Formula 1: Max Verstappen gets win No. 15 of 2023 at United States Grand Prix

UPDATE 9 p.m. ET, Sunday, Oct. 22: Lewis Hamilton and Charles Leclerc disqualified after United States Grand Prix

Max Verstappen drove away from Lando Norris over the second half of the United States Grand Prix to get his 15th win of the season Sunday.

Verstappen started sixth and took the lead for the first time on lap 28 of the 56-lap race, passing Norris. Verstappen then had plenty of margin over the final five laps of the race to keep Lewis Hamilton at bay after Hamilton got past Norris for second.

Hamilton got within two seconds over the final two laps as Verstappen dealt with apparent brake issues, but the lead Verstappen established over the second half of the race was more than enough to secure the victory.

The victory ties the record for wins in a season that Verstappen set a season ago. Verstappen won 15 of 22 races in 2022 on the way to his second straight Formula 1 title.

There are four races to go in the 2023 season; Verstappen will assuredly break his own record. He easily won his third consecutive title earlier this season, as he’s in the midst of what could be the most dominant F1 season of all time.

Verstappen started sixth because his pole-winning lap was deleted in qualifying for exceeding track limits. He got to fifth by the first corner and managed his pace over the opening stint of the race. After pitting for medium compound tires — the same type of tires he started the race on — Verstappen and Red Bull committed to a two-stop strategy with hard tires on the final stint.

Norris ran hard tires on his latter two stints after starting on the mediums, while Hamilton’s late pace advantage came from mediums at the end after starting on the medium tires and then using the hard compound.

Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc dropped to sixth on a one-stop strategy, as he was overtaken by teammate Carlos Sainz for fourth and Sergio Perez for fifth. Leclerc was the only driver who made it to the completion of the race on one pit stop.

Hamilton gains on Perez

Hamilton entered Sunday third in the points standings and 27 points back of Perez in second. He scored 18 points to cut Perez’s lead to 19 with four races to go.

Perez has struggled to keep pace with his teammate, especially over the second half of the season. It’s feasible — even likely — that Hamilton catches Perez for second before the season is over. Mercedes introduced a new floor for the USGP, and that floor kept the car competitive with Red Bull. Hamilton was less than two-tenths off the pole time Friday and finished a comfortable second behind Verstappen in Saturday’s sprint race.

Win No. 50 for Verstappen

The victory is Verstappen’s third Grand Prix win at Circuit of the Americas and the 50th of his career. He’s the fifth-winningest driver in F1 history and can tie Alain Prost for fourth on the all-time wins list with his next victory. It’s also not inconceivable that Verstappen could tie Sebastian Vettel for third at 53 wins before the season is over.

Verstappen has gotten those 50 wins in just 181 career starts. He has won at least one race in all but one of his seasons in Formula 1 and has won 40 of the past 62 races dating to the start of the 2021 season.

Aston Martin’s trying weekend

Both Aston Martin cars of Fernando Alonso and Lance Stroll started the race from pit lane after the team’s upgrades for the race weekend made the cars slower relative to the rest of the field Friday. The team reverted back to the previous car configuration for Alonso, and he had some speed through the first half of the race. But he was forced to park the car before the finish because of a mechanical problem.

Stroll was able to bounce back and finish ninth. That’s a big deal; he’d been mired in a massive slump entering the weekend and hadn’t scored points in a Grand Prix since Spa in August.

United States Grand Prix results

1. Max Verstappen, Red Bull

2. Lewis Hamilton, Mercedes

3. Lando Norris, McLaren

4. Carlos Sainz, Ferrari

5. Sergio Perez, Red Bull

6. Charles Leclerc, Ferrari

7. George Russell, Mercedes

8. Pierre Gasly, Alpine

9. Lance Stroll, Aston Martin

10. Yuki Tsunoda, AlphaTauri

11. Alex Albon, Williams

12. Logan Sergeant, Williams

13. Nico Hulkenberg, Haas

14. Valtteri Bottas, Alfa Romeo

15. Zhou Guanyu, Alfa Romeo

16. Kevin Magnussen, Haas

17. Daniel Ricciardo, AlphaTauri

Not classified:
Fernando Alonso, Aston Martin
Oscar Piastri, McLaren
Esteban Ocon, Alpine