The race in the United States takes place at the end of the season, which often increases the tension in the world championship. It ensures that the GP in America carries an extra load. For example, Lewis Hamilton and Max Verstappen fought hard with each other on the track for important points in the battle for the world title in 2021. That won't be the case in 2023 as Verstappen already has the title wrapped up.
Features of COTA
The circuit was designed by Hermann Tilke who worked hard behind the scenes to make the track as exciting as possible. That's why he decided to get inspiration from other circuits. Turns three to six in particular can be called iconic, and he used Silverstone as his greatest source of inspiration. The drivers follow each other on this section in an undulating movement, in which they can nevertheless pick up a lot of speed.
This is followed by a combination of two long, straight stretches and several points with steep bends, meaning that the Formula 1 teams are faced with a wide variety of turns that they must master. Recent years have shown that it is not always easy for drivers to achieve good performances on the track, which sometimes results in them losing expensive points.
Iconic races in Austin
While Sebastian Vettel won the world title for the third time in a row in 2012, it was Hamilton who took the American victory. The German still took pole position, but was not good enough in the race to beat Hamilton. The following year, Vettel managed to win, after which the Briton was again the best in the GP for four years in a row.
In 2018 and 2019, a Finn was the winner twice. While Kimi Raikkonen was the fastest of the day in his Ferrari in 2018, Valtteri Bottas managed to take victory a year later. In 2020, Hamilton hoped to win the race again, but due to the coronavirus crisis it could not take place. Max Verstappen was able to celebrate victory in the past two seasons.
Max Verstappen at COTA
Verstappen was unable to take victory in the United States for years, until 2021. At that time, the Dutchman was fighting with Hamilton to win the world championship and had a lot of pressure on his shoulders in America. However, it did little for Verstappen, as he performed above expectations on the Austin circuit.
While Hamilton emerged victorious in America five times in the past, he was unable to win in 2021. On the track he seemed to be better than Verstappen, but Red Bull Racing managed to still take the victory through a better strategy. Especially at the end of the race, it created a great spectacle between the Austrians and Germans. In the end, however, Verstappen did not fail.
A year later, Verstappen was again the best. The Red Bull driver finished third in qualifying, but he managed to recover in the race. After Carlos Sainz's failure, Verstappen stayed ahead of the competition and took victory. However, he no longer needed that, because he had already become world champion for the second time. At COTA, Red Bull took the constructors' title in 2022, ending a series of world titles for Mercedes among the teams.
