OCTOBER 25, 2023
Max Verstappen (No. 1 Oracle Red Bull Racing) recovered from sixth on the grid to take a nerve-racking win at the United States Grand Prix at Circuit of The Americas, as the Red Bull man held off a fast-approaching Lewis Hamilton (No. 44 Mercedes-AMG Petronas F1 Team) and Lando Norris (No. 4 McLaren F1 Team) to claim his 50th Formula 1 race win. After a quiet start, Verstappen gradually picked off his rivals one by one in what was a tense Austin affair. He took the lead from Norris, who had earlier taken first place on the opening lap ahead of pole-sitter Charles Leclerc (No. 16 Scuderia Ferrari). Hamilton, on new mediums, chased down Norris for second with a few laps to go and looked to close in on Verstappen for the win – in a reverse scenario of what happened in last year’s race where Verstappen chased down Hamilton for the win – but to no avail as he settled for second. Norris held off the late advances of Carlos Sainz (No. 55 Scuderia Ferrari) to take his fourth podium in a row, ahead of Sergio Perez (No. 11 Oracle Red Bull Racing), who overtook a very frustrated Leclerc late in the event to finish fifth. Watch the Race Highlights here. (Thank you to Formula1.com) UPDATE: Lewis Hamilton and Charles Leclerc were both disqualified from the results due to a post-race inspection which revealed that there was too much wear on the planks underneath the machines, reducing them to below the minimum threshhold.
Editor's Note: You can access previous issues of AE by clicking on "Next 1 Entries" below. - WG