Sky Sports: Hamilton was left frustratingly short after a strong weekend
‘Max Verstappen beats Lewis Hamilton for win before Mercedes driver disqualified from second’, is the title of the British one Sky Sports. In particular the last element, the disqualification of the British number two in the race, is discussed in detail. “Hamilton finished on Verstappen’s tail, but lost second place in the hours after the race. The skid blocks under his Mercedes were too worn, contrary to the technical F1 rules.”
Later in the story it is about Max Verstappen, who had to go deep for a change to secure the fiftieth victory of his career. The author: “Earlier in the race, Verstappen, who secured his third consecutive drivers’ title five races before the end, seemed to be cruising calmly to victory. Starting from sixth place, he led halfway through the Grand Prix. An apparent braking problem left Verstappen irritated and vulnerable. For example, he cursed several times at his race engineer over the on-board radio who talked to him in the braking zones. In the final laps the gap was less than two seconds, but in the end Verstappen held on. After a strong weekend, Hamilton was frustratingly short of achieving his first victory since December 2021. Although it later turned out that a possible victory would be taken away with the disqualification.”
Bild: He wins and he wins, and even beats himself!
Also in German Bild it mainly concerns the events after the race, even though there was more than enough spectacle to see during the Grand Prix. “He wins and he wins, and even beats himself!”, the race report opens. By this the editor is referring to the next record that the Dutchman has broken this year: the number of points during a season. With his victory in Austin, the Red Bull driver already has 466 points with four weekends to go. “In 2022, Verstappen collected ‘only’ 454 points. In total, he has racked up more than 90 percent of the possible points this season. Another record!”
Of course, attention is also paid here to Hamilton’s disqualification Charles Leclerc after the race. “Lewis Hamilton drove his Mercedes to second place. Leclerc crossed the line in sixth place. However, the joy was short-lived. The announcement came at 00.29 German time, more than two hours after the finish. Spokespeople for both teams had to report to the match management. The reason: an irregular bottom plate. Then came the disqualification. Very sad for Hamilton and Leclerc!”
Video: Summary of the spectacular F1 race in Austin
L’Equipe: Three-time world champion, the man who wins (almost) every Sunday
“Verstappen signs for his 15th victory of the season,” it says above the race report of the French sports newspaper The team to read. In France it is primarily about the strong performance of the Dutchman. “Three-time world champion, the man who wins (almost) every Sunday. Even when he starts further back. Max Verstappen started sixth after losing his time by a few centimeters in qualifying on Friday. On Sunday he won his third consecutive American Grand Prix, the fiftieth victory of his career.”
From the first moment, all eyes were on the Red Bull driver, even though two Britons led the field. “At the start, the Dutchman kept a cool head in the melee and avoided a touch with Lewis Hamilton in the first corner. He then quietly started his comeback. In a well-planned race, Verstappen passed his two most serious rivals via the pit stops: Lando Norris and Hamilton. From then on it was a matter of driving to the finish. Hamilton, in top form from the first moment on the American circuit, thought he could take the lead in the final laps. He was a few laps short.” In the end it was all for naught for the Briton, who was disqualified after the race. According to the editors, this was mainly due to his team, who had not chosen the correct setting. In the usual jury reports, Mercedes is therefore rated with a 2.
Gazzetta dello Sport: No walk in the park for the Dutch super champion
‘Verstappen also the king in America: 50th victory in F1’, it says above the race report in the Gazzetta dello Sport. However, unlike the previous races, this time it was not so easy. The Dutchman had to deal with serious braking problems in the final phase. The author also saw this: “Verstappen and Red Bull are dominant, but this GP was no walk in the park for the Dutch super champion. The sixth starting position forced him to a controlled first phase. Norris and Hamilton seemed to be competing for the win.”
Verstappen did not emerge like a hot knife through butter, as was often the case in the past. Yet halfway through the match he was back in control. Credit where credit is due: “In this race too we saw that Verstappen not only wins because of his immense talent, but also because of the excellent work on the pit wall and by his mechanics in the pits. The choice to stop first turned out to be a winner. McLaren was forced to come in as well, Mercedes waited four laps longer and that was quite fatal for Hamilton. The Briton found himself well behind Max, a disadvantage that clearly made a difference in the remainder of the race.” The seven-time world champion ultimately finished within striking distance, but fell short of his first victory in almost two years. Until the race management called the team manager in…
Analysis: What went wrong for Lewis Hamilton and Charles Leclerc in Austin?
The post first appeared on nl.motorsport.com