Max Verstappen does not take his foot off the accelerator even with the championship in his pocket. The two-time world champion is willing to impose his law until the end and in Austin he was no exception. The Dutchman was able to recover from a mistake made by his team when he had everything under control. Those extra seconds lost in the box animated a race that, for a few laps, transported Formula 1 fans back to last year, when the Dutchman offered a wild duel with Lewis Hamilton in the fight for the title.
There are things that have changed since then. The seven-time world champion and his Mercedes have not appeared in the ring this season, but the Briton does not lose his pride. In the United States, a loophole was opened to be able to sign up at least one joy in this disastrous 2022.
The problem for Hamilton is that Verstappen and his Red Bull are currently several rungs above the Briton, unable to fight back once his rival overtook him with six laps to go. Both emptied themselves, pushing their respective cars to the limit, but there was no reply from a helpless Hamilton as he saw Verstappen take the lead at the first attempt.
The one who had no options to join the party of these two giants was Carlos Sainz. The Ferrari driver regretted having brushed pole on multiple occasions during the year, settling for those achieved at Silverstone (where he won his first and so far his only race in the great circus) and Spa-Francorchamps. The third time was presented at the Circuit of the Americas. However, the dream of once again feeling the sensation of going through the checkered flag first vanished right away.
Spanish did not go well. As soon as the traffic lights went out, he gave way to Verstappen and in the first corner he noticed how George Russell collided with his car from the rear. The stewards decided to penalize the Mercedes driver with five seconds. It mattered little to Sainz. With tremendous disappointment, he was forced to leave. The third place of Charles Leclerc, who started twelfth due to a penalty, corroborates that the Spaniard's Ferrari could have given something to talk about. “That action sums up our year. Things are not going out on Sundays ”, Sainz said, crestfallen.
More luck had the other Spaniard in contention. Fernando Alonso was one of the stars of the afternoon at the Texas circuit, achieving a creditable seventh position. And it is that the Asturian pilot was miraculously saved from a serious accident when on a straight he touched his future partner in Aston Martin. A slight movement of the steering wheel by Lance Stroll sent Alonso over the fence. He had only been a third of the way through the race and the safety car had already had to make an appearance twice. The scare did not wrinkle Alonso, who was able to keep going and rowed to climb positions until the last lap.
Vettel dedicated this new success to the late Dietrich Mateschitz, the Austrian billionaire who had made his fortune with the energy drink brand. With his thirteenth victory of the year, the already champion has leveled with Schumacher (2003) and Vettel (2013). Except for surprise, he will overtake them in one of the three remaining races. In addition, the eighth victory in a row for Red Bull this season mathematically gives it the Constructors' World Championship.
