Max Verstappen beat Lewis Hamilton at his own game to claim victory in a nailbiting United States Grand Prix, reasserting himself as the championship favourite in this dramatic season.
Michael Lamonato caught up with Matt Grubelich on Sports Drive to review all the thrills from the United States Grand Prix in Texas.
As part of National Safe Work Month in Australia, FIA Formula 1 medical rescue coordinator Dr Ian Roberts and FIA Formula 1 medical car driver Alan van der Merwe discuss their differing paths to their roles, the biggest safety advances in F1 and how they helped Romain Grosjean survive his dramatic crash in Bahrain last year, while we review Sunday’s US Grand Prix won by Max Verstappen.
Max Verstappen fends off a charging Lewis Hamilton to take a strategically aggressive but perfectly judged victory in Austin and double his points lead. Featuring F1 journalist Abhishek Takle.
We consider the thrill of using a telephone, the humanity of competitive spam eating and the majesty of a giant dancing Heineken bottle.
Cracking F1 race in the US this morning — Max wins, Lewis second and Shaq just being Shaq. Michael Lamonato joins us on Rowsey’s Sports Show.
Max Verstappen scored an impressive victory over Lewis Hamilton in a thrilling United States Grand Prix, and with five rounds to go and a handy points lead, it could have been a championship defining race too.
The United States Grand Prix was almost a microcosm of the season to date. Form swung wildly between Mercedes and Red Bull Racing from first practice to the chequered flag, and in the end there was practically nothing between Verstappen and Hamilton on track. Either could have walked away a worthy winner.
But tiny percentage called got the job done for the challengers to put Verstappen in a strong position atop the title table, and Red Bull Racing closed its deficit to Mercedes in the constructors stakes to re-enliven its hops of a title double.
BACKGROUND
Around a month ago the Circuit of the Americas would have been considered a neutral venue for the two leading teams, favouring neither over the other. Two weeks ago it had moved into the Mercedes column thanks to the German marque’s performance at Istanbul Park, a track that makes similar demands of the car.
After first practice those more recent predictions appeared sure to come true. Mercedes led Red Bull Racing by almost a second, its car looking substantially more at ease through the high-speed corners in particular.
But the unexpected heat of the weekend, above 30°C, and the bumpiness of the track meant major changes were required for both cars overnight.
Mercedes had to raise its ride height so as to not risk floor damage, particularly on full tanks, while Red Bull Racing had Sebastien Buemi spend the night in the simulator at Milton Keynes to identify superior set-ups.
When the cards were put on the table on Saturday it was RBR and Verstappen who emerged with the better package.
But there was uncertainty around how these changes would affect race pace, particularly on the hard tyre. Knowing early that the hard compound would be key to a likely two-stop race, few drivers sampled the white-walled tyre, saving them instead for Sunday at the expense of understanding its longevity.
THE RACE-WINNING MOVE
For a moment it seemed Verstappen’s race would be undone in a moment, with Hamilton acing his start to take the lead at the first turn, but it quickly became clear that the W12 was no match for the RB16B on the medium tyre. Verstappen could easily follow Hamilton, even noting how much the Briton was sliding around on his overheating rubber.
But rather than try to launch a move or hang back and let Hamilton chew his tyres, Verstappen was handed the aggressive option of an early pit stop, coming in for the hard tyre on lap 10.
Mercedes was forced to make a decision: cover the early stop or stick it out on the ailing medium tyres. Without the benefit of having run the hards in practice, the team assumed they’d be similarly as delicate as the medium and that therefore splitting 46 laps between a pair of them would be too much to ask of the rubber. … Continue reading
Max Verstappen has treated a sell-out Austin crowd to a nailbiting last-lap victory over Lewis Hamilton at the United States Grand Prix.
Max Verstappen withstood a late Lewis Hamilton lunge for victory to record a nail-biting win at the United States Grand Prix.
The two title contenders were running different tire strategies that brought them together on track for the final two laps of the race, with Verstappen defending on eight-lap-older tires.
Hamilton clung to the back of the Red Bull Racing car but struggled to break through the DRS threshold ahead of the straights, Verstappen nailing his launches to keep himself just far enough ahead to maintain a gap, taking the flag by 1.3s.
Continue reading on RACERMax Verstappen will start the United States Grand Prix from pole position, and despite lining up alongside title rival Lewis Hamilton, he does so from a position of strength.
Title rivals Max Verstappen and Lewis Hamilton will share the front of the grid after the Dutchman beat the Briton to pole in front of a packed house at the United States Grand Prix.
Max Verstappen will start alongside Lewis Hamilton on the front row of the grid after beating the Briton to pole in a thrilling conclusion to qualifying at the United States Grand Prix.
Red Bull Racing overcame a substantial deficit on Friday to dominate the qualifying hour, but it was Sergio Perez who led the way in the pole shootout, stealing a 0.019s advantage from his teammate after the first laps.
Mercedes looked down and out, and Hamilton’s first lap looked visibly disjointed compared to the hooked-up Bulls, leaving him 0.384s adrift.
Continue reading on RACERSergio Perez laid down a final marker ahead of qualifying to lead Carlos Sainz in third practice at the United States Grand Prix.
In a session that featured almost exclusively hot laps on the soft tire, Perez lowered Friday’s benchmark to 1m 34.701s to beat the Ferrari driver by 0.104s. But the Mexican’s way was gilded by Max Verstappen and Lewis Hamilton having late laps deleted for running off the track, the former at Turn 19 and the latter at Turn 9.
Verstappen’s best effort would have been 0.318s quicker than his teammate’s leading time, while Hamilton would have been 0.243s ahead. Instead they ended their sessions third and sixth, 0.211s and 0.518s adrift respectively, setting up an intriguing picture for qualifying later today.
Continue reading on RACERSergio Perez topped second practice at the United States Grand Prix after Lewis Hamilton had his best time deleted for exceeding track limits.
The Red Bull Racing driver’s fastest lap was 1m34.946s on the soft tire, but earlier in the session Hamilton had set a time 0.104s quicker, only to have it erased for driving off the track at Turn 19.
A second lap by the Briton brought him up to third, 0.364s off the pace and a tenth behind Lando Norris, who slotted into a strong second for McLaren.
Continue reading on RACERValtteri Bottas led a comfortable Mercedes one-two in first practice for the United States Grand Prix at Austin’s Circuit of The Americas, almost a second ahead of Max Verstappen.
The Finn’s fastest time of 1m34.874s was 0.045s quicker than Lewis Hamilton’s best effort and a substantial 0.932s faster than Max Verstappen’s quickest lap.
Bottas’s lap was built on a particularly impressive second sector, comprising Turns 7 to 12 and the long back straight. He gained half a second on Verstappen through that sector alone, and his 0.2s advantage over Hamilton through the middle split was enough to offset slower times in over the balance of the track.
Continue reading on RACERMichael Lamonato joined Matt Grubelich on Sports Drive to preview this weekend’s US Grand Prix in Texas and discuss Sydney’s bid to take the Australian Grand Prix from Melbourne.
Six points in it with six rounds remaining. Can Lewis Hamilton’s affinity for Austin get him back ahead of Max Verstappen in the tightening title fight? Featuring Jake Michaels from ESPN.
With six points separating the title protagonists with just six races to go, Red Bull Racing is fighting for every inch in its quest to keep Max Verstappen ahead of Lewis Hamilton.