A Texas Takeover
We headed into the Austin GP with lots of tension and excitement in the air as Kimi Antonelli had a chance to win the Driver’s Championship five races before the final grand prix of the season. The 5.513 km track has 56 laps and 20 turns to the finish line.
Before the race even started we learned that Rafael Câmara will be replacing Esteban Ocon for Haass for the next season. We also saw multiple teams address the issues they have been facing with their car this season. Drivers have previously mentioned their grievances, but teams were also being more open about the struggles they are facing. We headed into the Austin GP with lots of hope and lots of tension.
Qualifying
Q1 and Q2 passed with only a few track limitations and Antonelli started Q3 off with a near perfect lap. He has been struggling with track limits this season and it was an issue at the GP last year as well. No one was able to beat Antonelli’s pace during Q3 and he qualified in P1. The two RedBulls of Max Verstappen and Isack Hadjar are right behind and rounding out the top five was Charles Leclerc and Lewis Hamilton in the Ferrari.
Race
Lights off and away we went in Austin. Antonelli gets a decent start off the line, but Leclerc was able to get a really good start and he moved from 4th into 2nd place, pushing down Isack Hadjar and Max Verstappen. Hadjar fell back even more into 5th place as Hamilton pulled ahead as well. Verstappen took second place back in that very same lap and in the back of the race we saw Carlos Sainz Jr. get squeezed up against the pit wall by Arvid Lindblad but it did not turn into a crash.
George Russell received a five-second penalty for leaving the track and gaining an advantage, but this could be because Russell did not gain an advantage; he simply swung wide on a turn and then fought to defend his place. Around Lap 20 we saw many drivers come in for a tire change—some drivers had chosen to go with a one-stop plan and others with two-stop. We would only see what paid off better at the end of the race. Russell served his penalty during his pit-stop.
Verstappen took the lead after Antonelli’s pit stop but because of his second pit stop, he lost the place to Leclerc. Antonelli was right on the tail of Leclerc and took the lead back. Verstappen eventually fought his way back to second place, but a good fight between Leclerc and Verstappen led to Leclerc finishing the race in second place and Verstappen in P3. Although Antonelli won the race because Hamilton and Russell placed too high, the championship will have to wait till next week. Will the Drivers Championship be decided in Mexico or will Antonelli become the true Aryton Senna reincarnation with a Brazil win?
