Max Verstappen took the first victory at the Circuit of the Americas in two years this afternoon, extending his championship lead from Lewis Hamilton who finished P2, ahead of Sergio Perez who completed the podium at the 2021 running of the United State Grand Prix.
Mercedes looked strong throughout the weekend but Verstappen at Red Bull Racing took pole position on Saturday from Hamilton. Verstappen and Hamilton got away evenly but Hamilton had the inside into the first corner and took the lead from Verstappen.
Further down the field Ferrari and McLaren scrapped for places, with Charles Leclerc in P4, from Daniel Ricciardo who made a miraculous pass through the esses on Carlos Sainz, from Lando Norris in P7. Valtteri Bottas meanwhile dropped all the way down to P10, following his win in Turkey two weeks ago. The back of the field saw Lance Stroll spin from contact with Nicholas Latifi at the first corner.
Verstappen Regains the Lead; Raikkonen and Alonso Make Contact
Verstappen initiated the undercut on Lap 11, rejoining the track in P5. He charged ahead and took four seconds from Hamilton in only a few laps, and took the lead back when Hamilton pitted. Lap 15 saw Pierre Gasly retire from a mechanical issue. Fernando Alonso and Kimi Raikkonen came together into turn 1 on Lap 17, resulting in the Alfa losing some of the left-hand barge boards.
Lap 24 saw Hamilton begin a charge, reducing the gap to Verstappen down to 4.4 seconds. Alonso and Antonio Giovinazzi scuffled for P11, with Giovinazzi yielding the position to Alonso. Verstappen made his final pit stop on Lap 30 with a 2.7-second gap to Hamilton, who was told to push for six more laps. Sainz had a slow pit stop, becoming vulnerable to McLaren's strategy which initiated a double-stacked pit stop. Ricciardo exited the pits ahead of Sainz into P6, from Norris in P8.
Hamilton took his final pit stop on Lap 37 and rejoined 9 seconds behind Verstappen who retook the lead. Hamilton began a charge but heard almost immediately from his team to nurse his tires. Esteban Ocon meanwhile retired on Lap 42 from a mechanical issue. Raikkonen got a black and white flag for holding up Verstappen. Sainz and Ricciardo made slight contact battling for P5 on Lap 43.
Alonso retired on Lap 51 from an issue with his rear wing. Hamilton chipped away at Verstappen's lead, and the two traded personal best laps in the closing stages. Verstappen stayed out of DRS range for the final laps and took the victory, with Hamilton finishing less than one second behind. Perez finished the race all by himself in P3.