2023 F1 American GP Recap

Written By Nividh Singh
 

From Daniel Ricciardo’s return to Hamilton and Leclerc’s DQ to Logan Sargeant’s first points, the American GP was full of excitement.

The 3-day American GP weekend was filled with adventure, from quali to sprint to the race on Sunday.

Race Results

To no one’s surprise, Max Verstappen crossed the checkered flag first, followed by Lando in second, Carlos in third, and Checko in fourth. Logan Sargeant finished in 10th, earning his first-ever point in f1. After an early collision, both Ocon and Piastri had damage to their cars and retired early. Additionally, Alonso had to retire early due to a mechanical issue. Finally, Hamilton and Leclerc were disqualified and lost their second and sixth-place finishes.

Daniel Ricciardo’s Return

The American GP marked the long-awaited return of Australian driver Daniel Ricciardo after he injured his left hand in the Dutch Grand Prix almost two months ago. Ricciardo was able to make it to Q2, qualifying 15th for the GP, 4 places behind his teammate Tsunoda. Then, in the Sprint Shootout, he barely missed Q1, finishing 11th, 8 places ahead of Tsunoda. He eventually went on to place 12th in the Sprint. On Sunday, AlphaTauri elected to go for the one-stop strategy with Ricciardo, which didn’t play out well and resulted in a fifteenth-place finish. Overall, it wasn’t a great weekend for Ricciardo, but definitely showed he still has what it takes to be a competitive F1 driver.

Hamilton and Leclerc Disqualification

A few hours after the race, it was announced that both Lewis Hamilton and Charles Leclerc were disqualified from the American GP. After the race, both cars were inspected by the FIA Technical team who found irregularities after a plank wear inspection was carried out. The Delegate’s report stated that “The skids located in the area -825 ≥ XR ≥ - 1025 are found to be not in compliance with Article 3.5.9 e) of the 2023 Formula One Technical Regulations.” After the ruling, both teams sent a representative to talk with the Stewards, arguing that the high wear was probably a result of the bumpy track and the lack of time to repair the car between the sprint and race. However, the Stewards noted that the rules are clear that teams must ensure that the car is in compliance with regulations at all times of the event.

Max’s Brake Problems

During the final two laps of the race, Max’s Redbull was having problems with the breaking. Max had been rising from his sixth-place start and eventually had about a six-second lead at about the 52nd/56 lap. He had a clear path to his 50th victory and 15th win at the American GP. The team had changed the brakes between the Sprint and race and Max had problems with them the whole race but still managed to keep a competitive pace. However, in the last few laps, the problem increased, and he was losing half a second at every major breaking zone and eventually finished just 2 seconds ahead of Hamilton.

Yuki Tsunoda’s Fastest Lap

Towards the end of the race, AlphaTauri had Ricciardo pit for softs so he could get the fastest lap instead of another team (the extra point is only for the top ten, so he wouldn’t get the extra point). However, a few laps later Albon, who was behind Tsunoda got a five-second penalty for track limits, giving Yuki a substantial gap behind him. This led to AlphaTauri pitting him for softs so he could get the fastest lap with the extra point. Tsunoda said he nearly had a heart attack after being told to box in the second to last lap of the race. After Hamilton and Leclerc DQed, this brought Yuki’s total points to 5 for the day, doubling the teams points this season.

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Nividh Singh
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