Max Verstappen wins his fifth Grand Prix in a row in the US
Max Verstappen won the US Grand Prix on Sunday in Austin, Texas. The reigning champion has won his last five races in the United States. It was Verstappen’s 50th victory in his career.
Verstappen comfortably won the sprint race on Saturday but started the race in sixth. Charles Leclerc of Ferrari started the race in pole position, with Lando Norris of McLaren starting in second.
Norris took the pole position at the start of the race, with Verstappen climbing to fifth. The battle continued between the two until the 28th lap when Verstappen went past the English driver.
Despite leading comfortably, Verstappen was frustrated with the break issues in the car. “These brakes are so f****d compared to yesterday, what a piece of s**t,” the 25-year-old said to his team.
Shortly after this, the Red Bull driver went for his second pit stop of the race before returning to overtake Leclerc and retake the top spot.
The brake issues continued to frustrate Verstappen. When his team told him he was at the same speed as second-place Lewis Hamilton of Mercedes, he replied angrily, “Please, no talking, I’m in the braking.” This happened again later in the race when his team gave him an update on the gap to Hamilton.
Mercedes warned Hamilton about Verstappen’s brake issues, ensuring that the former champion went on the offensive starting to close the gap. It got a little close for Verstappen, but a DRS overtake on Zhou Ghuanyu of Alfa Romeo gave him the last push to finish the race and take home the victory.
The next F1 race is in Mexico next week.
