Max second in USA after great catch-up race: 'I am very happy'

Published on 22 October 2018 by Mike Motilall

Max Verstappen came home second fastest after a brilliant race at the Grand Prix of the United States. Starting from 18th on the grid, the Dutchman was ninth after just one lap and after seven laps he was running in fifth. Verstappen was able to keep up with the tempo at the front and managed his tyres well. After he successfully fended off an attack by Mercedes-driver Lewis Hamilton, Verstappen was able to bring home his eighth podium finish this year. Kimi Raikkonen quite surprisingly took the checkered flag. The last race the Finn won was that of the Australian Grand Prix in 2013.

Max is of course afterwards extremely happy about his race: “It was a bit unsuspected. We had a good start and a good first lap and then very quickly we were back again in P4. We could follow the leaders and also had a really good pace. We made the right call to undercut Valtteri and from there onwards we could drive our own race. At the end we could put a bit pressure on, but unfortunately we ran out of super-soft tyres compared to the softs from the drivers around me. I am still very happy. I even destroyed my shoe, because I was pushing a bit hard.”

With three laps to go, Hamilton engaged Verstappen, but the Dutchman was able to fend off the attack by the Briton, albeit it took all of the skills of the youngster to do so. Max shares with us how the closing stages were for him: “At that time I was really struggling with the rear tyres. I locked up in Turn twelve. It was a good fight at the hairpin and on the right-hand corner I was pushing as much as I could but hanging on. Clearly Lewis was also already on the edge, so I was happy of course to stay in second.”

“I am very happy. We controlled the race well and I was very happy to take those super-softs to the end of the race. For sure in the traffic and with Kimi in front of me and Lewis behind of me on fresher tyres. I even destroyed my shoe, because I pushed that hard. My shoe is completely worn out, just a few more laps and I would have bruised my toes.”

The Mexican Grand Prix is on the agenda next week. Last year Max was able to take home the victory very dominantly, so the expectations are very high this time round: “Hopefully we have a good qualifying and in the race we certainly have a better pace”, the youngster concludes.

After a disappointing qualifying, in which Max could not partake in Q2 due to a damaged suspension, insult is added to injury when also his gearbox of his RB14 is changed. This means the Dutchman will have to start the race from P18.

At the start, Raikkonen has a clean getaway and the Finn takes the lead over from Hamilton who was on pole. Fernando Alonso and Lance Stroll come into contact with each other at Turn five, while Romain Grosjean sends Charles Leclerc’s Sauber spinning. Alonso and Grosjean are the first two dropouts as a result of the two crash incidents. Sebastian Vettel spins on the first lap in an effort to overtake Daniel Ricciardo and ultimately finds himself all the way at the back of the field.

Verstappen has a good start. He keeps his nose clean and is ninth already after just one lap. In the following laps, Max makes little work of his peers in the midfield and on lap seven he is in P5, behind of his team mate Ricciardo.

On lap nine, Max moves up a spot as Ricciardo drops out with some kind of a technical issue. The Ozzie is forced to park his RB14 trackside, every bit of hope out the window. This triggers a brief Virtual Safetycar-condition. Hamilton seizes the opportunity to change his tyres, as race leader Raikkonen stays out. When the track has been given clear on lap twelve, Valtteri Bottas quickly lets his team mate Hamilton by, putting the latter in second again.

Hamilton then sets his sights on Raikkonen. The Finn pits on lap 22, handing back the lead to Hamilton. Verstappen follows suit one lap later. The Dutchman swaps his set of softs for a set of the super-softs and rejoins in fifth. This turns to fourth when Bottas pits one lap later.

Verstappen overtakes Vettel in Turn 17 on lap 27 and is with that set for a podium finish. Leclerc is on lap 33 the fourth dropout of the race when he is asked to retire the car; he does what he is told as he parks his car in the pits. On lap 37, Hamilton stops for a second time and drops back to fourth. Raikkonen re-takes the lead with Verstappen behind him, trailing by some three second, in second.

On his new set of rubber, Hamilton is gaining on Verstappen and Raikkonen over a second every lap. With still three laps to go, and all three drivers within two seconds of each other, Verstappen locks up at Turn twelve. This gives Hamilton an opportunity to strike. The Briton tries to overtake Max at Turn 18 on the outside, but goes too wide. This opens the door for Kimi Raikkonen to his first victory in over five years. Verstappen concludes a fantastic catch-up race by coming home in second. Hamilton is forced to postpone his world championship party as he finishes third fastest. Vettel is fourth, while Bottas crosses the line in fifth. Renault has made major strides regarding the fourth place in the constructors’ championship as Nico Hulkenberg and Carlos Sainz finish sixth and seventh. Esteban Ocon, Kevin Magnussen and Sergio Perez complete the top ten.

Results Grand Prix United States: