Verstappen's success, Hamilton's failure and Mazepin's breakdown: what was the US Grand Prix in Formula 1 remembered for

Qualification

Lewis Hamilton came to the US Grand Prix as the main favorite. The Circuit of the Americas is traditionally considered one of the most favorite for both the pilot and the Mercedes. It is no coincidence that he won the last five races out of eight here. So this time the Briton planned to win. And it was imperative for the reigning world champion to do this in order to bypass the main rival Max Verstappen. The athlete from the Netherlands before the trip to North America took the first place in the overall standings with a margin of only six points from the pursuer.

Their first encounter happened on Friday during their second practice.

The Red Bull driver was preparing to complete a fast lap on soft tires when he was unexpectedly cut by an opponent in the first corner.

The Dutchman was so disappointed by the British behavior that he called him on the air "stupid idiot."

The team's engineers advised him not to worry in response.

Later, Hamilton assured that he did not want to squeeze out the opponent's car, but he himself took too wide a trajectory.

View this post on Instagram

Publication from FORMULA 1® (@ f1)

After such a qualification, the fans were waiting with even greater interest.

In the very first segment on the track, there was another dangerous incident.

Finally, Nikita Mazepin reminded of himself.

He suddenly braked, and Sebastian Vettel almost flew into his car.

Also, the Russian was noted for an unusual helmet with a snake texture.

But the result again left much to be desired - the last place and a quick departure.

But between the pilots "Mercedes" and "Red Bull" a stubborn struggle unfolded.

The best time in the first segment was unexpectedly shown by Charles Leclair of Ferrarri, who overtook both rivals from the Austrian team - Verstappen and Sergio Perez.

Before the second, almost all pilots switched to a slower, but wear-resistant "medium".

As a result, Verstappen managed to take the lead, ahead of two Britons - Hamilton and Lando Norris.

And in the final segment in the starting attempt, Verstappen and Perez rose to the first two lines.

It was not easy to respond to such a leap, but Hamilton partially coped with the task.

He was ahead of the Mexican, but literally 0.209 seconds behind the Dutch.

So the first part of the "duel" remained with Max.

Another Mercedes pilot, Valtteri Bottas, showed the fourth result, but due to the replacement of the internal combustion engine fell five positions lower.

Race

If rain was expected in Austin the day before, it was hot on the day of the race.

The air temperature warmed up to 30 ° С, and the asphalt temperature - even more.

Therefore, experts and fans were waiting for the hardest battle with the rapid wear of the "software" and two pit stops.

And Hamilton had to somehow get out of the encirclement of the Red Bulls without the support of Bottas.

But the Briton immediately got down to business and immediately passed Verstappen.

Already before the first corner, the cars leveled off, and "Mercedes" took the lead.

Moreover, Perez almost overtook his teammate, but the Mexican did not have enough space.

But for Mazepin, the race began with another trouble.

Barely leaving the start, he was suddenly forced to go to the pits.

As it turned out later, the reason was a faulty headrest.

The part came out of the grooves and did not allow the pilot to follow what was happening at a distance in the rear-view mirrors.

As a result, Nikita fell back to the last place, which he could not leave.

Meanwhile, the two main contenders for victory continued to walk side by side.

They periodically exchanged the fastest laps, and the representative of the Netherlands was even fined for violating the boundaries of the track.

He took too wide a trajectory before the penultimate corner.

As for Perez, he began to lag behind his rivals, and it became clear that with a high degree of probability no one would be able to compete with them.

Verstappen was the first to enter the pit stop on lap 11.

The leader of the overall standings "pereobulsya" in "hard".

Perez followed suit.

And only on the 14th tires Hamilton also changed to "hard", who almost instantly returned to the distance in seven seconds behind the opponent.

Moreover, the Briton began to rapidly close the gap with the Red Bull car, which by the 26th lap was reduced to less than three seconds.

Verstappen reacted and soon went back to the pits.

The most interesting thing began when the Briton himself changed tires on the 37th lap.

This tactical ploy totally worked.

The reigning champion could calmly finish the race on fresh tires, while the opponent could only endure, or go to the third pit stop, wasting a lot of time.

The ending turned out to be incredibly exciting.

The gap between the two pilots was rapidly closing.

After the 49th lap, it was less than two seconds.

Hamilton, who caught the courage, even set a track record (1: 38.485).

It seemed that the Dutchman had no chance, and sooner or later the pursuer would overtake him.

However, by some miracle, Max retained the lead.

On the penultimate lap, Lewis has already reached the border of using DRS, and the opponent was also hampered by the lagging Mick Schumacher.

But at the last one, Verstappen still managed to secure a small lead and cross the finish line first.

Thus, he not only won his debut victory at the US Grand Prix, but also increased the lead over his pursuer in the overall standings to 13 points.

But in the Constructors' Cup, "Mercedes" is ahead of "Red Bull" by 23 points.

Another pilot of the Austrian "stable", Perez, who confidently retained his third place and took the podium for the fourth time this season, also performed successfully.

As for Bottas, he ended up playing three positions and took sixth place.

Mazepin is located in the last 17th place and lost, among other things, to his Haas partner Schumacher.