The US race delivered again. Great manoeuvres, full ranks, Formula 1 can move on to the next atmospheric race next weekend in Mexico City with great satisfaction. The titles are now all taken. Nevertheless, the fighting continues.
You might think that anyone can win when everything goes smoothly. Verstappen showed again in Austin that he keeps his nerve even in difficult situations and duped the competition with maturity and skill. Second at the start, first after a few meters and then in the lead for a long time. Dropped behind after a botched pit stop when an impact wrench didn’t work as it should. Verstappen started to catch up, struggling with the wind felt more than with rivals like Austin record winner Lewis Hamilton, who was seven seconds ahead of Verstappen.
The driver’s world championship has long been decided in favor of Max Verstappen, the constructors’ title is also sealed for Red Bull. Simply letting the season end is out of the question for the team and driver – because there is still a place to be conquered in the history books of Formula 1: The team wants its top driver Verstappen to win the season 14 plus x in the still three remaining races so that he can also overtake Michael Schumacher (2004) and Sebastian Vettel (2013 – each with 13 wins in one year) in the category.
At the end of a highly emotional weekend, Head of Mercedes Motorsport Toto Wolff also found words of praise for Red Bull’s success with verbal poison attacks. After eight titles in a row in the Constructors’ World Championship, Mercedes was no longer able to intervene in the title fight this year before Austin. “Absolutely deserved. They were really ahead everywhere this year,” praised Wolff Red Bull and Verstappen.
It was one of the overtaking maneuvers of the race. Shortly before the end, Sebastian Vettel passed Kevin Magnussen in the Haas. After a successful Haas protest against Fernando Alonso in the Alpine long after the end of the race, the 35-year-old Aston Martin driver finished seventh in the fourth-to-last Formula 1 race of his career. And the freestyle for driver of the day. 18.4 percent of the fans voted for Vettel, 18 percent for Hamilton. The racer “totally” got through to him again, said Vettel, even if it was of course a bit about the golden pineapple. He was “full of adrenaline”.
Only 15. Not enough when it comes to the clear demands of the Haas team bosses. Things looked really good for the 23-year-old for a long time. But his car was broken, he said, and something was sticking out on the outside. “Our race was almost eaten afterwards,” emphasized Mick Schumacher, believing that it was due to the parts on the track after Fernando Alonso’s violent rear-end collision in the Alpine with Lance Stroll’s Aston Martin. He does not give up his confidence in the fight for a contract for the coming year: “I think the team knows what I can do.”
(This article was first published on Monday, October 24, 2022.)
