By Tom Cary
Austin: It was a finish that might have been scripted in Hollywood. Lewis vs Max II: This Time It’s Personal. F1’s two pre-eminent drivers going wheel to wheel once again, 11 months after their Abu Dhabi ding-dong. Brad Pitt, watching on from the Mercedes garage, looked to be taking copious notes as he prepares to start filming next year on a big-budget Jerry Bruckheimer-produced F1 flick.
In the end, though, the race finished as they invariably have this year: with Verstappen on top. The newly crowned double world champion, who was forced to battle back from a dodgy pitstop mid-race, passed Hamilton with six laps remaining to complete his 13th win of the season, and in so doing sealed the constructors’ championship on an emotional weekend for his Red Bull team – and equalled the race-win record for a single season with 13.
“Max Verstappen, you are world champion! We are world champions!” shouted his team principal Christian Horner. “Thank you, Dietrich Mateschitz. This one is for you.”
Max Verstappen, Christian Horner and Red Bull celebrate the constructors’ championship.Credit:Getty Images
It was said with real feeling. The race had begun under a cloud following the death of the Red Bull co-founder on Saturday. The period of paddock mourning did have the effect of triggering a temporary ceasefire in the budget cap wars, with Red Bull and the FIA putting talks over an “accepted breach agreement” on the backburner out of respect for the late Austrian billionaire.
Mateschitz was a widely admired team owner, a visionary who took it to the established manufacturers and won, and there were moving scenes before the start after former driver David Coulthard asked everyone at the Circuit of the Americas to join in a period of applause.
Once that was done, a montage of past Red Bull glories played out on the big screen as the Rolling Stones’ Start Me Up blared out over the PA system.
Verstappen in action in Austin.Credit:Getty Images
Then, following an ear-splitting rendition of the Star-Spangled Banner, the various celebs – including Ed Sheeran, Shaquille O’Neal, Serena Williams and Pitt, whose film will be shot in the second half of next season – scurried back to their corporate hospitality boxes to watch the start.
Carlos Sainz, on pole following a fine qualifying performance, had been hoping to keep Verstappen at bay for at least a few laps. In the event, he could not even make it to turn one in the lead. Verstappen, starting alongside him on the front row, got off to a flyer and was ahead by the top of the steep hill that runs up to the first left-hander.
Sainz’s race then ended as he was sideswiped by George Russell as the cars turned and headed back downhill. Russell picked up a five-second penalty for his troubles.
Verstappen wasted no time in opening up a handy buffer over the chasing pack. He told his team he was finding the “gusty” winds troublesome, but it did not stop him from setting the timesheets purple as he carved out a four-second lead over Hamilton in the first 10 laps.
Hamilton’s teammate Russell was a further six seconds back, but already coming under pressure from the second Red Bull of Sergio Perez, who began the race in ninth after a five-place grid penalty for changing engine parts.
Those positions remained largely unchanged after the first round of pit stops, but the gaps were meagre, especially as the field was twice bunched by safety cars – the first following a spin by Alfa Romeo’s Valtteri Bottas, the second a far more serious incident between Aston Martin’s Lance Stroll and his future teammate Fernando Alonso, the Canadian not endearing himself to the Spaniard by cutting across him at high speed, causing Alonso’s Alpine to launch up into the air for a second or two.
When the race restarted, Verstappen sounded a little irritable. “What happened to my driveability?” he asked his race engineer at one point. “It’s —-.”
His mood was about to get a lot worse. A disastrous pitstop for Verstappen on lap 36, covering Hamilton who had made his stop one lap earlier, left the Red Bull driver behind not only Hamilton but Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc as well.
Hamilton effectively had the lead of the race by 7.6 seconds with 20 laps to go.
Verstappen was furious. “Beautiful,” he remarked icily over the radio. “We’re in this together,” came the reply.
It made for a fascinating finale.
After a failed attempt to pass Leclerc on lap 39, Verstappen got the job done at the second time of asking, and hared off after Hamilton.
The Dutch driver, on the medium compound, was 2.2 seconds behind the Briton, on the hard compound, with 10 laps remaining. Pitt, watching on from the Mercedes garage, looked pensive, no doubt banking a few ideas for his film.
With seven laps to go, Verstappen moved to within DRS range. How much longer could Hamilton hold him off? Not much longer, was the answer.
Verstappen flew up the inside of Hamilton at turn 12 on lap 50, and managed to make the move stick. It was all over bar the shouting, of which there was only a little. “He’s gone off track again!” Hamilton protested at one point as Verstappen put all four wheels off.
The stewards agreed, showing the Dutchman a black and white flag – effectively a first warning. Verstappen did not need a second one, completing an emotional victory on an emotional weekend for his team.
The Telegraph, London
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