Mercedes has been dominating the Austin track, winning five times since opening in 2012
red-hot rivalry between Max Verstappen And Lewis Hamilton Returned to the race track with a flip of the finger and humiliation.
It was only practice but the exchange between the Formula One title contenders for the spirited opening day of the US Grand Prix on Friday, 22 October showed that the championship duel between Red Bull and Mercedes drivers reached its climax in the final. Used to be. Season six races.
There were only minutes into second practice when Verstappen and Hamilton found themselves entering long straights on the side-by-side starting grid.
Verstappen said he was in first place, but Hamilton ran with him to the end and took the inside line to the corner. It’s the kind of risky, wheel-to-wheel-trick maneuvers rarely practice, especially given their history of collisions the two have done this season.
Verstappen backed out, but flipped his middle right finger to Hamilton and called Hamilton a “stupid idiot” in a radio message to the Red Bull garage.
“Ignore it,” was the message back from the team.
It’s impossible to ignore Sunday’s race and what’s to come between them afterward. Verstappen held a modest six-point lead over Hamilton for the season’s championship as the 24-year-old Dutchman chased down his first championship.
Hamilton (36) has won seven championships and will be the eighth player to break the most title clashes in F1 history with Michael Schumacher.
“I don’t know, we were all lined up to go on our laps and I really don’t understand what happened there,” Verstappen said of the struggle with Hamilton.
The race to Texas as the series heads next to Mexico City is the first of a two-part swing in North America. Last season both races were canceled amid the pandemic.
Mercedes has dominated the Austin track, winning five times since it opened in 2012. Hamilton has won four of those races and teammate Valtteri Bottas won in 2019. Bottas and Hamilton went 1-2 in Friday morning’s first practice.
Verstappen was third behind the Mercedes drivers in the first session, and the incident with Hamilton in second practice was another disappointment for the Dutchman. In the afternoon Verstappen was well away from the leaders’ pace while Red Bull teammate Sergio Perez was the fastest.
But sailing in the garage of Mercedes was not easy. Bottas’ car required an internal combustion unit change and would face a grid penalty on Sunday. Hamilton had the same issue two weeks ago and another engine issue at this stage of the season could have a huge impact on the championship.
“I think you see we suffer from credibility this year,” said Mercedes boss Toto Wolff. “We’re really trying to get on top of the problems. The points lost can be decisive.”
Formula 1 has not seen such a tight championship battle since Hamilton’s loss to teammate Nico Rosberg in 2016. No two teams have fought so late this season since 2012, when Red Bull’s Sebastian Vettel rallied of late to beat. Ferrari’s Fernando Alonso.
Race weekend is expected to draw huge crowds with Sunday’s race expected to have a capacity of 1,40,000. Although the entire series is experiencing more attention and energy in America, in COTA it is Perez who is the star of the show.
The Guadalajara, Mexico native, was overjoyed when he had his car on the track first in the morning, and then when he practiced second. He drew at least 10,000 spectators to a performance in downtown Dallas last weekend, and it’s just a preview of what’s to come next week for him in Mexico City, where he’s loved.
“I don’t feel that far away from my people, and the support I get in the United States is incredible,” Perez said, adding, “Without a doubt, I will be the most supported driver on Sunday.”
Off the track, reports of Michael Andretti’s bid to take over Alfa Romeo continued to flow through the paddock. The US owner of Andretti Autosport and the son of former F1 champion Mario Andretti has been vocal in expanding his reach in F1.
Jack Brown, McLaren’s US chief and a friend and business associate of Andretti, would not reveal how close Andretti might be on a deal.
“What I can say is that he is very serious about Formula One. He loves Formula One,” Brown said. “Obviously, he has a lot of history, including that of his father being the world champion. I think it would be great if Michael and Andretti were named in Formula One. We’ll see what happens.”
There is speculation that Andretti will attempt to move 21-year-old American IndyCar driver Colton Herta to F1 if he can obtain the licenses Herta needs to compete. But even without Huerta there could be an American driver on the way.
Williams said on Friday it has signed 20-year-old Logan Sargent to its driver development academy after three seasons in Formula 3. There has been no American driver in F1 since Alexander Rossi’s brief stint with Manor in late 2015.
“We expect that to move fast,” said Williams chief executive Jost Capito. “We’ll have a great program for that.”
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