US F1 GP: results and final standings. Verstappen wins, Hamilton and Leclerc on the podium

The departure

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Chaos at the start: Carlos Sainz, who started from the first box after the splendid pole position on Saturday, first loses the leadership, thanks to a start with excellent traction by Max Verstappen, then at the entrance of turn 1 he is hit by George Russell, ending up turning around . The accident, which cost the Spaniard to retire due to damage to the radiator on the left belly of the car, saw the British receive a penalty of only 5 seconds. To take advantage, in all this, is Max Verstappen: the world champion immediately creates a small gap ahead of Lewis Hamilton, while Lance Stroll, somewhat surprisingly, finds himself in third position taking advantage of the excellent work in qualifying and the aforementioned crash. In the fray the other Ferrari driver, Charles Leclerc: the Monegasque, who is playing for second place in the World Championship with Sergio Perez, starts 12th due to the change of the engine after the second place in Q3 on Saturday and gradually climbs up in the standings. After a dozen laps the bigs’ pit stops, with Verstappen responding to Hamilton’s strategy by entering the pit a lap later. The idea, a bit for everyone, is to mount the harder compound in the middle stint after using the intermediate compound in the initial phase, thus going on the two stops.

What a scare for Alonso

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There were two twists in the middle of the race: in turn 19 of lap 18 of 56, Bottas lost the rear of his Alfa Romeo and ended up in the sand. The entry of the Safety Car is the wild card not to be missed for Charles Leclerc, the only one of the big names to have waited to change tires. Charles returns a few meters behind Sergio Perez, with a 3.5 second pit stop that makes him regret the wasted opportunity to gain the position on the Mexican with the pit stop. But the accident of the race is that between Fernando Alonso and Lance Stroll: the Spaniard attacks his future teammate on the longest straight of the track, but the Canadian changes trajectory at the last. Wing-rubber contact, Fernando’s car rears up and flies for several tens of meters, fortunately without overturning. Stroll turns and is forced to retire, Alonso touches the barriers a few meters after an escape route, returns to the pit and continues with an Alpine that has withstood every impact.

Leclerc on the attack

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Revitalized after the pit stop, Charles Leclerc goes to the attack of Sergio Perez and passes him with a braking at the limit at almost 330 km / h. The highlight of the race corresponds to the second round of pit stop: Hamilton tries the undercut on Verstappen, the Red Bull men respond by letting Max return one lap later but a problem with the gun responsible for reassembling the front left makes the tire change of the incredibly long world champion. Hamilton took advantage of it and Leclerc also took advantage of it, returning to the pits behind the Dutchman and exiting in front. The two Mercedes opt for the hard, Red Bull and Leclerc for the medium. Charles defends himself with his teeth, but Max with the Drs is really too fast on the straight and takes second position, in the frenzy of the American public who responded present (440,000 entries in three days) to the appointment in Texas.

The end

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While Sebastian Vettel first finds himself leading the race with one less pit stop and then “arguing” with the gun that fails to fix the front left drooling a beautiful race, Verstappen puts Lewis Hamilton in his sights for the victory of the GP . But the Dutchman, after overtaking on Leclerc, did not get rid of the Monegasque at all, always in the “Drs area”. The final is a qualifying session of about fifteen laps, with Hamilton trying to escape with hard compound and Verstappen trying to close the gap. Leclerc struggles with the medium tires and Perez, with the same compound, does not give up his hopes for a podium. On lap 50, the Red Bull number 1 regains his leadership in braking in what appears, in part, a revival of Abu Dhabi 2021, with Lewis Hamilton with hard rubber defending himself and Max Verstappen attempting the decisive attack. Hamilton remains in the Drs area and dissects every detail of Verstappen’s driving, with both at the limit with the jokers to be able to play with the track limits. But Verstappen has more and wins ahead of the Mercedes standard bearer. On the podium Charles Leclerc in front of Perez, Russell, Norris, Alonso, Vettel, Magnussen and Tsunoda.

F1 2022, US GP: final classification

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1. Verstappen (Red Bull)

F1 2022: championship standings after Austin

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1. Max Verstappen (Olanda, Red Bull) 391 punti
2. Charles Leclerc (Monaco, Ferrari) 267
3. Sergio Perez (Mexico, Red Bull) 265
4. George Russell (Great Britain, Mercedes) 218
5. Carlos Sainz (Spain, Ferrari) 202
6. Lewis Hamilton (Great Britain, Mercedes) 198
7. Lando Norris (Great Britain, McLaren) 109
8. Esteban Ocon (France, Alpine) 78
9. Fernando Alonso (Spain, Alpine) 71
10. Valtteri Bottas (Finland, Alfa Romeo) 46