. It was all looking good and then, of course, the pit stop was a bit longer than we would like, so I had to fight my way forward again. But we gave it everything out there today,” Verstappen said.
It was an emotional day for the Red Bull Racing team, after the passing of owner Dietrich Mateschitz on Saturday.
“Of course, it’s a very difficult weekend for us, so this one is definitely dedicated to Dietrich himself,” Verstappen said. “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 pushed it to the limit to come back.”
Despite controlling the pace throughout the entirety of the event, seven-time world champion Lewis Hamilton and Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc would be in Verstappen’s way.
A slow final stop would put the two-time champion behind both drivers in third.
However, Verstappen would prevail in the end, eventually passing Hamilton for the win with six laps to go.
“I’m shattered. It felt amazing to be in the lead, but the car was a handful today,” Hamilton said. “We came here with upgrades, and we closed the gap a little bit. It was so close, and I did everything I could to try and stay ahead, but Red Bull were just a little bit too quick. We’ve been working so hard as a team over this year, and there are lots of positives from this race, as a team we showed great pit stop and strategy performance.
“I’m also happy with my performance and it was showing when we have a competitive car, I can bring it home. So we’ll keep pushing and we’ll try and give it everything we can over the next three races – it’ll come to us at some stage.”
On lap one in the first corner, polesitter Carlos Sainz tangled with Mercedes’ George Russell, ending Sainz day early as Russell would rally to finish fifth.
An engine penalty and collision with Lance Stroll mid-way through the race wouldn’t stop Fernando Alonso from finishing seventh in the event.
The American team of Haas F1 would have mixed results, with Kevin Magnussen scoring points in ninth, while teammate Mick Schumacher would finish 15th after electing for a two-stop strategy instead of Magnussen’s one-stop plan.