Verstappen won the 2023 US Formula 1 Grand Prix for the 50th time.
Max Verstappen of Red Bull Racing won the 2023F1 United States Grand Prix at the Circuit of the Americas in Austin, Texas, on Sunday.
This is Verstappen's 50th victory in Formula 1, his 15th this season, which means that he equaled his own record of 15 wins in a season, which he achieved last year. But since there are 4 races left on the calendar, he will probably set a new record soon.
Verstappen also won the sprint race on Saturday, but his performance during qualifying on Friday was not the best. In other words, in Sunday's main race, Ferrari's Charles Leclerc took pole position, and McLaren's Rand Norris was also at the top of the standings.
Norris finished the race in 2nd place, and 3rd went to Carlos Sainz from Ferrari. Due to the disqualification of Lewis Hamilton from Mercedes-Benz AMG, both drivers rose one place after the finish. Hamilton was only 2 seconds behind Verstappen, taking 2nd place, but a post-race check showed that the level of wear on the sides of his car, characterized by floor renewal, exceeded the permissible limit. Ferrari driver Charles Leclerc, who finished in 6th place, was also disqualified for the same reason.
When the green light came on, Verstappen was able to climb to 5th place on a clean start, ahead of George Russell from Mercedes. Then he overtook Sainz on lap 5 and took 4th place, and soon Leclerc fell behind Verstappen.
Then, after a great pit stop on Lap 16, Verstappen was ahead of Hamilton, only Norris took the lead. Verstappen had a chance to overtake the McLaren driver on lap 28, but he used the DRS to be the first to close the gap and drive well into turn 12 to grab the lead on the road and hold it to the finish. 10 laps before the finish, Norris began to retreat, and Hamilton was able to close the circle. Hamilton then overtook Norris on lap 59 on lap 1.
3 riders failed to reach the checkered flag. Fernando Alonso from Aston Martin, Oscar Piastri from McLaren and Esteban Ocon from Alpine withdrew from the race due to problems with the car. Daniel Riccardo of AlphaTauri also returned, having missed the last few rounds due to a wrist injury, but he was the last finisher.
At the end of the weekend, Verstappen, who had already won the 3rd World Championship in his previous race in Qatar, has now scored 466 points in the 2023 Drivers' championship. 2nd-place Sergio Perez of Red Bull scored 240 points, while 3rd-place Hamilton scored 201 points. In the constructors' championship, Red Bull has already won the title and is now gaining 706 points. Mercedes has 344 points in 2nd place, while Ferrari has 322 points in 3rd place. The next race on the calendar is the Mexican Grand Prix, which is scheduled for this weekend.
Here are the full results of the United States Formula Grand Prix-1 2023:
1)Max Verstappen, Red Bull Racing D) Lewis Hamilton, Mercedes-Benz AMG +2.225 2) Rand Norris, McLaren +10.730 seconds 3) Carlos Sainz, Ferrari +15.134 seconds 4) Sergio Perez, Red Bull Racing +18.460 seconds D) Charles Leclerc, Ferrari +24.662 seconds 5) George Russell, Mercedes-Benz AMG +24.999 seconds 6) Pierre Guthrie, Alpine +47.996 seconds 7) Aston Martin spear strike +48.696 seconds 8) Yuki Tsunoda + 74.385 seconds 9) Alexander Albon, Williams +91.014 seconds 10) Logan Sargent, Williams +87.998 seconds 11) Nico Hulkenberg, Haas +89.904 seconds 12) Valtteri Bottas, Alfa Romeo +98.601 seconds 13) Alfa Romeo + 1 circle 14) Kevin Magnussen, Haas + 1 lap 15) Daniel Ricciardo, Alfatauri + 1 lap North Carolina) Fernando Alonso, Aston Martin- North Carolina) Oscar Piastri, McLaren DNF North Carolina) Esteban Ocon