23/10/2022
NEWS STORY
In all honesty we really don't know what to expect today.
We're not talking Weather Gods or any of that nonsense, no, rather what lengths Liberty and its partners are going to go in order to further sell the sport.
At one point during yesterday's qualifying coverage the TV camera picked up on two young girls who were sitting there screaming as though at a BTS concert, or whatever the current flavour of the month might be in terms of pop music.
Indeed, as was the case in Miami, the TV director insisted on spending more time showing us what fun the fans were having that on what was actually happening on track.
In all honesty it's getting to the point where absolutely everything appears staged, and that's before we get to Las Vegas.
Yesterday, it was announced that F1 is extending its deal with ESPN and Disney - no jokes please - the press release helpfully advised that "after setting a record in 2021 for the most-viewed F1 season ever on US television with an average of 949,000 viewers per race, the average has moved into seven figures in 2022. Through 18 races, live F1 telecasts are averaging 1.2 million viewers on ESPN networks - with multiple events attracting race-record television audiences."
Indeed, it continued, "earlier this year, the telecast of the inaugural Miami Grand Prix on ABC generated an average viewership of 2.6 million, the largest U.S. audience on record for a live F1 race."
The pre-event press release from Ferrari however claims that 36 is the "number of millions of Formula 1 fans in the United States (based on a study by Liberty Media), a figure which has increased drastically in recent years".
"American fans have an average age between 16 and 24, which is younger than the overall average of 37 and 40% of the fan-base are women."
Now our maths skills are seemingly at about the same level as the Red Bull accounts team but an average of 1.2 million viewers from a 36 million strong fan-base seems a bit weak.
Anyway, expect more screaming girls today, along with cute kids wearing the latest team apparel, rap stars, movie stars and the rest as Liberty, with the aid of the likes of Sky and Disney, continues the big sell.
As for the race, despite Danika Patrick's claim that the winner "only ever comes from the front row here", seemingly having forgotten that Charles Leclerc's penalty puts Max Verstappen on the front row, we can expect an aggressive battle into the first corner between the Dutchman and Carlos Sainz.
The chasing pack will be all over them and it is quite possible that we could witness a shock elimination on the first lap... after all Sainz has history... as does Max.
Mercedes has looked strong all weekend, and Lewis Hamilton has a fabulous record here, however both drivers admitted to finding it hard going in qualifying and things are hardly likely to get better today.
The battle between Alpine and McLaren continues, the French team's hopes of a Suzuka repeat compromised by Ocon's poor qualifying and a subsequent penalty that sees him start from the pitlane.
Nonetheless, Fernando Alonso should be worth the price of admission alone.
Also looking good have been the Aston Martins, particularly Lance Stroll, while Sebastian Vettel will surely be fired up following the death of his mentor, Dietrich Mateschitz.
The bumps and the wind have caused problems all weekend and that is likely to continue today, a situation not helped by the lack of running on Friday due to the tyre test.
Starting from the sixth row, Leclerc will be worth a watch, the Monegasque, having lost out on the title, and not even having won a race since the summer break, keen to deprive Sergio Perez of the runner-up spot.
Then there's the battle for sixth, with Alfa Romeo trying hard to hold off Aston Martin, AlphaTauri and Haas.
There is so much promise in today's race - at a track that is among the best on the calendar - let's just hope that it isn't spoiled, either by the reckless over ambition of the drivers or Liberty's determination to convince the world that F1 is the most popular sport on the planet... especially with screaming girls, women and kids with way too much pocket money.
The best strategy for the 56-lap race is likely to be a two-stopper, using the medium and the hard tyres - owing to the high degree of degradation on the soft.
The fastest way seems set to be one medium stint followed by two stints on the hard: although medium-hard-medium could be a good way forward too. As always, the tyres that each driver has left in their individual allocations will influence the strategy.
A three-stopper is not to be excluded: especially because there is only a short pit lane time loss in Austin and plenty of possibilities to overtake.
Other than Leclerc and Ocon there are grid penalties for Perez, Alonso and Tsunoda, which leaves the starting grid looking like this.
Sainz starts ahead of Verstappen, Hamilton, Russell, Stroll, Norris, Bottas, Albon, Perez and Vettel.
While Gasly starts eleventh, ahead of Leclerc, Magnussen, Alonso, Ricciardo, Schumacher, Latifi, Zhou, Tsunoda and Ocon who starts from the pitlane.
The pitlane opens and the drivers begin to head out.
Air temperature is 29 degrees C, while the track temperature is 34 degrees. As was the case on Friday and Saturday it is bright and sunny, and quite windy... as shown by the gigantic flag at Turn 1 which is at full billow.
"Left brake is just not working," reports Hamilton, and ass he arrives on the grid mechanics swarm over his car.
Ahead of the national anthem there is a tribute to Dietrich Mateschitz as Start Me Up by The Rolling Stones blasts out of the speakers... now that's the sort of soundtrack we can listen to.
As the clock ticks down to the start, work continues on Hamilton's brakes.
In terms of tyres, all are starting on mediums bar Magnussen, Alonso, Schumacher and Ocon who are all on hards. Of the leading pack only Stroll is on used mediums.
They head off on the formation lap. Danke Didi, reads the sign above the start-line.
As they approach the final corners, Sainz backs the field right up. Last to take their places are Zhou and Tsunoda.
The grid forms.
They're away! Verstappen and Sainz both get away well, as do the Mercedes pair behind. The Dutchman has the inside line into Turn 1, while Sainz has Hamilton right behind and Russell coming through on the inside.
As Sainz covers the inside he is hit by Russell causing him to spin in a great cloud of smoke.
Norris, who is behind the spinning Ferrari is compromised, and it is amazing he doesn't go into the back of Russell , as Vettel, Bottas and Alonso, who had a massive lock-up heading into the corner, are forced to take avoiding action.
The stewards have noted Sainz for causing a collision, though it appeared to be Russell's fault. "What happened there," asks the Spaniard. "He cut across me," says Russell.
Verstappen leads Hamilton, Stroll, Russell, Vettel, Norris, Perez, Gasly, Albon and Leclerc.
Sainz heads back to the pits and retires.
The stewards now include Russell in their investigation.
Vettel has already made up 5 places and Perez 3, while Bottas has dropped 4.
Russell is handed a 5s time penalty for causing a collision.
Check out our Sunday gallery from COTA here.
After 2 laps Verstappen leads Hamilton by 1.9s.
Albon almost comes to grief as he leaves the track and almost collects Bottas he rejoins. The Finn has had a difficult start to the race.
A number of drivers, including Alonso, appear to be struggling keeping to the black stuff.
An incident at Turn 12 involving Gasly and Albon has been noted.
Russell passes Stroll for third after making a move at Turn 12.
"Wind makes it very tricky," warns Verstappen, "it's very gusty."
Perez appears to have some damage to his front wing endplate, following an earlier clash with Bottas, as Latifi has his first spin of the day. The Canadian subsequently pits.
Without needing to recourse to pitting, Perez is able to shed that errant endplate and subsequently passes Stroll.
Gasly makes an easy pass on Norris for eighth which appears to catch the Briton napping. As the McLaren driver attempts to fight back, Bottas keeps a watching eye.
Down in twelfth, Albon heads a DRS train that includes Tsunoda, Zhou, Ricciardo, Schumacher and Ocon.
Similarly, Gasly appears to be holding up Norris and Bottas.
"Starting to see a little bit of tearing left front," warns Hamilton.
Albon and Zhou both pit at the end of lap 9. Both stick with mediums.
"I'm struggling a lot with the wind out there," warns Verstappen. Nonetheless he extends his lead over Hamilton to 3.7s.
Bottas, Tsunoda and Ricciardo all pit at the end of lap 10, all switching to hards.
Leclerc is all over Vettel, who is just 2s down on his Aston Martin teammate.
Gasly pits at the end of lap 11, rejoining in 13th just ahead of Bottas, for whom the undercut didn't pay-off.
Leclerc passes Vettel in Turn 12, as Hamilton is told: "It looks like Hammer-time!"
Hamilton duly pits and switching to the hards he rejoins in 7th behind Vettel.
"What do you want me to do," asks Verstappen. "Free to push," he is told.
He is leading Russell by 12.6s as the Briton looks to be holding up Perez.
Verstappen pits at the end of lap 13 as does Russell who serves his penalty.
Rejoining in second Verstappen finds himself under attack from Stroll, but soon puts the Canadian driver in his place. Russell, rejoins in 9th.
So, Perez leads Verstappen, who is followed by Leclerc, Stroll, Vettel, Hamilton and Norris.
Perez pits at the end of lap 14, the Mexican rejoining in 6th ahead of Alonso. Norris also pits, the Briton rejoining in 14th.
Stroll pits at the end of lap 15, the Canadian sticking with the mediums as the Mercedes pair trade fastest sectors.
Hamilton passes Vettel for third, the Briton now 3.3s down on Leclerc and 6sd down on Verstappen.
Schumacher and Ocon having a great scrap for ninth, both struggling with their tyres and the wind.
"Plan E, consider," says Leclerc.
Albon is shown the black and white flag for exceeding the track limits.
An incident involving Schumacher and Stroll has been noted as Gasly passes Magnussen for eleventh.
It's game over for Bottas who is off and in the kittle litter at Turn 19. "****, lost the back end," he admits.
The Safety Car is deployed and Leclerc immediately pits, as do Vettel, Alonso, Schumacher, Magnussen and Albon.
Behind the Safety Car, Verstappen leads Hamilton, Perez, Leclerc, Russell, Vettel, Stroll, Gasly, Alonso and Norris.
"These brakes are something else, mate. I'm struggling," admits Hamilton.
The Safety Car is withdrawn at the end of lap 20.
Verstappen unleashes the full force of his Honda but Hamilton is with him all the way. Further back the Aston Martins are battling as are Gasly and Alonso.
Ocon locks-up in Turn 11, which allows Schumacher through, however, moments later Stroll out following a collision with Alonso.
The Safety Car is deployed as Alonso makes his way back to the pits.
Replay shows Alonso make a move on the Aston Martin on the long back straight leading to Turn 12. As the Spaniard moves to the left to pass the Canadian, Stroll also moves to the left, his right front catches the left-rear of the Aston Martin pitching it into the air.
Informing his team that he is "OK", the two-time world champion is clearly winded following his trip through the air.
Under the Safety Car, Zhou makes his second stop of the afternoon, as the stewards announce they will investigate the Stroll crash after the race.
Strange that the race hasn't been red flagged because there is a lot of debris on the track.
"If they take care of the big pieces the wind will take care of the rest," suggests Vettel.
"Tyre life for the medium was better than expected," Leclerc is told.
The Safety Car is withdrawn at the end of lap 25.
Again, Verstappen takes control at the restart, as Vettel gains on Russell.
Verstappen posts a new fastest lap (41.378) as Gasly is noted for being more than 10 car lengths behind the Safety Car.
"What happened to my drivability, it's ****?," asks Verstappen.
Told that at the restart he is not to fight with his teammate but the cars behind, Tsunoda asks, not unreasonably: "Why?"
Tsunoda hangs on to the rear of his teammate at Norris and Schumacher close in.
Leclerc makes a move on Perez going into Turn 12 but runs wide after locking up, he rejoins ahead of the Red Bull but eases off to hand back the place to the Mexican.
Magnussen has been noted for ignoring yellow flags.
Next time around Leclerc makes the move again, but this time he gets it right, much to the delight of the crowd.
Gasly gets a 5 second time penalty for that Safety Car infringement Therefore, he should allow his teammate to pass to consolidate seventh.
Gasly pits at the end of lap 32, thereby releasing his teammate. Serving his penalty he rejoins in 17th (last) position.
"This car is super unpredictable in the wind," reports Verstappen.
Check out our Sunday gallery from COTA here.
Showing no after effects of that incident involving Stroll, Alonso passes Albon for 12th, as Tsunoda and Schumacher pit. They rejoin in 15th and 16th.
While Verstappen enjoys a 1.6s advantage over Hamilton, Russell is just 0.9s down on Perez.
Hamilton pits at the end of lap 34, rejoining in 6th. Norris also pits, who rejoins in 15th behind Tsunoda.
Verstappen responds to Hamilton by going quickest in S1. However, Hamilton is quickest in S2.
Sure enough, Verstappen pits, but it's a slow stop as there's a problem with his front-left.. As he heads back down the pitlane he is stuck behind Leclerc, finally rejoining behind Hamilton.
"Beautiful, beautiful," says Verstappen sarcastically.
Perez leads Russell by 0.343s but both have to stop, with Vettel behind then Hamilton.
Russell pits as Hamilton posts a new fastest lap (40.395). The Briton rejoins in 6th.
"Long way to go," Verstappen is told. "You don't need to tell me that," he replies. "Max, we're in this together mate, head down, come on."
Verstappen is all over Leclerc as Gasly is told that his penalty was not served correctly.
Verstappen posts a new fastest lap (39.541).
Perez pits at the end of lap 38, as Zhou is shown the black white flag.
Verstappen passes Leclerc in Turn 1 but runs a little wide and as a result the Ferrari driver is back through.
At Turn 12, Verstappen makes no mistake, he is through. The crowd roars.
Meanwhile, Sebastian Vettel is leading, with Hamilton 1.9s behind.
Hamilton is on hards, while Verstappen and Leclerc are on mediums, as is Vettel, who has only made one stop.
At the start of lap 41, Hamilton nips through on the inside of Vettel to take the lead.
Verstappen is third, 2.146s behind, with Leclerc hard on his heels.
Vettel pits at the end of lap 41, thereby leaving Hamilton, Verstappen and Leclerc to get on with it.
It is a disastrous stop for Vettel as his crew make a total mess of it and as a result he heads out in 13th.
Norris makes a bold move into Turn 1 to pass Tsunoda for 11th.
After 43 laps (of 56), it's: Hamilton, Verstappen (+ 2.7s), Leclerc (+ 0.9s), Perez (+ 6.5s), Russell (+ 4.5s), Magnussen (+ 13.2s), Alonso (+ 2.8s), Ocon (+ 2.6s), Albon (+ 1.9s) and Norris (+ 0.3s).
Latifi is handed a 5s time penalty for forcing another Schumacher off track.
Norris passes Albon for ninth. The Anglo-Thai driver under pressure from Zhou and Tsunoda.
Hamilton posts a PB (39.830) as he maintains a 2.4s lead over Verstappen. The Briton is on 11-lap old hards compared to Verstappen's 10-lap old mediums. Leclerc has fallen almost 4s behind.
A new fastest lap for Verstappen (39.541) as he closes in on his nemesis.
Ocon passes Latifi for 15t, as Vettel closes in on 11th-placed Tsunoda.
On Friday, Alonso, annoyed at being impeded by Hamilton, asked if the Briton had mirrors. Today, the Spaniard actually loses his right mirror.
At the start of lap 50, Verstappen is 0.5s down on Hamilton.
With his speed advantage and DRS, Verstappen makes his move into Turn 12. Though he's through, Hamilton fights back, for a couple of corners they are side by side until the Red Bull driver presses home his advantage.
"He moved under braking," Verstappen is advised. "He's gone off, again," declares Hamilton.
"You need to make you're safe on track limits," Verstappen is warned.
Vettel goes around the outside of Albon in Turn 19 to take 9th, as Verstappen is shown the black and white flag for exceeding track limits.
Albon, in tenth, is under pressure from Tsunoda and Zhou.
"Max now at three strikes," Hamilton is told, the Briton just 1.098s down on his great foe.
"Turn 5 incident involving 5 at Turn 12 cars under investigation," advise the stewards.
Now Hamilton is now shown the black and white flag. At which point the seven-time champ appears to back off.
Verstappen begins his final lap, as Russell pits, the Mercedes driver no doubt going for fastest lap. Indeed, he rejoins still in fifth on a used set of softs.
Verstappen takes the flag, as the stewards reveal that Schumacher is the latest subject of an investigation.
Hamilton is second, while Leclerc claims the final podium place.
"I gave it everything guys," says Hamilton over his radio. "Best strategy. So close, but so far. I gave it everything."
Further back however, Vettel wins a brilliant scrap with Magnussen to claim 8th. A fantastic performance by the four-time world champion, who could have finished much higher but for that shambolic pit stop.
So, it's Verstappen, Hamilton, Leclerc, Perez, Russell, Norris, Alonso, Vettel, Magnussen and Tsunoda, with Ocon eleventh, ahead of Albon, Zhou, Gasly, Schumacher, Ricciardo and Latifi.
Some great performances today, and - no disrespect intended - had Hamilton won we might have suggested it was the ultimate in stage management.
That said, it wasn't as bad as expected, with only the rendition of the national anthem threatening Vettel's pit stop for worst memory of the day.
"I'm satisfied in a way because starting P12, a podium is a good achievement," says Leclerc. "But we had too much deg at the end of the race.
"We'll keep working," he adds. "It was a nice battle with Checo, but we need to keep working in order to challenge them a bit more."
"Big shout out to my team," says Hamilton, "we came here with upgrades, we closed the gap a little bit.
"I did everything I could to stay ahead but they had too much.
"Congratulations to Red Bull. I'm shattered, the car was a handful today. It felt amazing to be in the lead, we'll hold onto that and keep pushing. It will come to us at some stage."
"It was a tough one," admits Verstappen. "It was all looking good but I had to fight my way forward again.
"We gave it everything out there, it was a difficult weekend for us, this one was for Dietrich. The only thing we could do today was win."
An entertaining race - we can't say more otherwise we get criticised - and no matter what one might think it seemed an appropriate way to wrap up the title and pay tribute to Dietrich Mateschitz.
Great to see Mercedes fight back, sad for Carlos, but delighted for Seb.
All in all, that was good fun.