Team scores | Red Bull perfect and Mercedes strategic blunder
F1 News
- GPblog.com
The expectation for the United States Grand Prix was that Mercedes would have a strong race. They were the clear favourites for the race, but in the end it was Max Verstappen who walked away with the win. Strategy played a big role in the final result. Which teams were the best in Austin? GPblog gives out report marks to the teams' performances.
Red Bull Racing - 10
In a weekend where Mercedes were expected to be the strongest, Red Bull's team grabbed a lot of points. Max Verstappen took pole position and the win, while Sergio Perez secured his second consecutive double podium despite a physically demanding race due to a broken water bottle. Red Bull's strategy worked out perfectly with Verstappen's undercut on Lewis Hamilton and Perez's extended exit.
Ferrari - 9
Ferrari had a strong race with Charles Leclerc finishing fourth and basically in the middle of nowhere. Carlos Sainz's strategy of starting on the soft tyre didn't work out and may have cost him a few places. He did manage to finish ahead of the McLaren of Lando Norris.
Aston Martin - 6.5
Sebastian Vettel's start from the back of the grid didn't stop him from doing a lot of overtaking and finishing tenth in the points. Stroll's race is one to forget, but Vettel's race shows that the team still has a good pace.
McLaren - 7
McLaren had a solid fight with Ferrari this weekend. Especially Daniel Ricciardo and Carlos Sainz didn't give each other any space during the race, but the Australian managed to finish ahead of both Sainz and Bottas in P5. Lando Norris eventually finishes on P7 behind Sainz. Still, the team had expected more from this weekend, as Charles Leclerc finished ahead of both McLarens on P4. The two teams are still battling it out for P3 in the constructors' championship.
Mercedes - 9
The German team did all they could in the situation. They selected a strategy for Hamilton that favoured fresh tyres over track position. It turned out to be the losing strategy, but they gave Hamilton the opportunity to win the race.
AlphaTauri - 6
It looked like a good race for the team after a strong qualifying with both drivers in Q3, but unfortunately, Pierre Gasly crashed out early in the race due to a problem with the rear suspension. Yuki Tsunoda still managed to secure two points for Red Bull's sister team.
Williams - 4
We didn't see much of the Williams drivers during the race. George Russell and Nicholas Latifi finished P14 and P15, leaving only the Haas cars behind. The Williams car doesn't seem to be very competitive for the time being.
Alfa Romeo - 6
A spin meant that Kimi Raikkonen missed out on points and Antonio Giovinazzi also finished just outside the points. The Italian did have a strong qualifying, but converting qualifying into points on Sunday still isn't happening.
Haas - 4.5
For Haas, it was another colourless Sunday. The car simply cannot keep up with the pace of the rest of the grid and both drivers finished the race two laps down. Mick Schumacher did manage to beat his teammate Nikita Mazepin by over a minute.
Alpine - 3.5
Both Fernando Alonso and Esteban Ocon crashed out in Austin. It's a weekend to forget for Alpine. The team's reliability is still not perfect and Alonso was more concerned with penalties from the stewards than an overtaking race itself.