Valtteri Dominates in the Rain in Turkey
On a persistently damp track shadowed by non-stop drizzle, Valtteri Bottas completed an impressive victory at the Istanbul Park Circuit in his Mercedes-AMG, also claiming the bonus point for the fastest lap in the closing stages.
Red Bull Racing Honda’s Max Verstappen came second, followed by his Red Bull teammate, Sergio Pérez. Lewis Hamilton salvaged some points for a fifth position finish after starting the race in 11th position due to a ten-place grid penalty for an engine change.
The threat of stubborn rain clouds persisted while the misty drizzle continued to bear down on the racetrack, forcing all the drivers to start the race on intermediate tyres. Towards the end of the race, Hamilton remained out on the same set of tyres he had started with, looking to pull off a surprise victory. However, with 15 laps to go, his tyres dropped off, forcing a much-needed pit stop for a fresh set, thereby sealing his fate.
Having gained a seven-point advantage over Verstappen the last time out in Russia, when the Dutchman took a similar engine penalty, Hamilton lost eight points on the day.
The F1 circus left Turkey with Verstappen leading the Drivers’ Championship with 262.5 points and Hamilton on 256.5 points. The Mercedes-AMG Petronas F1 team led the Constructors’ Championship with 36 points over the Red Bull Racing Honda team.
Max Conquers America
Max Verstappen converted pole position into race victory to achieve his first US Grand Prix victory, but the race was anything but straightforward.
Scorching temperatures, sunny skies and packed grandstands graced the Circuit of the Americas in Texas, creating a spectacular atmosphere for an equally exciting 56-lap race. A storming start positioned Lewis Hamilton in the lead, diving down the inside of pole-sitter Verstappen for the lead, before dropping to second after the first stop round as Verstappen achieved the undercut.
Hamilton started to close the gap on his championship rival approaching the second round of stops, with the Mercedes-AMG team opting to go long with Hamilton to create an eight-lap tyre age deficit for Verstappen in the lead, hoping that a newer set of boots on Hamilton’s car would be enough to catch Verstappen on ageing tyres on the last three laps of the race.
Mercedes-AMG’s ploy nearly worked. After his final pit stop, Hamilton emerged 8.7 seconds behind Verstappen and immediately started chipping away at his lead, bringing it down to less than one second on the penultimate lap. However, despite Hamilton’s late charge, this proved insufficient, and a brilliant display of determined racing over the last five laps saw Verstappen keep Hamilton successfully at bay and hold on to clinch the win by 1.3 seconds. Hamilton’s barnstorming run, however, did pay dividends as he gained an extra point for the fastest lap in the race.
Flanking the duelling leaders, Sergio Pérez enjoyed a relatively comfortable race to finish on the podium for the second successive week. However, the Mexican driver later revealed that a problem with his drinks system meant he’d been without water for 90 minutes in the sweltering Texas heat. “I think that was my toughest race ever physically,” he commented after the race, sipping a cold Red Bull energy drink.
The Red Bull Racing victory marked its first United States Grand Prix win since it last won this event in 2013. “It’s five (races) to go now, and we know that there are a couple of races where Mercedes will have the edge and a couple where we will be strong, so the rest of the season is going to be really tight,” commented Red Bull Racing Team Principal, Christian Horner, after the race.
The teams packed up in Texas to cross the border into Mexico, with Verstappen leading the Drivers’ Championship by 12 points over Hamilton, and the Mercedes-AMG Petronas F1 Team leading Red Bull Racing Honda by 23 points in the Constructors’ Championship.
Report by Wilhelm Loots
