![]() ![]() Photo by: Glenn Dunbar / Motorsport Images 2. Max Verstappen, Red Bull Racing RB16B, leaves his pit box He was made to work for victory in Texas, but Verstappen responded with one of his best drives under masses of pressure - and it's one that his title credentials could hinge on. Mercedes' period of Austin dominance now over, Verstappen now sits with a 12-point gap atop the standings. It proved enough to stave Hamilton off and win for an eighth time this year. ![]() With Hamilton in DRS range by the final lap, he couldn't capitalise - and instead, Verstappen claimed the draft off the lapped Mick Schumacher. Critically, he opened his lead to 1.9s over the next two, buying him some time. He then began to home in on Verstappen, carefully plugging away to keep life in his tyres, and brought the gap down to 1.5s by lap 50.īut Verstappen hit back. ![]() Then Hamilton pulled the trigger, setting a brace of scorching tours to cut his disadvantage to 4.8s. The Mercedes driver was asked to bring his tyres in slowly, and over the first two laps out of the pits, Verstappen's lead was only nipped down to 8.1s. PRIME: The key details the boosted Red Bull and held back Hamilton in Verstappen’s USA victory Verstappen held an 8.8s lead, but Hamilton began to scythe away at it as he sought to reclaim control of the 2021 championship. What's more, Hamilton went eight laps further before stopping for a second time, yielding a significant tyre advantage. Verstappen shook out in the lead following the pitstops, opening a seven-second gap to Hamilton following a flurry of speedy out-laps, but the seven-time champion began to chip away at the Dutchman's advantage.Īfter Verstappen had got to the end of his first set of hard tyres, he called in on lap 29 for another set - giving him just under half of the race to do on a single set. Having lost the lead to Hamilton off the line, Verstappen had to be satisfied with shadowing his title rival through the race's opening stint, sitting around a second behind before Red Bull decided to take the initiative with its bold strategy to grasp the undercut. No doubt Verstappen will have heard something similar from his own team as the US Grand Prix entered its final third. "It's all about the last three laps," Hamilton was told by engineer Pete Bonnington. Verstappen’s COTA victory was his best yet Photo by: Glenn Dunbar / Motorsport Images 1. Max Verstappen, Red Bull Racing RB16B, 1st position, takes the chequered flag Here are 10 things we learned from the 2021 United States Grand Prix. Verstappen succeeded in pulling off Red Bull’s aggressive strategy to clinch the race win and extend his points lead, taking an important step entering the title run-in. The Circuit of The Americas produced a compelling strategy race as Red Bull and Mercedes fought it out on the pitwall, setting up a grandstand finish that left fans on the edge of their seats. ![]()
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