2021 F1 United States Grand Prix: Winners And Losers

The 2021 United States Grand Prix was action packed, with battles up and down the field at the Circuit Of The Americas, in Austin, Texas. The end result was Max Verstappen taking his eighth win of the season. Here are the winners and losers of the 17th round of the 2021 season. 

Winners

Red Bull Racing Honda

 

Red Bull Racing Honda couldn’t have asked for a better weekend for Max Verstappen and Sergio Perez. Sure, polesitter Verstappen was jumped by title rival Lewis Hamilton at the start, but the team pulled off an aggressive undercut strategy to regain the lead and just about hold onto it until the chequered flag. Perez, on the other hand, managed a strong third-place finish despite not having water for most of the race, and scored his second successive podium. 

This result means Max Verstappen continues as the championship leader, with his advantage over Lewis Hamilton in the drivers’ standings increasing to 12 points . Additionally, with five rounds to go, Red Bull Racing Honda are now only 23 points behind Mercedes in the constructors standings.

Charles Leclerc

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It was another one of those under-the-radar performances for Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc, finishing fourth and a long way clear of his midfield rivals. This helps Ferrari close the gap with McLaren to just four points in the fight for third place in the constructors standings.

Sebastian Vettel 

Aston Martin’s Sebastian Vettel had quite the entertaining race starting from 18th place on the grid due to an engine penalty. The four-time world champion carved through the field to manage a strong tenth-place finish.

Losers 

Mercedes

 

Despite jumping Verstappen for the race lead at the start, Lewis Hamilton and Mercedes’ strategic decision to not respond to Red Bull Honda’s undercut attempt proved costly, with them having to settle for second place at the chequered flag. Sure, Hamilton was extremely close to Verstappen at the end, but he ran out of laps to make the pass stick. Teammate Valtteri Bottas had a quiet race overall not helped by starting ninth due to an engine penalty. In the race, Bottas didn’t make up much ground, and crossed the finish line in fifth position. 

Alpine

It was a race weekend to forget for the Alpine squad as neither Fernando Alonso nor Estaban Ocon looked to be on the pace all weekend. Besides, both eventually retired from the race due to technical gremlins, capping off a difficult race for the team. 

Pierre Gasly

 

Looks like lady luck wasn’t on Pierre Gasly’s side this weekend, as the AlphaTauri driver had to retire from the race early on due to a suspension failure. A missed opportunity for AlphaTauri to gain on its midfield rival, Alpine, considering the latter had a double DNF.

Next week will see Formula One head to Mexico for the Mexican Grand Prix, scheduled from October 29- 31.