Max verstappen Austin’s more leader comes out after beating Lewis hamilton in an intense race in which Red Bull showed greater intelligence in the pits. The podium completed it Sergio perez.
The race of Fernando Alonso, More than the final result (he left), it was marked by the scuffle he had with the Alfa Romeos. The track limits and the work of the stewards, again, protagonists. Carlos Sainz, gray, finished 7th after being overtaken by Bottas on the last lap.
Out: Hamilton strangles Verstappen
There was no incident at the start, but just barely. Hamilton was placed first after a very good start that allowed him to win the position and, with it, strangle him at Turn 1 where the Dutchman went off.
This incident prompted Perez to lean into the duo head-on, although he quickly let Verstappen take the lead in Red Bull’s attack. A siege of Hamilton then began which, in the first instance, endured.
While, from behind, Carlos Sainz they were seen and wished to put up with the McLaren. The Madrilenian ended up giving up with Daniel Ricciardo, but he left a good defense on the court.
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Behind, after a touch between Stroll and Latifi that ended with Williams’s spinning, Fernando Alonso gained a few positions that later gave up again in the pits: the Asturian decided to go to a strategy against the grain with which to try to win later.
‘Undercut’ by Verstappen and pique Alonso-Raikkonen-Giovinazzi
As the siege was going to be unsuccessful without strategy, Red Bull advanced the planned plan and sent Verstappen through the pits first. Totally successful: the ‘undercut’ achieved on Lewis Hamilton allowed him to lead the race in the second quarter of the race in relative comfort.
From behind, one of the images of this race was left by the most veteran. Kimi Raikkonen and Fernando Alonso met at Turn 1 as they battled for 12th place. The Finn ended up winning the position to the Asturian, and although the Spaniard complained that they had to give him back the place, the race management decided that it was a race action.
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The incident did not stop there. Alonso returned the position to Raikkonen, then went on to Giovinazzi but he did it from the outside: they forced him to return the place. The second attack on the Italian ended him ahead, and for consistency, the stewards forced him to let the Spaniard pass again.
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Hamilton plays it on track and Alonso leaves
The fight for the leadership of the race was resolved on the track. Mercedes, aware that Hamilton could do it, stretched his second pit stop eight laps more than Verstappen, to give his driver a further lead in the final laps.
Little by little, the Briton got the best of himself to hunt down the Dutchman, but one thing is to reach and another to overtake. In those they were when from Alpine they confirmed the abandonment of Fernando Alonso due to a problem in the rear wing.
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Carlos Sainz ended up giving up 6th place to Valtteri Bottas on the last lap, while Verstappen maintained the victory and thus ended the reign of Hamilton and Mercedes in Austin.
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The next race will be the Mexican GP, at the Autódromo Hermanos Rodríguez, in two weeks.