2023 United States Grand Prix Summary

The 2023 United States Grand Prix was one of the closest races of the 2023 season.

The race was packed with action since the beginning of the first lap. The McLaren of Oscar Piastri and Alpine of Esteban Ocon made contact in the second turn on lap one.

While both drivers seemed to keep their pace for a while, Ocon started falling down the grid after a few laps as his pace disappeared and retired his car on lap seven.

Not long after, on lap 10, Oscar Pastri was told by his team to bring the car back to the pits to retire carefully. The lap-one incident, therefore, put both drivers out of the race.

As the race evolved, there were three main candidates for a win: Max Verstappen, who started from sixth place, Lando Norris, and Lewis Hamilton.

It wasn't clear from the beginning whether the race would be one-stop or top-stop, but it turned out the two-stop strategy was the better. Charles Leclerc, who attempted the one-stop starting from the pole, finished in sixth place.

Both Aston Martin drivers who started from the pit lane performed a great race, getting inside the top ten before lap 50. However, due to technical issues, Fernando Alonso was forced to retire his car on lap 51.

Nearing the end of the race, Verstappen was in the lead, with Hamilton on fresher medium compound tires in the second place slowly catching up to him.

The seven-time World Champion managed to close the gap to almost one second during the final lap of the race, but in the end, Verstappen managed to keep his position.

The Flying Dutchman finished first, followed by Hamilton in second place, and Lando Norris crossed the line 10 seconds later to take the third position.

A few hours after the race, it was announced that Lewis Hamilton and Charles Leclerc were disqualified due to their cars not meeting technical requirements in the post-race inspection.

Both drivers were consequently put out of points, leaving one space on the podium and two positions in the top ten to be filled. Norris moved up to second place, and Carlos Sainz took the third place.

Alex Albon and Logan Sargeant, who were firstly 11th and 12th, both moved up into point-scoring positions. The race at Circuit of the Americas will therefore be memorable for the American driver who achieved the first F1 point in his career.