Red Bull’s Max Verstappen survived a late charge from seven-time Formula One world champion Lewis Hamilton to win the 2023 USA Grand Prix with McLaren’s Lando Norris a distant third to finish off the podium places.
Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc began the race in pole position but was immediately beaten to the first turn and passed by Norris, who then successfully maintained his lead for the race’s first 17 laps – only giving it up when he came in for his first pit stop of the race – handing it over to Hamilton for the next three laps, when Hamilton also went in for a pit stop.
That gave the race lead briefly back to Leclerc, who held it for a mere two laps before making his first pit stop and ceding the race lead back to Norris, but Norris’ time at the top was short-lived as Verstappen, who started the race in sixth, had finally worked his way through the field and passed Norris on Lap 28 for his first lead of the race.
Verstappen then held the lead for the next eight laps before making his second and final pit stop of the race, with Hamilton re-taking the lead for two laps before making his final pit stop. Verstappen passed Leclerc as Hamilton emerged from the pit and the final 17 laps saw Hamilton – on medium tires – gradually reel in Verstappen – on hard tires – until Hamilton was nearly in DRS [drag reduction system] range on the final lap but was unable to get close enough to the one-second-range required to engage the system, allowing Verstappen to escape with the victory.
Having already won the Formula 1 driver’s title, Verstappen merely padded his point total out to 476 points but Hamilton put another serious dent into the gap between himself and Verstappen’s Red Bull teammate, Sergio Perez, in the battle for second place – with Perez sitting at 238 points and Hamilton now with 219 points – shaving 11 points off what had been a 30-point deficit entering the weekend, with four races remaining in the season.
2023 USA Grand Prix Top 10 Finishers
1] Max Verstappen – Red Bull
2] Lewis Hamilton – Mercedes
3] Lando Norris – McLaren
4] Carlos Sainz, Jr. – Ferrari
5] Sergio Perez – Red Bull
6] Charles Leclerc – Ferrari
7] George Russell – Mercedes
8] Pierre Gasly – Alpine
9] Lance Stroll – Aston Martin
10] Yuki Tsunoda – Alpha Tauri
