Five talking points from a thrilling US Grand Prix

A battle for the ages

We are so lucky to be witnessing this duel between the top two F1 drivers of the moment. Verstappen had snatched a pole position that looked far out of his reach after the first practice session on Friday. But at the start, Hamilton got the drop on his rival to take the lead – and that early setback led Red Bull to go aggressive on strategy.

An early first stop and Mercedes holding off Hamilton’s own pit visit led Verstappen into a convincing undercut. But at this stage Lewis could bide his time. Another early second stop, on lap 29, appeared likely to give Hamilton a late-race edge on tyre life. He stopped on lap 37, meaning his hard-compound Pirellis would be a significant eight laps younger when it counted at the climax. Sure enough, the chase was on. Hamilton chiselled away at what had initially been a 7.8-second gap and by lap 49 of 56 it was down to 1.8 seconds. But in those final laps Verstappen stepped up, just as his team had demanded of him. There were echoes here of the challenges Ross Brawn used to set for Michael Schumacher in his Ferrari pomp – and Max responded in the same calm, focused and near-perfect manner.

Hamilton never quite got within the one-second range he needed to use DRS and agonisingly the Red Bull was always just out of his reach. “At the end of the day, they just had the upper hand this weekend,” said the seven-time world champion as he smiled through the pain of defeat.

“We had to try to do something else,” said Verstappen of the team’s response to his loss of track position at the start. “We did go aggressive and I wasn’t sure it had worked. Those last laps were fun.”

Not for team boss Christian Horner, who admitted he didn’t think the strategy was going to work, that Verstappen would be left a sitting duck in those closing laps. That was how it was in Barcelona months ago – but not today. What a victory. And what timing to deliver it as one of the greatest duels we’ve ever seen continues to keep us gripped.

The USA falls for F1 in a big way

They say everything is oversized in the US and last weekend that was certainly true of America’s embrace of F1. The enthusiasm for this race, enhanced by the Covid-enforced hiatus last year, hit new heights as a total of 400,000 fans headed to COTA over the weekend and left F1 with a feel-good factor that will make it the highlight of the season.

The drivers seemed to feed off the positivity, with a string of great performances to support what was happening up front between Verstappen and Hamilton. Best of the rest was Sergio Perez, who in front of a large Mexican contingent produced exactly the sort of performance Red Bull expect of him week in, week out. Sure, he was 42 seconds behind his team-mate at the flag, but we all know the top two are in a league of their own. More crucially, he qualified and raced well to earn his podium in what he said was his “toughest race” after his liquid supply dried up on him after the first lap.

Ferrari edges McLaren

Charles Leclerc showed once again why he is currently a sleeping giant by over-delivering for the umpteenth time for Ferrari. Without a car to challenge for wins, it’s all he can do right now and Leclerc gave everything for his relatively humble fourth place.

In fifth was Daniel Ricciardo, who appeared to be lifted by his blatant love affair with the US. Sporting a meaty pair of Texas ‘mutton chops’ in place of his usual stubble, the Australian even adopted a NASCAR-style accent for a TV interview – and was in his element when McLaren boss Zak Brown delivered on his promise of giving Daniel a run in his ex-Dale Earnhardt Wrangler Chevy. Brown isn’t one to back out of a deal, and also followed through on his vow to be ‘inked’: he is now the proud bearer of a Monza tattoo, in honour of Ricciardo’s Italian GP victory. But after the fun and when it got serious, his driver delivered. He didn’t have enough to get close to Leclerc, but he fought off Carlos Sainz Jr. in the other Ferrari – the pair briefly connecting at one stage – to score hard-earned points.

Kudos too to Bottas

In the wake of his Turkish GP victory, Valtteri Bottas kept up his new, improved form. A five-place grid drop for yet another engine change set him back. But starting ninth, he rose to sixth by demoting Sainz right at the end after a tight battle with the Spaniard. Lando Norris was eighth in the other McLaren, ahead of Yuki Tsunoda who put in a great shift to score for AlphaTauri in ninth, while Sebastian Vettel rounded out the top 10 for Aston Martin. The German also put in a spirited performance, on the first weekend new team chief Martin Whitmarsh returned to the F1 paddock.

Giovinazzi’s entertaining cameo

He’s racing for his F1 future right now and if there’s any justice Antonio Giovinazzi will keep his drive at Alfa Romeo for 2022. The Italian finished just out of the points in 11^th, but what really counted at COTA was his performance and how he fought tooth and nail, particularly with Fernando Alonso. The Alpine ace was late on the brakes to relieve Giovinazzi of his place, but overran the corner and was ordered to give the place back. Then to his annoyance the Alfa driver was ordered to return the favour after running off track in his stoic defence. It was a diverting cameo, and in the end it was Giovinazzi’s day as Alonso was forced to retire when his rear wing “broke up”. Antonio at least deserved a point.

Images courtesy of Motorsport Images.