USA Grand Prix – Verstappen on podium with a tough lesson: “not an orphan” – Sport

AUSTIN (dpa) — In the waiting room before the awards ceremony, Max Verstappen spoke calmly about the decisive scene in a tough battle with his World Cup rival Lando Norris. For the 27-year-old Dutchman, the punishment against Britain was no problem. Who's surprised: His thrilling overtaking maneuver against Verstappen at Red Bull just before the end of the US Grand Prix was a waste of time due to the five seconds awarded to McLaren driver Norris.

Otherwise he would have chatted with race winner Charles Leclerc and his Ferrari teammates in the cool-down room and sprayed the podium with the winner's sparkling wine. As it was, Verstappen extended his lead by another three points after winning the sprint earlier in the day and now leads Norris by 57 points after five races.

But again the three-time world champion celebrated his last Grand Prix win in Spain. “It was a tough race, I wasn't fast enough to attack,” he admitted. So he had to defend against Norris. “I have my opinion, but I won't say it here,” Verstappen insisted of the fight that led to Norris' penalty: “I'll let the race officials do their thing.”

Red Bull's motorsport adviser Helmut emphasized Marco Verstappen and his fierce defense: “It's clear he's not an orphan.” “I tried and he came off the track as well. He was too hard to maneuver and I think he got an advantage.” But he didn't want to complain now.

A decision made in the first few meters

Austin kept his word again and delivered a display from the first few metres. Norris got away well, 31 thousandths of a second to take goal for the sixth time this season, but Verstappen was not displeased in the slightest. Second starting position doesn't have to be a disadvantage on the Circuit of the Americas. After an uphill section with gradients of up to 15 percent, the course makes a tight left bend and descends again.

Norris quickly moved into fourth place

So Norris went in, but that didn't faze Verstappen and he held on. But all was fair. The two world championship duels were wheel-to-wheel riding, but there had to be plenty of space outside the curve. And Leclerc took advantage as he pushed the two inside to take the lead.

Sains also passed Norris. Having teased the nerves of the Red Bull camp before and after his days in Texas, the Brit lost first place by seconds and was chased down by Leclerc, Verstappen and Sainz early on. “We can win the race, we can lose it, it's mine,” he said before the start.

Ferrari had already made people sit up and take notice in the sprints and qualifying, unlike the two Mercedes. Reigning world champion Lewis Hamilton missed a weekend in his beloved United States. In sprint qualifying he was slowed by a competitor's spin on the top lap, and in the 100km race he finished no better than sixth. A few hours later, qualifying for the Grand Prix finished early: 19th and second last.

And then in a race that Hamilton had already won five times: he left with Mercedes, which had changed significantly, and could not continue. In his neon-colored shoes and gloves, he walked awkwardly on the gravel around his car as people shouted his name from the stands.

A petrol smell in Sainz's Ferrari and a problem in Verstappen's car

Hamilton's personal disaster prompted a short safety car phase as the race reopened, with Leclerc defending his lead. In general, everything was fine at the front until Sines noticed the smell of petrol in the cockpit and worried about the Ferrari's engine. Then Verstappen got word that something was wrong with his car.

All false alarms. However, Verstappen lost a place to Sainz during the pit stop but held on ahead of Norris, who was out for more time on his first tyres. It worked. With a fresh tyre, Norris caught Verstappen.

Over the lap he tried to pass Verstappen, the world championship duels were little between them and gave the American fans an entertaining battle, Norris attacked once and passed Verstappen. Both left the track, which called race stewards into action and caused frantic radio reports.

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