Max brilliantly third in catch up race, but demoted to fourth: “Super good race”

Published on 23 October 2017 by Mike Motilall

Max Verstappen came in third at the Grand Prix of the USA after a magnificent catch up race. This became fourth due to a time penalty in the final standings. The Dutchman, who started from P16 due to a grid penalty, fought his through the field in the opening stages to eventually end up in the top six. Verstappen opted for a two-stop strategy, as oppose to Valtteri Bottas and Kimi Raikkonen ahead of him, who both finished the race with just one stop. The Red Bull Racing-driver was able to overtake Bottas in the closing stages of the race on his fresher tyres for P4.

On the last lap, Max made a bold move on the inside of Raikkonen and came home third. Immediately after the flag came out, it was decided by the gentlemen in charge that Max would be handed out a five-seconds time penalty for leaving the track and gaining an advantage on the Ferrari-driver. Due to this penalty, Max was dropped to fourth. Lewis Hamilton took the checkered flag in Austin and increased his lead in the championship on Sebastian Vettel who finished second.

After the race, Max shares his view on his overtake on Raikkonen that was penalised: “It just felt good the whole race and this was my only chance. On the outside there was no possibility, so I tried it on the inside. You go only five centimeters off track while everybody is going wide everywhere. In turn nine you can go wide, in turn nineteen also. The same with Bottas. I made a move on him and he went outside the track and came back in front of me. I had to pass him again and nothing was done with that, while he gained an advantage. If he had stayed on track he would have been behind of me. There is always a particular steward wanting to penalize me, the same in Mexico last year. It’s killing the sport and they need to be clear on what the rules are and that it is not allowed everywhere. This makes no sense at all.”

Despite the penalty, Verstappen had a magnificent catch up race. The Dutchman is more than happy about this: “I started on the harder tyres and had just a bit too much wheel spin. Eventually, it all came out good before turn one, otherwise you get stuck there if you go too deep, so it was all okay. We were handed out the penalty and I am not happy with that, but the race was just super good. In the last three races, we were very fast, maybe even faster than everyone else, so that’s always good.”

Verstappen starts the race from the back and on the super-soft compound tyre. The Dutchman qualified sixth, but due to grid penalties he ends up starting from P16.

At the start, Vettel starting from second has a good getting off the line than Hamilton who started from pole. The German heads into turn one as the leader. After the first lap, Verstappen is thirteenth. On lap two, the Red Bull Racing-driver overtakes two more of his peers, after which Sergio Perez and Felipe Massa also fall victim to the youngster on lap three. This puts Max in the points again. Meanwhile Valtteri Bottas and Daniel Ricciardo are battling it out for third. The Ozzie makes numerous attempts to overtake the Finn. Twice the two drivers come out of the first corner wheel-to-wheel, but Bottas manages to hold on to his third spot.

On lap six, Lewis Hamilton, aided by his DRS, overtakes leader Vettel. The German is not able to fend off this attack and has no option than to surrender. Verstappen is relentless and makes little work of Carlos Sainz and Fernando Alonso for P7. Esteban Ocon is another victim of Verstappen’s push forward on lap eleven. The Dutchman snatches sixth from the Force India-driver and is now looking at a gap of seven seconds to Kimi Raikkonen ahead of him.

On lap sixteen Daniel Ricciardo comes to a standstill. ‘The engine is gone’, is what the Ozzie tells his team on the radio while he parks his RB13 trackside. Ricciardo is the third drop out in the race after Nico Hulkenberg and Pascal Wehrlein were also forced to leave the battlefield. Because Verstappen was on a harder compound tyre than his peers, he is able to go on for a longer period of time. From lap twenty onwards, he is briefly leading the race. The pursuing Hamilton, already made his stop and is quickly gaining on Verstappen on his fresher tyres, he effortlessly overtakes the Dutchman.

Max goes in for his first pitstop on lap 25. During this flawless stop, the super-softs are swapped for a new set of the softs. The youngster rejoins in fifth, nine seconds down on Raikkonen ahead of him. Fernando Alonso is forced to park his McLaren in the pits due to a technical issue.

After his stop, Verstappen is considerably closing in on Raikkonen. The difference on lap 37 is just two seconds. Raikkonen in turn, is close behind his fellow countryman Bottas. Red Bull Racing makes a tactical decision by calling in the Dutchman for a second stop and switching to a new set of the super-soft compound tyre. Max retains his fifth position. One lap later, Vettel also opts for this strategy and re-emerges in front of Verstappen on the track. The top three, now Hamilton, Bottas and Raikkonen, decide to continue on. The two Finn eventually engage an attack. Raikkonen comes out on top and snatches the second spot.

Backmarkers Kevin Magnussen and Marcus Ericsson bump into each other just when Max is about to lap them. Both gents are able to continue on without any damages. Vettel and Verstappen are bearing down on Bottas with lightning speed. First, Vettel takes down the Finn, after which Max also makes little work of the Mercedes-driver with still four laps remaining. On the last lap, Max has closed the gap to Raikkonen and in turn 17, a fast right-hander, the Dutchman, with a bold move, overtakes the Finn on the inside. With pure joy Verstappen crosses the finish line in third. While ahead of him, Lewis Hamilton takes the checkered flag and Sebastian Vettel comes in second. Even before the podium ceremonies, it is announced that Max has been given a five-seconds time penalty. This puts him in fourth while Raikkonen is eventually handed back his third place finish.

US GP - Circuit Of The Americas - Sunday 22 October

RACE RESULTS

01 44 Lewis Hamilton      Mercedes                   	56 1:33:50.991
02  5 Sebastian Vettel    Ferrari                    	56 +10.143s
03  7 Kimi Räikkönen      Ferrari                    	56 +15.779s
04 33 Max Verstappen      Red Bull Racing TAG Heuer  	56 +16.768s
05 77 Valtteri Bottas     Mercedes                   	56 +34.967s
06 31 Esteban Ocon        Force India Mercedes       	56 +90.980s
07 55 Carlos Sainz        Renault                    	56 +92.944s
08 11 Sergio Perez        Force India Mercedes       	55 +1 lap
09 19 Felipe Massa        Williams Mercedes          	55 +1 lap
10 26 Daniil Kvyat        Toro Rosso                 	55 +1 lap
11 18 Lance Stroll        Williams Mercedes          	55 +1 lap
12  2 Stoffel Vandoorne   McLaren Honda              	55 +1 lap
13 39 Brendon Hartley     Toro Rosso                    55 +1 lap
14  8 Romain Grosjean     Haas Ferrari               	55 +1 lap
15  9 Marcus Ericsson     Sauber Ferrari             	55 +1 lap
16 20 Kevin Magnussen     Haas Ferrari               	55 +1 lap
NC 14 Fernando Alonso     McLaren Honda              	24 DNF
NC  3 Daniel Ricciardo    Red Bull Racing TAG Heuer  	14 DNF
NC 94 Pascal Wehrlein     Sauber Ferrari             	5 DNF
NC 27 Nico Hulkenberg     Renault                    	3 DNF