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With around 15 laps to go, Lewis Hamilton knew he and his Mercedes had a chance to win Sunday at the Circuit of the Americas. It all would come down to whether Max Verstappen's Red Bull had enough race left to track Hamilton down and make it a drag race at the finish. Unfortunately for Hamilton, Verstappen not only had the faster car but also enough time to catch him. On Lap 50, Verstappen made his move and though Hamilton fought back, there was little he could do but watch the Dutchman drive away to victory in the Formula 1 United States Grand Prix.
"We came here with upgrades and closed the gap a little bit. So close," Hamilton said. "They were just a little quicker today. I'm shattered. The car was a handful today. We'll keep pushing. It'll come to us."
Verstappen's first place combined with teammate Sergio Perez's fourth was enough to earn the team its fifth Constructor's Cup title and first since 2013, capping an emotional day for Red Bull Racing as team founder Dietrich Mateschitz died on Saturday.
It certainly wasn't the day Ferrari had in mind. Needing a 1-2 finish and some help on Sunday to hold off Red Bull Racing's charge for the Constructors' title, pole-sitter Carlos Sainz Jr. had his race ended before the second turn at the Circuit of the Americas. Trying to catch Verstappen, who slipped past Sainz at the start, the Spaniard drifted across the track to his left, checked up a bit and was punted by the oncoming Mercedes of George Russell. Just like that Sainz's race was over, a radiator having been punctured in the incident.
Sainz could only watch as Verstappen and the field powered away from him as he limped to the pits and pulled into the garage.
Verstappen would have a bit of bad luck of his own when a faulty wheel gun made for a longer-than-usual pit stop for the Dutchman, dropping him in the field from first to fifth and behind Sainz's teammate, Charles Leclerc, who had charged up from 12th at the start to the fourth position. Verstappen and Leclerc would put on a show for the crowd, swapping positions a few times before Verstappen made his pass stick and pulled away to make his way back to the front, setting up the fireworks with Hamilton near the race's finish.
"It was all looking good but then the pit stop was a bit longer than we would've liked," Verstappen said. "It was a difficult weekend for us. This one is for Dietrich, for all he has given us. We wanted to win the Constructors' here and we wanted to do it with style. And we did that today. We really wanted to have a good result today."
Red Bull needed to be 147 points clear of Ferrari at the conclusion of the race at Austin, Texas, to claim the Constructors' Cup for the first time since 2013, and Verstappen and Perez did just enough to make sure the team would be able to add the Constructors' title to Verstappen's 2022 F1 driving crown.
"We had the pace, but too much [tire] degradation at the end," Leclerc said. "We have to keep working. I'm extremely lucky to be a Ferrari driver. I know it. But we have to keep working. Maybe next year we'll win."
Deeper down the field, Alpine's Fernando Alonso saw his seventh-place finish wiped out as a protest by Haas was upheld by the race stewards. The Spaniard's car was deemed to be in an unsafe condition due to a right-hand mirror that was knocked loose and detached after a hard knock.
The move elevates Haas' Kevin Magnussen into the eighth spot and ironically lifts Alonso's teammate, Esteban Ocon, into the final points-paying spot of 10th.
The decision is just slightly controversial as race control elected to leave Red Bull Racing's Perez out on the track after a collision loosened the right end plate on Perez's wing, which eventually flew off.
Final order
- Max Verstappen, Red Bull Racing
- Lewis Hamilton, Mercedes
- Charles Leclerc, Ferrari
- Sergio Perez, Red Bull Racing
- George Russell, Mercedes
- Lando Norris, McLaren
- Sebastian Vettel, Aston Martin
- Kevin Magnussen, Haas
- Yuki Tsunoda, AlphaTauri
- Esteban Ocon, Alpine
- Zhou Guanyu, Alfa Romeo
- Alexander Albon, Williams
- Pierre Gasly, AlphaTauri
- Mick Schumacher, Haas
- Fernando Alonso, Alpine
- Daniel Ricciardo, McLaren
- Nicholas Latifi, Williams
- Lance Stroll, Aston Martin
- Valtteri Bottas, Alfa Romeo
- Carlos Sainz Jr., Ferrari
