Max Verstappen wins an eventful 2022 US Grand Prix

Verstappen took the race lead on Lap 1

Max Verstappen wins the 2022 United States Grand Prix in a race that provided an exciting spectacle for Formula 1 fans. Lewis Hamilton finished second for Mercedes after giving everything he could to win the race. Charles Leclerc recovered well after starting 12th on the grid to finish third.

Carlos Sainz was on the pole before the race started. At the start, Verstappen got off the line more quickly than Sainz and took the lead in the race at Turn 1. Sainz was behind Verstappen when George Russell hit him. Russell (in an audacious effort to overtake Hamilton and Sainz) hit Sainz on the rear left side of the car. Sainz spun around and was dead last just after Turn 1. The Spaniard’s race was over there because he suffered a water leak and had to retire the car after getting into the pits. Russell got a 5-second time penalty for his part in the crash. Verstappen started to build a gap between him and the rest of the grid after Lap 1.

First safety car of the race

On Lap 18, Valtteri Bottas lost control of his car at Turn 19 and crashed into the barriers. The accident caused a Safety car release, and the pack was bunched together again. The safety car came back in a few laps later. After the restart, a big crash took place between Lance Stroll and Fernando Alonso.

Stroll and Alonso had a big crash

Stroll was ahead of Alonso on Lap 22. Alonso was catching him quickly. He was behind the slipstream of Stroll and moved to the left to overtake the Aston Martin. At the same time, Stroll moved a little to his left, and Alonso couldn’t avoid hitting the Aston martin from behind. The Alpine car went a little over the Aston Martin, destroying his rear wing. Then Stroll hit the side barriers, and the accident completely wrecked his Aston Martin. Alonso went airborne in that crash, and when his car landed, he hit the sidewall on the other side and lost his front wing. The accident caused the second safety car period.

The safety car came in on Lap 25, and Verstappen again started to build a healthy lead. A little down the grid, Charles Leclerc managed an excellent recovery, and he overtook Perez on Lap 30 for the effective third spot on the podium. Perez ran the whole race with a damaged front wing. His front wing’s front left end plate got off after Perez hit a Haas on Lap 1. The Mexican decided not to get the front wing replaced and managed to secure P4. Pierre Gasly got hit with a 5-second time penalty after leaving more than a 10-car gap during the safety car period.

Verstappen lost the race lead

Verstappen pitted from the lead of the race on Lap 36. The Dutchman had a slow stop of 11.1 seconds after the front left tyre of his car was not attached properly. The lost time in the pits gave Vettel the lead in the race. Charles Leclerc also overtook Verstappen in the pitlane after the world champion’s slow stop. Hamilton overtook Vettel on Lap 41.

Vettel’s extremely slow pitstop

Vettel pitted a lap later for new tyres. However, he had a more horrible pit stop compared to Verstappen. The German driver was stationary for 16.8 seconds before getting out again. Vettel came out on track at P13 instead of a possible P6. He recovered well and finished P8 after overtaking Kevin Magnussen on the position’s last corner of the final lap.

Magnussen made a good recovery drive after Saturday’s qualifying. He only stopped for a change of tyres once under the safety car and managed to jump many cars due to that strategy. He finished P9 ahead of Yuki Tsunoda. Lando Norris of the McLaren finished P6 behind George Russell.

Lando Norris late resurgence

Norris started the race in sixth place but couldn’t capitalize on a good starting position. He was running at P13 in the middle part of the race. The British driver recovered remarkably in the later part of the race, overtaking many cars after eventually getting past Alonso on the last lap to finish ahead of Alpine. Fernando Alonso, after the colossal crash, still managed to finish P7. The 2-time world champion drove brilliantly to salvage his race.

Verstappen retakes the race lead

Lewis Hamilton tried very hard to keep the lead in the race. However, his car simply didn’t have enough pace to stem the charge of Max Verstappen’s Red Bull. The Dutch driver passed Hamilton on Lap 50. Hamilton tried everything he could to get the position back, but his rear tyres started to give out, and he couldn’t keep up with Verstappen.

Drivers Outside Top 10

Outside the top 10, Estaban Ocon started the race from the pitlane after taking a new engine. He finished P11 ahead of Alexander Albon and Zhou Guanyu. Pierre Gasly finished P14 after taking the 5-second penalty ahead of Mick Schumacher. Daniel Ricciardo had another race to forget for McLaren. Therefore, his possible sabbatical from F1 for 2023 couldn’t come soon enough.

The Aussie driver couldn’t manage the same pace as his teammate Lando Norris. Even in a damaged car (due to debris hitting his McLaren after Alonso/Stroll crash), Norris still managed to overtake different vehicles on the track. Ricciardo only managed to finish P16 ahead of the last finishing car of Nicholas Latifi. Lance Stroll, Valtteri Bottas, and Carlos Sainz failed to finish the race.

Red Bull wins the Constructors Championship

A win from Verstappen and a P4 finish from Perez also sealed the constructor’s title for Red Bull. It is their first Constructors title win after 2013. They managed to break the 8-straight constructor title win streak of Mercedes. Verstappen dedicated his victory to the late Red Bull team owner Dietrich Mateschitz.

Final Classification