Could Mercedes have done anything differently?
It was one of those races were there was tension throughout the race, however, we never quite got that grandstand finish, which I bet Red Bull are glad of, as they increase their hold on the 2021 drivers title, and close on Mercedes in the constructors.
When Lewis got into the lead on Lap 1, I am sure Red Bull feared it may be over, as the Mercedes usually has very strong race pace. Yet, when the Mercedes struggled at the rear in the first stint, they smelt blood in the water. Their strategy in the end was a risky one, which could have so easily gone wrong, but in order to beat Mercedes, you need to take big risks. Tyre wear was the biggest issue that Red Bull had today, but Verstappen drove brilliantly, didn’t put a foot wrong, and got his first win in America. You cannot really blame Perez for finishing so far behind the top 2, as he lost his water on lap 1. In the first few laps he was very close to them, suggesting his pace could have been good, and he deserved to get a podium in the end, after a very strong weekend for him.
Hamilton got the perfect start to the race, and would not be deterred by Max’s defending into Turn 1, but from then on, the race gradually slipped away from him. On Saturday it was a lack of front grip that hurt Lewis when going for pole, so they obviously overcompensated in the first stint, as he couldn’t keep his rear end under control. The team couldn’t really have done anything else differently, they were just outsmarted by a team with lots of pace and that were willing to take risks. You could see that it hurt Hamilton to lose here, in basically his second home race. With McLaren and Ferrari getting faster and faster, it was always going to be difficult for Bottas to get through them all in the race, however, I am sure he and the team probably hoped for more than 6th from it all.
Every now and again, we get a race from Leclerc where he forgets that the Ferrari is a midfield car, and just follows the front runners. Yes, Perez was struggling, but he just dropped the others, and gave yet more evidence as to how strong both he and the car are becoming. I do think that Sainz was hard done by, as he didn’t really gain much from going off track on Lap 1, and it cost him a 5th place finish possibly. Ferrari are coming on strong at the perfect time in their battle with McLaren, right now if I had to put my money somewhere, it would be on Ferrari.
5th and 8th shouldn’t be a bad day for McLaren, especially as they were on the lead lap, however, they just couldn’t match Ferrari in either qualifying or the race, and that won’t please them one bit. The first lap battle was great to see, and I am impressed there was little or no contact. Ricciardo clearly had an extra few tenths from being in Texas, as he beat Norris fair and square in the race.
AlphaTauri have gained a point on Alpine courtesy of Tsunoda, who had an excellent race. Not only was his race pace solid, but he defended very well against Bottas and others, as he is starting to mature into a great driver. It was unfortunate for Gasly, who had his rear suspension fail quite early on in the race. This is an unusual failure, and will worry both them and Red Bull, as they share rear suspension components. Even without that issue, he probably wouldn’t have beaten Yuki, which says a lot about the Japanese driver.
Aston Martin and Alfa Romeo were busy fighting over the last point, and it would end up going the way of Vettel, who fought back well from 18th on the grid. I believe it was Stroll who was caught up in some Turn 1 antics, which may have compromised his race. Yet again, Alfa have ended up in 11th, just missing out on points. It doesn’t really matter though, as they need a miracle to overtake Williams in the constructors.
Russel may have had a faster lap than many of the driver ahead of him, but he just couldn’t get up to fight with them, probably not helped by the wind. The Haas’s only contribution to the race, was in their blue flag antics, Mazepin seemed to be his useless usual self in that department, and even Mick could possibly have been more kind, although I am sure he is sick of blue flags already.
It was a horror day for Alpine, first with Ocon getting contact on Lap 1, and having to pit for a new front wing, which basically ended his race. Then Alonso had a track limit spat with the FIA, or more his team did. In my view, if a driver is forced off the track, as long as they don’t do anything blatantly cheating, they should be fine to continue the battle to the next corner. It is only if they go off track to complete a move by themselves, that they should be punished. I just want to let them race!
With 5 races to go, things are getting very interesting, as 3 of the circuits, Max is either the reigning winner, or it is a Red Bull track historically, and the other 2 are brand new to the sport. However, we have seen that previous form means nothing in 2021, so I wouldn’t say it is Verstappen’s title yet!
-M
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