Max Verstappen overcame a pit stop nightmare with 20 laps to go on Monday (AEDT), to overtake Lewis Hamilton at the death and win the US Grand Prix.
Verstappen’s comeback win was his 13th of the year, equalling the record for most wins in a season. Hamilton finished in second, while Charles Leclerc of Ferrari rounded out the top three.
The win for Verstappen also sealed the Constructors’ Champinoship for Red Bull.
“Beautiful, f***ing beautiful,” a fuming Verstappen said after a front left tyre issue saw the Red Bull star lose his lead.
In the end, it didn’t matter as Hamilton, chasing his first win of the season, couldn’t match the pace of Verstappen’s machine, overtaken on lap 51 of 56.
Twenty-four hours after learning of the death of Red Bull founder and co-owner Dieter Mateschitz, the 25-year-old Dutchman claimed the 33rd victory of his career after a thrilling late battle with Hamilton.
“That was for Dietrich,” said an emotional Verstappen. “I gave it everything out there even if we had that (slow) stop.”
Red Bull team chief Christian Horner said: “It is a very emotional moment, a big moment for the team and for everyone at Red Bull -- a tribute to Dietrich for everything he has done for the team, for the company... God bless him.”
George Russell finished fifth in the second Mercedes ahead of Lando Norris of McLaren, two-time champion Fernando Alonso of Alpine, four-time champion Sebastian Vettel of Aston Martin, Kevin Magnussen of Haas and Alpha Tauri’s Yuki Tsunoda.
A minute’s applause in tribute to Mateschitz preceded the pre-race anthem before the lights went out and Verstappen quickly seized the initiative as Sainz struggled to depart from pole.
The luckless Spaniard was involved in a first-corner collision as a surging Russell clipped him gently, causing him to fall to the back of the field and into retirement with a water leak.
Verstappen led with some aplomb, 2.8 seconds clear of Hamilton, relishing a chance to shine in front of the huge crowd at a circuit where he has won five times in nine visits.
Hamilton was soon reporting front left tyre wear while Verstappen said he was “struggling a lot with the wind” in the gusty conditions while, behind them, Leclerc worked his way up to sixth by lap 12 when the first pit-stops began.
The Briton switched to a set of new hard tyres followed by the rest. By lap 15, it was Verstappen back in front.
Three laps later, Valtteri Bottas lost control of the rear of his Alfa Romeo at Turn 19, causing a Safety Car intervention before racing re-started on lap 22.
A big crash involving Stroll and Alonso caused another safety car deployment. Stroll jinked left on the back straight ahead of the rapid Alonso, who could not avoid hitting him and riding up on his back wheels before banging heavily into the barriers amid a shower of debris. Both drivers were unhurt.
By lap 30, the field had settled. Verstappen led Hamilton by 1.7 seconds.
Leclerc advanced to second when Hamilton pitted on lap 35 for fresh ‘hards’, re-joining sixth. Hamilton’s ‘under-cut’ forced Verstappen to respond one lap later, but he had a slow stop, taking more than 11 seconds to take a set of ‘medium’ tyres.
Russell and Leclerc also stopped again as a frustrated Verstappen re-joined fifth until passing Leclerc on lap 39.
All this left Vettel leading until Hamilton dived inside him at the start of lap 41 to take over with 15 laps remaining.
Hamilton fought to keep alive his dream of a first win this year. By lap 49, Hamilton’s lead was down to 0.7. A pass was inevitable and it came on lap 50.
