From second on the grid, Hamilton had a fantastic start off the line in Austin but Verstappen made a strong comeback and went on to win the race.
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In the 2021 United States Grand Prix, Max Verstappen defeated title rival Lewis Hamilton in a thrilling duel, with Red Bull gaining ground on Mercedes thanks to Perez’s podium finish – and the championship leader extending his lead to 12 points. From second on the grid, Hamilton had a fantastic start off the line in Austin, and despite Verstappen squeezing him as far down the inside as possible in the run-up to Turn 1, the Briton gained P1 from the Dutchman to lead going into the esses. Starting third, Perez trailed and began to lose hundredths, then tenths to the leaders.
On Lap 11, Red Bull championship contender Verstappen pitted from medium to hard tyres, while Mercedes’ reigning champion Hamilton followed on Lap 14 only to finish second behind the undercutting Red Bull driver. But there was another pit stop ahead of us in the blazing Texas sun. The second set of stops came on Lap 29 when Verstappen came in for another set of hards, followed by teammate Perez – while Hamilton stayed out longer, holding a fragile 16-second lead over Verstappen. “We’re racing for the win,” Team Principal Toto Wolff told him.
“Leave me to it,” Hamilton replied. He pitted on Lap 37 with an 11.5s lead, stopped on his marks, and was back out in second on new hard tyres – 8.8s behind Verstappen this time – for a chase to the checkered flag.
The last three laps are crucial, Hamilton was told. And it was, as the gap to Verstappen didn’t begin to close until Lap 41 of 56, when the leader encountered backmarkers. With five laps remaining, the gap between the front two was just 1.7 seconds, and Hamilton had DRS on Verstappen on the final lap. But the Dutchman found just enough speed on his worn, hard compounds to win by 1.3 seconds in what team boss Christian Horner described as a “classy” performance. Perez finished on the podium in third place.
Charles Leclerc drove brilliantly to P4 for Ferrari after initially holding off Daniel Ricciardo of McLaren, the Australian having made up one place at the expense of Carlos Sainz. Valtteri Bottas was sixth for Mercedes, ahead of Carlos Sainz, who was passed for the position late in the race by the Mercedes driver, who had started ninth.
Lando Norris, Ricciardo’s teammate, finished eighth after losing a position to Bottas after the second set of pit stops. Yuki Tsunoda was P9 behind Norris, the rookie having started 10th on soft tyres but handling the fragile compounds expertly, gaining a place as AlphaTauri teammate Pierre Gasly retired with suspension issues.
Sebastian Vettel of Aston Martin finished in the final point-paying position after starting 18th due to an engine change penalty. On Lap 42, Esteban Ocon of Alpine was the next retiree. With five laps remaining, his Alpine teammate Alonso followed him into the pits from P14, citing a rear wing issue.
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