United States Grand Prix: Another victory for Max Verstappen and fourth for Checo Pérez
Max Verstappen managed to secure another impressive win, while Checo Pérez claimed the fourth spot at the United States Grand Prix, and Lewis Hamilton made it to the podium, inching closer to the runner-up position.
But Checo Pérez was lucky because the FIA later disqualified Hamilton from fourth place for unauthorized changes, leaving him without any points.
Once again, Max Verstappen stood at the top of the race, while Checo Pérez clinched an honorable fifth place to maintain his championship position.
It was a race filled with various strategies, especially by Red Bull, and Lando Norris continued to showcase his improvement and quality by reaching the podium.
Spanish driver Carlos Sainz finished in fourth place in a strong race, ahead of Checo Pérez.
Charles Leclerc crossed the finish line in sixth place, followed by George Russell, Pierre Gasly, Lance Stroll, and Yuki Tsunoda, completing the top 10 at the United States Grand Prix.
The three-time world champion drove like a hunter, working his way up the order to finally take the first position definitively on the 39th lap out of the 56 contested in the Grand Prix.
However, the pressure on Checo Pérez was higher, as Hamilton’s point haul exceeded that of the Mexican in the United States Grand Prix.
In the meantime, Hamilton, with a different tire strategy than Verstappen’s, allowed him to have medium tires against his rival’s mediums in the final part, but it wasn’t enough.
The third position was secured by Lando Norris, who led the first part of the competition after overtaking Charles Leclerc in the early stages.
But Checo Pérez was lucky because the FIA later disqualified Hamilton for unauthorized changes, leaving him without any points.
This new result secures Mexican driver Sergio ‘Checo’ Pérez (Red Bull), who hasn’t had much luck on the track in recent races, and finished in fifth place in Sunday’s race at the United States Grand Prix at the Circuit of the Americas in Austin, Texas, potentially putting his runner-up position in jeopardy with Lewis Hamilton’s second place.
This is how the United States Grand Prix unfolded
Leclerc couldn’t hold onto the lead, and, in fact, Carlos Sainz finished in fourth place, one position ahead of Sergio Pérez, who moved up to fifth after starting ninth.
Leclerc had to settle for sixth place, followed by George Russell, Pierre Gasly, and Lance Stroll, who finished ninth after starting from the pit lane.
Yuki Tsunoda completed the top ten positions.
Norris made a fantastic start from second place and took the lead from Leclerc on the way to the first corner.
Meanwhile, Sainz managed to overtake Hamilton to claim third place and even put pressure on his Ferrari teammate.
A crucial move came on the 35th lap, as Norris went into the pits to fit a new set of hard tires, and Red Bull had a slow pit stop to switch to the hard compound for Verstappen.
Pérez made his second stop a couple of laps later, rejoining the track in seventh place behind Sainz.
Just as Hamilton relinquished the lead to go to the pits and switch to medium tires, Verstappen passed Leclerc.
With ten laps to go, Verstappen led by three seconds over Norris, who, in turn, had to start worrying more about maintaining the second place as Hamilton closed in, getting into the DRS range of the McLaren.
Hamilton quickly caught up to Norris to make his move for overtaking in the first corner.
Meanwhile, Leclerc couldn’t hold off Sainz and Pérez, which caused the pole position holder to drop to sixth place.
But Checo Pérez was lucky because the FIA later disqualified Hamilton for unauthorized changes, leaving him without any points.
