DMax Verstappen’s 13th win of the season is above all one for Dietrich Mateschitz. With the victory of the Dutchman, who was already established as world champion, at the Grand Prix of the USA, Red Bull Racing also clinched the constructors’ title early on the day after the death of the company founder. It is the first team triumph in nine years and the beginning of the hybrid era in Formula 1.
Meanwhile, Lewis Hamilton was on his way to his first win of the season with the Mercedes, the Briton was second after 56 laps ahead of Charles Leclerc in the Ferrari. With this triumph, Verstappen also broke the record for most wins in a season previously held by Michael Schumacher and Sebastian Vettel.
After crossing the finish line, Red Bull team boss Christian Horner radioed moving words into the cockpit: “You are world champion, we are world champions – thank you, Dietrich.” slipped to 15th place largely through no fault of their own.
Applause instead of a minute’s silence
The start in front of the record crowd on the Circuit of the Americas, where, according to the organizer, around 140,000 people followed the 19th World Championship race on Sunday, was a sad one: Formula 1 commemorated the Red Bull patriarch Mateschitz, who died on Saturday dubbed the “titan of motorsport”. Instead of a minute’s silence, there was a round of applause, along with the song “Start me up” by the Rolling Stones, the Austrian’s favorite band.
He had noticed Verstappen’s premature title defense the weekend before last, but he was no longer able to do so when he won the first team world championship in the hybrid era. For reasons of piety, the negotiations about Red Bull’s failure to meet the budget limit for 2021 were suspended until at least the middle of the week. Apparently, the sinners and the World Automobile Federation FIA have already agreed on a penalty. The matter had previously escalated verbally in Texas, and there could be a judgment or an admission next weekend in Mexico.
It only took the first 240 meters of the 305 kilometers at the US Grand Prix to win the Constructors’ World Championship. Max Verstappen had already beaten Carlos Sainz jr., who had started from pole position. let it stand, it got even worse for the Spaniard. At the sharp left turn on the crest, George Russell’s Silver Arrow crashed into his side. Despite the flat tire, the Ferrari still made it to the pits, but the damaged red car immediately disappeared in the darkness of the garage, the water pump had gotten something. Russell was given a five-second penalty as the offender.
The traffic jam after the early incident threw the whole field upside down early on, Sebastian Vettel was suddenly fifth, Mick Schumacher in 14th place. Hamilton and Russell bit behind Verstappen, who kept complaining about the violent, twisting gusts of wind. With Sergio Perez in the second Red Bull Honda, the favorite followed in second place in the drivers’ standings after Charles Leclerc was downgraded to twelfth on the grid due to an engine change on the Ferrari. But the Monegasque kept gaining ground with a perfect strategy.
