Autobayng News Team
Max Verstappen boosted his championship chances by scoring his fifth grand prix victory of the season in Austin.
He’s now won as many races as Lando Norris this year but two fewer than points leader Oscar Piastri. The Red Bull driver is now 40 points off the championship lead.
He is therefore still in with a chance of becoming only the second driver in Formula 1 history after Michael Schumacher to win five consecutive world championship titles. But Schumacher’s Ferrari team also won the constructors’ championship in each of those seasons, while Red Bull is currently only fourth in the points.
It is not unprecedented for a driver to win the world championship in a season where their team finishes so low in the standings. In 1982 Keke Rosberg won the drivers’ title while at Williams, who ended the year behind three other teams in the championship.
Williams had won the constructors’ championship in the two previous seasons but lost the driver pairing that delivered it. Alan Jones quit at the end of 1981 while Carlos Reutemann, despite finishing second in the season-opener, retired from F1 after the following round.
Like Red Bull this year, Williams therefore found themselves replacing a driver after just two rounds. Mario Andretti took Reutemann’s seat for one race and failed to score, then Derek Daly took over the car for the rest of the year, contributing eight points.
Rosberg won the world championship with just 44 points that year (a win was worth nine), putting Williams on a total of 58. They were beaten by Renault, McLaren and champions Ferrari, who scored 74.
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Although McLaren clinched the constructors’ championship in Singapore, Red Bull could still claim the runner-up spot. They have 331 points to Ferrari’s 334 and Mercedes’ 341, and out-scored both teams last weekend.
Verstappen recorded his 47th pole position and 68th win last weekend. It was his fourth win in the United States Grand Prix and he also won the sprint race at this track for the third time.
With his 122nd podium appearance, Verstappen equalled Sebastian Vettel’s tally, moving into third place in the all-time list. However while Verstappen scored all of his podium finishes at Red Bull, Vettel took almost half of his with different teams: 55 with Ferrari, one with Toro Rosso and one with Aston Martin.
Verstappen also led every lap on Sunday. However Andrea Kimi Antonelli took the fastest lap and denied Verstappen a ‘grand slam’. This was the Mercedes driver’s third fastest lap, meaning he already has as many as Pierre Gasly.
Following McLaren’s disappointment on Saturday, Lando Norris salvaged second place in the grand prix and cut his team mate’s points lead to 14 with five rounds to go. This is the closest the top two in the drivers’ championship have been since Norris won the Hungarian Grand Prix: he retired from second place in the next round in the Netherlands with a technical problem.
McLaren have experienced a dizzying downturn in form since then. Norris’s retirement in the Netherlands cost them the chance to equal the all-time record for most consecutive one-two finishes; it would have been their fifth. They haven’t won any of the four races since then.
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Nor have they been particularly close. McLaren have only led 13 laps over the last four rounds. Prior to that, Verstappen led just 13 of the previous seven.
Finally, Red Bull’s improvement can also be seen in Yuki Tsunoda’s upswing in results. He scored in both races last weekend and has begun climbing the championship standings as a result. Now on 28 points, he has a solid chance of catching ninth-placed Nico Hulkenberg on 41.
Over to you
Have you spotted any other interesting stats and facts from the United States Grand Prix? Share them in the comments.
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