You can read a full report from today’s race here:
Standings
Hamilton gains a bit more ground on Perez, and Norris closes in on Leclerc.
1. Max Verstappen, 466 (1st today)
2. Sergio Perez, 238 (5th)
3. Lewis Hamilton, 219 (2nd)
4. Fernando Alonso, 183 (retired)
5. Carlos Sainz, 168 (4th)
6. Charles Leclerc, 159 (6th)
7. Lando Norris, 156 (3rd)
8. George Russell, 139 (7th)
9. Oscar Piastri, 83 (retired)
10. Pierre Gasly, 52 (8th)
11. Lance Stroll, 49 (9th)
12. Esteban Ocon, 44 (retired)
The only change farther down: Yuki Tsunoda picked up two points, including one for the fastest lap and one for finishing 10th, and now has five on the season, up to 17th place.
Logan Sargeant, racing in his home country, finished 12th, two places away from his first points of the season.
That’s a wrap from here – enjoy the rest of the season. The Vegas race will surely be one to watch.
Norris: “We’re getting there. Just a few more steps needed. To finish on the podium here is better than we were expecting.”
The crowd chants “Lando!”
Verstappen: “The whole race, I was struggling with the brakes. That definitely made my race a bit tougher.”
Hamilton, basking in the roar from the crowd, gives credit to Red Bull first: “Came in fighting, felt great, and really happy with this result.”
And he talks about how happy he is to be here: “I’ve always felt really welcome here. It’s a really progressive country.”
Updated
“Fantastic weekend, guys,” Hamilton says. “Let’s keep pushing.”
Indeed, the gap between Red Bull and Mercedes doesn’t look quite as insurmountable as it did a few months ago.
Max Verstappen wins the United States Grand Prix
That’s win No. 50.
If Hamilton had three or four more laps, this could be a different story.
Norris comfortably takes third. Then Sainz, Perez, Leclerc, Russell, Gasly, Stroll and Tsunoda, who is bidding for the fastest lap and … gets it!
Lap 56: Hamilton gets to 1.5 … 1.4 … Verstappen is passing Zhou and is able to use DRS to do so, and that pushes the gap to 1.8 …
That should do it.
Lap 55: Verstappen now has to deal with traffic, as he comes up on the last cars in left in the race.
2.3 seconds … 2.2 … oh, how Hamilton must be wishing this race was 60 laps rather than 56!
1.8 …
Tsunoda just pitted but remains in the top 10. Surely a bid for fastest lap.
Lap 54: 3.6 … 3.4 … 3.2 …
Verstappen is again irritated that his team is talking to him.
Is something shocking in the works here? Reminder: This is a 56-lap race.
Lap 53: Perez passes Leclerc, which ought to send a message to Leclerc that “letting” Sainz pass wasn’t a bad idea.
Hmmm … Hamilton seems to have taken about a second out of Verstappen’s lead …
Lap 52: Meanwhile, Leclerc might lose another place to a late charge from Perez.
Hamilton is cutting into Verstappen’s lead, but it’s too late, unless Verstappen’s brake issue gets a lot more serious.
Lap 51: Leclerc wants to “talk after the race” about having to let Sainz go past.
Meanwhile, Sainz and his team excitedly talk about the prospect of catching Norris to land on the podium.
Lap 50: Setting up the last six laps …
1. Verstappen
2. Hamilton, too far back to pass
3. Norris, will stay there
4. Sainz, who just passed teammate Leclerc
5. Leclerc, who’ll probably stay there
The rest of the top 10 should be set: Perez, Russell, Gasly, Stroll, Tsunoda.
Contrasting fortunes farther back – Alonso has retired. Ricciardo made a late pit stop and is rewarded with the fastest lap. He’s 10 seconds behind everyone else, but that’s a nice consolation.
Lap 49: Hamilton finally gets into second despite a spirited defense by Norris.
Russell somehow posts the fastest lap.
Verstappen’s still going to win.
Alonso is out of the points.
Lap 48: Hamilton is within a second of Norris.
Sainz is gaining on his teammate Leclerc for fourth, which could get awkward.
Hamilton pulls up on Norris but hasn’t passed.
Oh no! Alonso reports a rear-suspension problem!
Lap 47: I misread the margins – Alonso is actually much closer to eighth-place Gasly.
Stroll is gaining quickly on Tsunoda in the race for the all-important 10th spot. You can count out the rest: Albon is nearly 15 seconds back, then Hulkenberg, Sargeant, Ricciardo, Bottas, Zhou, Magnussen.
Lap 46: Sargeant passes Ricciardo, adding more proof that the one-stop strategy was never going to work.
Verstappen’s team tells him he’s clocking the same pace as Hamilton. Verstappen: “Please, no talking! I’m in the braking!”
I think the drama here, though, is just about over. Verstappen’s going to win. Again. Hamilton might get Norris for second, but that’s it.
Lap 45: Oh, Leclerc is not happy. Asked if he wants to switch from Plan C to Plan D, Leclerc answers that Plan C has already ruined the race for him, bleep bleep bleep.
Alonso has passed Tsunoda. What a race. He’ll need to find 12 seconds in 11 laps to get any higher than ninth, but after starting in pit row, that’s quite a feat.
Lap 44: Alonso must have gone to pit row, because he’s down to 10th. Stroll is still 11th. Ah – confirmation there that Alonso has made his second stop.
You know who hasn’t? Leclerc. The pole-sitter may drop farther and farther.
Hamilton notes that there’s still a big gap. The Most Patient Man in the World responds that he’s making up ground and will get “P2, maybe the win.”
Lap 43: Hamilton posts the fastest lap and gets right on Leclerc’s tail. It takes longer than he may have wanted, but he gets the overtake, and he’s in third.
Updated
Lap 42: Verstappen’s feelings about his brakes are still unprintable.
Sargeant gets a black-and-white flag.
Lap 41: Let’s reset with 15 laps left …
Verstappen is pulled away from Norris, who won’t be threatened by Leclerc. Hamilton is fourth but will surely overhaul Leclerc at some point. Sainz and Perez are firmly in fifth and sixth. Then it’s Alonso, Russell, Gasly and Tsunoda. (Stroll must have pitted – he’s back in 11th.)
Leclerc and Alonso have pitted once, as has 12th-place Ricciardo. Everyone else has gone twice and surely won’t return.
Lap 40: Perez sets the fastest lap.
Russell pits again. Did Mercedes completely botch the strategy here, or can Hamilton and Russell gain while they’re on the medium tires?
Russell emerges in ninth, behind Stroll in eighth and … Fernando Alonso in seventh! What a race the veteran is having!
Lap 39: Hamilton pits! Oh my. So much for the idea of going the rest of the way on the hard compound. He’ll be on mediums, though, so maybe that’ll be an advantage? Or not – Norris is on the hard compounds and just claimed the fastest lap honor.
Verstappen takes the lead, as if that’s a surprise. Norris also zips past Leclerc, who has been passed so many times in this race that he must feel like he’s in the right lane on a busy US interstate.
Lap 38: Perez pits. Hamilton now has a 13-second lead over Leclerc, who has Verstappen in DRS range behind him. Perez drops all the way to seventh with that pit stop.
Sainz, who posted the fastest lap of the race many laps ago, betters his own mark. He’s gaining on Russell for fifth.
Lap 37: So it’s Hamilton far ahead of Perez, who’s far ahead of Leclerc, who’s not at all far ahead of Verstappen and Norris. Then Russell, Sainz, Gasly, Alonso (up to ninth!) and Stroll.
Sargeant, in case you’re curious, has dropped all the way back to 16th.
Verstappen, Norris, Sainz, Tsunoda and the bottom six have all pitted twice. Everyone else, once. Will Tsunoda end up in the top 10? He’s 11th, 10.6 seconds back.
Lap 36: It’s all happening here!
Verstappen pits. Sainz pits.
Verstappen comes out just ahead of Norris. Sainz is now seventh. Now all the of the top 11 are on hard tires … except Perez, who’s in second. For now.
Lap 35: Verstappen is indeed starting to pull away just a bit. Hamilton is now 6.2 seconds back. How is Verstappen doing this?
Sainz has inherited third, with Perez still close behind. Then it’s Leclerc, then Norris.
Lap 34: Verstappen yells some profanity to his team about his brakes. “Understood,” comes the replay.
But he has very suddenly opened up a gap of three seconds on Norris.
“Max is pulling away,” Hamilton says on the radio. “It’s more like Norris is coming to you,” comes the instant response.
And Norris pits! Only 17 laps on the hard compound??
Lap 33: No, you didn’t miss an entry – I finally took too long with an update.
Hamilton says the wind has picked up. Then he gets within four seconds of Verstappen.
If you’ve been waiting for a race in which the outcome is very much in doubt two-thirds of the way through, congratulations. It’s your lucky day.
Lap 31: Norris feels pretty strongly that Verstappen isn’t staying inside the lines. Even so, Norris is hanging around, barely a second back. And Hamilton is chipping away at the gap to both of them.
Sainz is more than five seconds behind Hamilton, with Perez creeping up.
Any other change in top 10 over the next five laps looks unlikely. The broadcasters, determined to show an overtake somewhere, treat us to a view of Hulkenberg passing Sargeant.
Lap 30: For all of Hamilton’s complaining, he’s doing quite well right now, pulling within five seconds of Verstappen.
Albon has pitted again and seems unlikely to challenge for the top 10.
Hey – Sargeant is up to 12th! USA! USA!
Lap 29: What to watch in the last 27 laps …
1. Will Verstappen build enough of a lead to stay ahead of Norris and Hamilton when he has to pit?
2. Will Perez overhaul Sainz for fourth?
3. Alonso should easily stay in 10th. Can he do more?
Lap 28: David C. Hunter writes: “Dear Beau, Welcome back to the Cozy Confines of Guardian MBM. I hate it when people ask how do you feel now that F1 has really put Austin on the map? Not just because we were fine before but also because so much that has happened over the last 30 years, and 11 since the track opened, has been detrimental to the place. And I include Mr X, his car factory and his five houses in that decline. Besides, who needs celebrities when you have Willie Nelson?!”
And Stevie Ray Vaughan. And tons of great musicians.
And … as predicted, Verstappen takes the lead.
Lap 27: This is going to be Norris’ last lap in the lead. The question will be whether Verstappen puts enough distance between himself and Norris to make up for the second pit stop the champion will have to make.
Zhou’s team asks him to let Bottas pass. He’s not doing well.
Hamilton: “You’ve given me a hell of a gap to close.” I get the sense he’s not happy.
Lap 26: Horner did seem to think Norris, among others, was going quite well on hard tires. But Verstappen is very quickly gaining on him. And Hamilton doesn’t seem happy with his team suggesting that he could be pushing harder. “I’m trying, mate, I’m trying!”
Lap 25: Red Bull’s Christian Horner chats with the broadcast crew. He doesn’t say much.
Albon easily passes Zhou or 11th.
Lap 24: Fernando Alonso has worked his way into the top 10. Not bad after starting on pit row.
Magnussen is already in last place, and he gets a black-and-white flag (warning) for failing to stay on track.
Standings after 1 pit stop each
1. Norris
2. Verstappen
3. Hamilton
4. Sainz
5. Perez
6. Leclerc
7. Russell
8. Gasly
Lap 23: Ricciardo pits and drops to 15th. Fun while it lasted.
At last, Leclerc pits …
Lap 22: Edward Tuijl wants to know what’s going on in the lower order, and now that everyone has pitted aside from temporary race leader Leclerc and seventh-place Ricciardo, I can give a quick rundown …
Top seven: Leclerc (yet to pit), Norris, Verstappen, Hamilton, Sainz, Perez, Ricciardo.
Then it’s Russell, with Gasly right on his tail. Tsunoda is 10th, far ahead of Zhou. Then it’s a fight for 12th between Albon, Alonso and Bottas.
Lap 21: Hamilton emerges from pit row behind Verstappen. He is, however, on hard tires that might last the rest of the way.
Only Leclerc and Russell have yet to pit. Oh, and Ricciardo, who is merrily racing in eighth.
Lap 20: “Verstappen now inside our pit window,” the Mercedes radio man warns Hamilton. “No ****, man, I’m struggling here,” responds Hamilton. He pits.
Lap 19: Red Bull has informed Verstappen that Hamilton might be trying a one-stop strategy. An interesting gamble. But on the team radio, Hamilton expresses some skepticism that he can bang out another five laps on these tires, and Verstappen just posted the fastest lap.
The Mercedes crew asks the same question of Russell that they asked of Hamilton. His response is a chipper “Yep!”
Edwin Innih Imoesi: “Is it just me, or is this Mercedes car faster. I really hope so. Next season btw Hamilton and Verstappen will be epic. That is if Mercedes can get it right.”
That would be a lot of fun to watch.
Updated
Lap 18: Norris, Sainz and Perez pit. That means Hamilton is in the lead – until he pits, anyway.
Lap 17: Verstappen pits! Seems a little early, and he’s going on mediums rather than hard tires. He’ll need to pit again at some point unless everyone’s wrong about how long the medium tires last.
Lap 16: Stewards looked at Leclerc’s off-track excursion but took no action. Verstappen didn’t really leave him anywhere to go.
Norris reports a bit of an issue but doesn’t gives much detail. His team responds that there’s some inconsistent wind on part of the track.
Hamilton has the fastest lap so far.
Lap 15: Hamilton is hovering around two seconds behind Norris. Verstappen is 4.5 seconds further back, probably not planning an all-out attack on the top two until we’ve had some tire changes.
Lap 14: The report on Piastri is damage to the radiator and a water leak. Unfortunate.
Lap 13: Young American Logan Sargeant takes a run at Kevin Magnusson in an attempt to avoid the indignity of being in last place among the cars still running.
Lap 12: Russell has been warned for going off the track. He’s sixth. Perez, who’s seventh, has complained about him multiple times on the radio. It looks like the cars that matter most today are in the hands of Norris, Hamilton and Verstappen.
Lap 11: Pitting – Albon, Bottas, Magnusson. Looks like the choice there is hard tires, after everyone started on mediums.
Verstappen comes up behind Leclerc and forces the pole-sitter far off the track! Leclerc continues the fight for another couple of turns but eventually concedes the place.
Lap 10: Oh no – Piastri has a major issue of some kind. He’s dropping back and back and back, and he’s off to pit row, likely to retire the car.
Lap 9: I said Verstappen would pick off Leclerc on this lap. He gets within one second. Now 0.557 seconds. But no closer.
Lap 8: Farther back – Piastri started 10th and is up to sixth.
Lap 7: Norris is still more than three seconds ahead of Hamilton. How long until Verstappen passes Leclerc for third? I’ll say Lap 9.
Updated
Lap 6: Mercedes seems to have done things right today, as Hamilton has no trouble at all passing Leclerc for second place.
Ocon is out. Again. So unlucky this season.
Lap 5: Stewards will take no action over Russell’s start.
Verstappen has zipped past Sainz … sadly, not picked up by the cameras.
Ocon’s car was apparently banged up pretty badly. He’s down in last place and will surely pit soon.
Lap 4: Hamilton is practically affixed to the rear of Sainz’s car. DRS should help him get past, and … it does. Sainz tries to fight back, but Hamilton is just too strong.
So the top three at the moment is Norris, Leclerc and Hamilton.
Lap 3: What on earth is Sergio Perez doing? That looked to be a high-risk move, inserting himself between Russell and Ocon. But he got by with it.
Lap 2: Norris has already built a lead of more than 2 seconds.
Ocon reports some damage from contact with Piastri, and George Russell has attracted race officials’ attention.
Lap 1 of 56: Norris, Leclerc, Sainz (who was quite aggressive at the start), Hamilton and Verstappen are your top five. Piastri and Ocon follow.
It looks like the start was clean – no sign of any damage to anyone.
Lights out!
Up (literally) into Turn 1, Norris accelerates beautifully and takes the lead!
Anne Williams takes up the question I asked earlier: “Is dominance dull ? Well, I had to laugh when Lewis Hamilton complained about this ! Welcome back!”
Not sure if the “welcome back” is for me or for Hamilton, but thanks very much in either case.
Ian Simmins also answers: “F1 has been through it before Prost, Senna, Schumacher, Vettel. Verstappen is not to blame, his competition is not doing enough.”
What can they do differently? I’m particularly baffled that Mercedes have fallen so far behind Red Bull. Is Verstappen that much better, or is it the equipment?
We have drivers in cars. The pre-race ceremonies, which seemed subdued compared with what we saw in Miami (LL Cool J!), have finished.
It’s a sedate national anthem by someone I don’t know.
But I already have mail! Bill Preston writes:
“If there’s one driver getting a stomp on as the lights go out every race, and riding that superiority to victory then it’s easy to get mired in the “oh, it’s all a bit dull” quag.
“However, if we shift our focus and see the leaps, bounds, and pure thrilling heroics by teams and drivers that aren’t quite yet at the apex of the regulatory corner, then it’s a stunning spectacle.
“Sports tell a story, and it’s storytelling at its greatest when you look away from the main hero to see what the other characters are doing.”
Fair point, and there are indeed some good stories farther down the grid. From my perspective as someone from the land of stars and stripes, the big question is whether the investments in hosting races and airing engaging documentary series will pay off at some point with a stronger US presence in the driver or constructor championships. There’s also the persistence of Fernando Alonso. And a good race for second place on the season.
For Adrian Fowell, the story is ugly Americans: “Nothing says that F1 should stay away from countries that don’t give a damn about it, than not knowing that (Hamilton) frequently uses a scooter in GP.”
Proves that I often tune out during the pre-race walk through the grid, though it seems very much in turn with American sensibilities toward celebrity obsession.
Speaking of which, we’re being treated once again to the Adam Driver intro. He’s in the upcoming film Ferrari.
Lewis Hamilton is inexplicably going to his car on a scooter.
Rory McIlroy is among the celebrities standing around the grid today, and he’s offering up a bit of Ryder Cup trash talk. Yeah, well … how’s Northern Ireland doing in basketball? So … there.
Is dominance dull?
Verstappen has been virtually unbeatable this season and last. Does that dominance diminish your enjoyment of Formula 1? Or do you like watching on the off chance that this is the week he’ll lose? Or do you like seeing one of the best F1 drivers of all time just coming into his prime?
In other philosophical questions, who is this Elton John impersonator playing on the broadcast right now?
The grid
This is the 18th of 22 races this season. The teams will remain in the Americas through mid-November, going to Mexico City, Sao Paulo and the highly anticipated stop in Las Vegas -- before finishing up in Abu Dhabi.
Here’s a look at the starting grid and each driver’s prospects for accomplishing something of note this season ...
1. Charles Leclerc (Ferrari) - dueling with teammate Sainz for fifth place.
2. Lando Norris (McLaren) - had a rough go of it early in the season but is a solid seventh after some podium finishes.
3. Lewis Hamilton (Mercedes) - the seven-time champion is only 27 points out of second place.
4. Carlos Sainz (Ferrari) - the only non-Red Bull driver to win a race this season.
5. George Russell (Mercedes) - currently eighth behind fellow British driver Norris.
6. Max Verstappen (Red Bull) - clinched the season title ... before the season started, it seems.
7. Pierre Gasly (Alpine) - in 10th by one point over Stroll.
8. Esteban Ocon (Alpine) - in 12th but close to Gasly and Stroll.
9. Sergio Perez (Red Bull) - desperately trying to hold off Hamilton for a 1-2 Red Bull season finish.
10. Oscar Piastri (McLaren) - ninth, far behind Russell but far ahead of Gasly.
11. Yuko Tsunoda (AlphaTauri) - just three points thanks to three 10th-place finishes.
12. Zhou Guanyu (Alfa Romeo) - multiply Tsunoda’s results by two. He has six points from three ninth-place finishes.
13. Valtteri Bottas (Alfa Romeo) - 14th place, or first among the drivers with no hope of reaching the top 10.
*14. Kevin Magnusson (Haas) - the US team has only 12 points on the year. Magnusson has three of them.
15. Daniel Ricciardo (AlphaTauri) - the affable Australian was without a ride at the beginning of the season but was brought in to replace Nyck de Vries halfway through the season. He then broke a bone in his left hand and missed a few races but returns today looking for his first points of the season.
*16. Nico Hulkenberg (Haas) - the record-holder for most starts without a podium finish has nine points.
*17. Fernando Alonso (Aston Martin) - the 2005 and 2006 champion is only 18 points behind Hamilton in his quest to make the final podium.
18. Alex Albon (Williams) - currently 13th but would need to finish higher than his season-high seventh at some point to have a realistic shot at the top 10.
*19. Lance Stroll (Aston Martin) - sandwiched between Alpine’s Gasly and Ocon in the race for 10th.
20. Logan Sargeant (Williams) - the only US driver in F1 has been shutout this season.
However -- Haas and Aston Martin decided to tweak some things in their cars, which means they will have to start from pit lane. That means the actual bottom seven will be:
14. Ricciardo
15. Albon
16. Sargeant
Then Magnusson, Hulkenberg, Alonso and Stroll will emerge from pit lane like cicadas every 17 years.
Death. Taxes. Verstappen.
The champion has won 14 of 17 races this season. Will he struggle to make it 15 out of 18 after an error in qualifying left him sixth in the grid? Probably not, but we’ll watch anyway as the global racing circuit tackles the intriguing speedway in Texas. At the very least, he’ll have to pass someone – and we’ll have some intriguing contests for the other places on the final podium as the season draws closer to its close.
Beau will be here shortly. In the meantime here’s Giles Richards’ look at F1’s attempt to return a woman to the grid.
