Conspiracy theorists, get your arguments ready.
The second US Grand Prix of the 2023 season (at Circuit Of The Americas) wasn't as thrilling as expected. The last 20 or so laps were thrilling to watch as Sir Lewis Hamilton took massive chunks of time out of Lando Norris and Max Verstappen ahead of him. Hamilton eventually passed Norris and finished second, less than two seconds behind the 2023 world champion. A few more laps, and he no doubt would have claimed his first victory since the 2021 Saudi Arabian Grand Prix. And yet, the record books will now show Hamilton was disqualified from the race, as he lost his trophy just hours after the podium ceremony. More on that in a little bit.
It was an odd turn of events, as Max Verstappen dominated the sprint race the day before, opening up a nearly 10-second gap between himself and Hamilton in as many laps. Mercedes brought some upgrades to COTA, but they were apparently not good enough to beat RB19... until the actual Grand Prix.
妈x started in sixth after he lost his fastest qualifying lap when he exceeded track limits. Ferrari's Charles Leclerc started on pole with Lando Norris alongside him, Hamilton third, Sainz fourth, and George Russell in fifth.
Norris got the best start and took the lead into Turn 1, a spot he held onto for 28 laps. McLaren then swapped his medium-compound tires for a set of hards, and it looked like he just couldn't get them to work.
While Norris led, Verstappen was masterful in his patience, grabbing fifth at the start and then slowly working his way up the order. By not racing into the distance, Verstappen nearly cost himself the W. The Flying Dutchman had brake issues that impacted him greatly late on, and said it took him a large chunk of the race to get to grips with the issue, which meant his braking points from the dominant Sprint victory were unusable in the Grand Prix.
All the while, Charles Leclerc got hamstrung by Ferrari's one-stop strategy, and he was largely just an obstacle for the other top drivers to get around.
Mercedes-AMG was on fire (metaphorically speaking; the race was so clean theMercedes-AMG GT Black Seriessafety car wasn't even called into action), putting Hamilton on medium tires for the final stint. It was majestic watching the seven-time champion overtaking drivers one by one until he was right behind Norris. Norris made his car as wide as possible but couldn't hold Hamilton at bay. Still, Norris' great start and consistent pace saw the Brit come home in third, at least at the checkered flag. Behind him were Sainz (4th), Perez (5th), and Leclerc (6th).
So that's it, right, race finished? The FIA then performed random checks on the cars in Parc Ferme (standard procedure) anddisqualified Lewis Hamilton and Charles Leclercfor non-compliant cars.
As a result of the disqualifications, the official result, as confirmed by the FIA, was:
The result meant Sargeant picked up his first-ever F1 points in his rookie season, making him the first American F1 driver since 1993 to score points in F1. The last to manage that feat was Michael Andretti, who finished third in his last-ever race in F1. Yes, the same Michael Andrettidesperately trying to enter a team in F1.
Red Bull and Verstappen may have already wrapped up the main titles, but second place is still up for grabs in both. Hamilton's disqualification gave Sergio Perez a bit more breathing room, with Perez on 240 points to Hamilton's 201. Four races remain, meaning neither driver can afford a mistake.
The next race is Perez's home race in Mexico.
McLaren (242 points) has now surpassed Aston Martin (236 points) in the Constructor Standings and sits in fourth behind Ferrari (322) and Mercedes (344). Despite McLaren's recent form, it's a stretch to imagine they'll beat Ferrari, despite the latter's bad strategy calls which will likely hand Mercedes second place.
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