(Photo by Rudy Carezzevoli/Getty Images)

F1 Review: Max Verstappen Unchallenged At COTA, Lando Norris Grabs Needed Points

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Pole-sitter Max Verstappen dominated from start to finish and easily won the MSC Cruises United State Grand Prix on Sunday (October 19th), further eating into Oscar Piastri’s championship lead, a gap which is now 40 points after the McLaren driver’s fifth-place finish. 

Lando Norris chased down Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc to take second and now trails his teammate by just 14 points.

Leclerc was third, and his Ferrari teammate Lewis Hamilton held off the charging Piastri for fourth. Mercedes’ George Russell took sixth, Red Bull’s Yuki Tsunoda took seventh. Sauber’s Nico Hülkenberg was eighth, Haas’ Oliver Bearman was ninth after qualifying eighth, and Aston Martin’s Fernando Alonso was 10th.

“It was an unbelievable weekend for us,” said Verstappen. “I knew that the race was not going to be super forward. If you look at the whole race, the pace between myself and Lando was really close. Just in that first stint was where we made the difference and I could eke out a bit of a gap, which is basically what we kept to the end.

“It wasn’t easy to manage the tyres for most of the stints, but we kept it in the lead and I’m just incredibly proud of everyone to be able to deliver a weekend like this.”

In the driver standings, Piastri’s lead shrank to 14 over Norris, and leads his teammate 346 to 332. Verstappen sits third with 306 points and absolutely holds all of the momentum as F1 heads to Mexico City next week.

In the constructors standings, the already-crowned champions McLaren have a lead even they can’t blow, 678 to 341. A big points haul for Ferrari brought them closer to Mercedes, with Mercedes narrowly ahead 341 to 334.

The Race

Verstappen beat Norris up the hill to Turn 1, but Leclerc on soft tires swept past Norris for second. Piastri overtook Russell for fifth as Verstappen opened up over a second lead.

While Norris chased Leclerc, Verstappen extended his lead to over three seconds, and any hope of Norris chasing down Verstappen diminished with each lap behind the Ferrari. 

A virtual safety car came out on lap 7 after Carlos Sainz hit Kimi Antonelli’s Mercedes, and Sainz’s Williams sat disabled at Turn 19 while Antonelli’s machine survived the impact. Unfortunately for everyone except for Verstappen, a full safety car was not needed.

With Verstappen’s lead now up to four seconds, Piastri complained of a left front tire issue, and even the trailing Russell noticed that the McLaren was slow. 

Norris desperately tried to clear Leclerc on lap 16, but brilliant and fair defense by the Ferrari driver kept Norris behind.

Norris finally cleared Leclerc on lap 22, and was congratulated by his McLaren squad with a warning that he was very close to a track limits violation five-second penalty. At this point, Verstappen was 10 seconds clear of the McLaren and had effectively removed himself from any race drama. 

With pit stops upcoming and realistically no chance of catching Verstappen, Norris could at least rest easy that second was well in his grasp. And with Piastri mired in fourth and struggling with tire wear, Norris was likely assured of taking points off of Piastri’s championship lead. 

Norris pitted on lap 33 and began the task of chasing down Leclerc to reclaim second. Verstappen was in a lap later and a quick stop kept the Red Bull well ahead of the field. The remaining 22 laps were a mere formality. 

The little drama remaining in the race was Norris’ pursuit of Leclerc in second. If successful in overtaking the Ferrari, Norris would pick up an extra three points. Norris had to cool his soft tires midway through his final stint, but charged back to within DRS range with five laps to go, and slipped by Leclerc into Turn 11.

Verstappen took the Shaboozey-waved checkered flag with a seven-second cushion, nearly completing the COTA grand slam (sprint pole, sprint win, race pole, and race win), lacking only the fastest lap.

The Good

If you don’t think Verstappen has the upper hand, then you’d probably buy a car warranty just because Danica Patrick told you to.

McLaren didn’t win the race, or come close to winning the race, but they should view the day as a huge success. Hold those heads high, McLaren. Your drivers didn’t collide with each other, both cars finished the race, and you didn’t put yourself in a position to make a controversial or laughable team order decision. That’s a win-win-win, and if there’s anything McLaren needs, it’s anything that can be called a win. 

Haas’ Oliver Bearman quietly had himself quite the weekend in Austin. On Saturday (October 18th), Bearman qualified eighth for his best ever F1 race start. In Sunday’s (October 19th) race, the 20-year-old Bearman came home ninth to give Haas two points on their home soil. Bearman’s real accomplishment, however, was displaying the self-control needed to continually refuse any type of alcoholic celebratory beverage for his efforts. 

The Bad

While McLaren’s recent and growing-in-length slump has been good for Verstappen, it has also been good for anyone who hates hearing Zak Brown talk, which, I believe is at least half the fans. 

Don’t get me wrong, Brown is a great leader – when McLaren is winning races. His leadership shines, when it is least-needed. Yes, I understand Piastri and Norris lead Verstappen by 40 and 26 points, respectively, in the drivers championship, but Brown seems unable to admit, or acknowledge, that issues need to be addressed within the team. 

When interviewed, Brown is forever the eternal optimist. Piastri is the Australian, but Brown’s attitude seems to always be the equivalent of “No worries,” despite what’s on fire around him. Well, now is the time to worry. Your drivers can’t win races, which wouldn’t be an issue if Verstappen wasn’t winning races. And Verstappen is winning races.

Currently, McLaren and Brown have done nothing to make themselves, or Verstappen, believe that they can prevent the Dutchman from claiming his fifth world championship, at the devastating expense of McLaren. 

What can Brown do to improve the situation? I don’t know, maybe yell at someone. Piastri and Norris could be sternly reminded that they have cars good enough to win. And McLaren pit stops haven’t been anywhere near pristine. Pit stops that should take around two seconds are taking 4-6 seconds. And the issue seems to be a left-front tire wheel gun. 

As I said before, McLaren is still in good shape. I would say great shape if their pursuer was any driver other than Verstappen. McLaren should win the drivers championship. However, another Verstappen win and another race weekend of McLaren struggles, then McLaren could find themselves like Laurent Mekies’ hair in a wind storm—–in total disarray.

Grid Walk Moments

Sky Sport’s pre-race show featured the trio of Anthon Davidson, Danica Patrick, and Jenson Button discussing the race while a parade of lifted monster trucks roared past them. Sadly, the noise wasn’t enough to drown out Patrick’s voice. 

Martin Brundle was joined on the Grid Walk by Austin native and generically-bland Hollywood heartthrob Glen Powell. Brundle gave Powell a crash course on F1 performance, strategy, and aerodynamics. Boring.

Give the people what they want. Powell is the star of the comedy series “Chad Powers,” in which a disgraced college football player dons a wig and prosthetics to disguise himself  in order to join a new team. I think you know where I’m going here. Powell should have disguised himself as Brundle and then done the Grid Walk, with Brundle, of course, feeding him lines via an earpiece.  

Sadly, Powell was the only celebrity Brundle encountered during his Grid Walk. That caused Brundle to resort to the old standby of interviewing a random fan. Also sadly, it was the most entertaining part of the Grid Walk. 

The Driver

What can you say about Verstappen that hasn’t been said before? Not much.

Verstappen has perfected the art of the race start, and if he’s starting on the pole, that lead is pretty much guaranteed coming out of Turn 1. That was the case in Austin, when Verstappen led easily off the line, while the driver with the car to possibly match him, Norris, had his usual start, a bad one, and was passed by Leclerc. After that, the race was essentially over.

Verstappen is driving with robotic efficiency, and when that’s combined with a Red Bull he drives to the absolute limit, it’s an unstoppable combination.

While Verstappen is trimming points off Piastri’s lead in small increments, it’s not enough to say he’s “inching” closer towards the lead. There are loud “foot” steps, and McLaren hears them, everywhere.

The Results (MSC Cruises United States Grand Prix, Circuit Of The Americas)

Pos.No.DriverTeamLapsTime / RetiredPts.
11Max VerstappenRed Bull Racing561:34:00.16125
24Lando NorrisMcLaren56+7.959s18
316Charles LeclercFerrari56+15.373s15
444Lewis HamiltonFerrari56+28.536s12
581Oscar PiastriMcLaren56+29.678s10
663George RussellMercedes56+33.456s8
722Yuki TsunodaRed Bull Racing56+52.714s6
827Nico HulkenbergKick Sauber56+57.249s4
987Oliver BearmanHaas F1 Team56+64.722s2
1014Fernando AlonsoAston Martin56+70.001s1
1130Liam LawsonRacing Bulls56+73.209s0
1218Lance StrollAston Martin56+74.778s0
1312Kimi AntonelliMercedes56+75.746s0
1423Alexander AlbonWilliams56+80.000s0
1531Esteban OconHaas F1 Team56+83.043s0
166Isack HadjarRacing Bulls56+92.807s0
1743Franco ColapintoAlpine55+1 lap0
185Gabriel BortoletoKick Sauber55+1 lap0
1910Pierre GaslyAlpine55+1 lap0
NC55Carlos SainzWilliams5DNF0
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