After dominating the Austin sprint race once he’d seen off Charles Leclerc and with Lewis Hamilton’s early time gains quickly reversed, Max Verstappen outlined once again why he detests these shorter contests.
“It takes away that magic of waking up on a Sunday,” he opined. “You turn on the TV and you’ve had qualifying but you're not sure which car is going to be quickest [in the grand prix].”
But, is that an accurate assessment for this weekend in Austin? Does F1 know exactly what is going to happen in the main event today now it has already witnessed a one-stint race at the Circuit of the Americas?
Here we dig into the deeper lessons of Saturday’s 19-lap first race to see if they do indeed indicate a repeat in the headline event.
Yes, Verstappen should still win from sixth
There’s no escaping how even with his relatively lowly grid spot thanks to his Friday night track limits slip, Verstappen remains the heavy favourite to win the 2023 United States Grand Prix.
He should’ve been on pole, after all, as even on a bumpy track that means the teams have had to raise their ride heights – which costs the Red Bull its underfloor downforce prowess, but seemingly not to Singapore levels – the season’s best car retained its typical form.
While Verstappen was closer to the rest in qualifying, in the sprint race his pace was devastating.
Even while managing his medium tyres to the end, he pulled away by an average of 0.6s a lap over Hamilton – from the time the Mercedes slipped out of DRS threat on lap five. The medium and hard tyres will be the rubber of choice for the frontrunners today, over a two-stop strategy contest, such is the thermal degradation management challenge here.
Source: Autosport