The Formula 1 constructors’ championship battle always plays second fiddle to the battle for the driver’s crown. Red Bull didn’t help the show at the end of 2022 but was all but certain of lifting the first team trophy since 2013 heading into last weekend’s United States Grand Prix in Austin.
Still, during an event announcing the death of Red Bull co-founder Dietrich Mateschitz, few can deny the added emotion that Max Verstappen’s brilliant comeback to claim victory and seal the deal for his team wasn’t adequate Homage was – not even if the cloud of alleged breaching of the 2021 cost cap lingers over recent success.
In the meantime, any hint of a Mercedes comeback will now surely spill over into 2023 as Lewis Hamilton failed to keep Verstappen at bay, despite his rival clinching one on a day when both Ferraris and Sergio Perez’s Red Bull suffered setbacks botched pit stop suffered their own.
With the FIA also feeling some pressure for handling the spectacular but happily anti-climatic clash between Lance Stroll and Fernando Alonso, there was no shortage of thrills and drama at the Circuit of The Americas. It certainly had all the makings of a decent screenplay…
From the 56 laps that played out in front of Hollywood’s elite, here are 10 things we learned from the 2022 United States Grand Prix.
Verstappen has three races left to break the most wins in an F1 season record
Photo by: Glenn Dunbar / Motorsport Pictures
1. Winning the title hasn’t dampened Verstappen’s drive one bit
Max Verstappen is now tied for the record. With 13 wins this season, he joins Michael Schumacher (2004) and Sebastian Vettel (2013) for the most successful season in F1 history. And with three rounds to go, he could add even more to his tally to make the record undeniably his.
His last triumph was hard-fought. Verstappen had to overcome a failed front left wheel shot that caused a painful 11-second stop before passing Charles Leclerc and Lewis Hamilton as the GP reached its climax. See the article : Everything We Know About The New BTS Video Game ‘BTS Island: In the SEOM’. He did this by maintaining the fastest average speed of all, plus those skillful maneuvers on Ferrari and Mercedes.
Verstappen has claimed he only ever dreamed of a World Cup. Everything else comes as a bonus. But despite bagging the 2022 crown in Japan and the Dutch ace conceding he can celebrate for the remaining rounds without pressure, his performance on Sunday was still top-notch. His desire and composure in wheel-to-wheel combat doesn’t seem to have suffered at all.
At COTA it was a matter of form that Red Bull became World Constructors’ Champion
Photo by: Steven Tee / Motorsport Images
2. Red Bull is now officially the 2022 constructors’ champion
Arriving at the Circuit of The Americas, Ferrari’s points score alone would have guaranteed Red Bull their first Constructors’ Championship since 2013. See the article : FRIDAY NIGHT GAME SHOW: Week Two (9/2). The final determination of the team trophy was a question of “when”. Not if”. Still, Red Bull got the job done thanks to Max Verstappen’s win and Sergio Perez finishing fourth.
With Charles Leclerc on the podium and Carlos Sainz knocked out by George Russell at Turn 1, Scuderia couldn’t quash the extremely high odds of keeping the title race alive any longer. Both championships are done now.
Of course, given allegations that Red Bull breached the 2021 cost cap, many will question its success. They’ll ask if that overspending contributed to the adjustment to ground effects, or if the team has gone astray again this season. Nonetheless, the math now officially acknowledges what we’ve seen throughout much of the campaign. The RB18 was car of the season, Milton Keynes’ strategists and mechanics are generally solid and Verstappen led the team with distinction to seal the deal.
Mateschitz died on Saturday at the age of 78
Photo by: Zak Mauger / Motorsport Images
3. How respected Dietrich Mateschitz was across the paddock
And the timing of the Constructors’ Championship to end the drought for Red Bull was fitting. On the same subject : 2022 NBA offseason grades for all 30 teams: Celtics put on a masterclass; Lakers under siege; Wolves swing big. It was a kind of homage to Red Bull co-founder Dietrich Mateschitz, who died last Saturday at the age of 78 after a long illness.
To understand the extent of his contribution to motorsport (see his revitalization of the Spielberg circuit, funding of the Red Bull Junior programme, key F1 team and AlphaTauri), read Motorsport.com’s full obituary here.
His impact on half the grid is clear and celebrated here thanks to Sebastian Vettel, Daniel Ricciardo, Alex Albon and more. But it wasn’t just those who snagged an F1 spot thanks to Mateschitz’ support who paid tribute. The respect of his rivals was evident as the paddock mourned. Mercedes team boss Toto Wolff called his compatriot: “One of the greatest and most visionary entrepreneurs in the world. What Dietrich Mateschitz did for Formula 1 was unprecedented.”
Hamilton came as close as ever to a first F1 win in 2022
Photo by: Zak Mauger / Motorsport Images
4. Mercedes requires a miracle, not just maladies for rivals, to win
It was already clear that the Mercedes W13 could not hold a candle to the Ferrari F1-75, let alone the 2022 benchmark, the Red Bull RB18. But the key figures in the team – Toto Wolff, George Russell, Lewis Hamilton – have long been claiming that Mercedes can win a race despite the downturn this season.
We knew it would take a cocktail of unlikely circumstances if this were to happen to hamper both Ferrari and Red Bull and give the Silver Arrows an easier path to their prey. But it has now become clear that the magnitude of misfortune these teams would have to endure for Russell and Hamilton to win this year is greater than the team publicly acknowledged.
Although the W13 debuted its last major upgrade package of the season, grid penalties for Sergio Perez and Charles Leclerc, plus Carlos Sainz eliminated from Turn 1 and an 11-second pit stop for Max Verstappen, who put Hamilton in leadership left, he was powerless to resist the champion.
After Sebastian Vettel pitted, Verstappen had come within 4.5 seconds of Hamilton over the last 14 laps. But he was pulled past the Brit and was back on course for victory with seven laps to go. Hamilton’s lack of straight-line performance was most brutally displayed in the sluggish W13 when he lost the lead on a DRS pass and then secured the overtake as the Brit narrowly missed the RB18 on the straight.
With three races remaining, it seems unlikely that Mercedes will again enjoy such favorable circumstances in the limited window of opportunity. Thus, a first winless season since 2011 certainly beckons.
Leclerc has already focused Ferrari on 2023
Photo by: Mark Sutton / Motorsport Images
5. Ferrari has started its 2023 dress rehearsal reliably enough
After congratulating Max Verstappen on his second crowning in Japan, Charles Leclerc said: “On our side we will try to push the last four races of this season to improve as a team and hopefully challenge more next year. “While Maranello’s design department will have every effort to develop the F1-75 into a machine that has the legs and improved tire behavior to keep up with the upcoming RB19, the task for Scuderia’s strategy and pit stop department was more obvious: stop making mistakes.
While victory eluded Leclerc and he retired from a potential three-way battle at alarming speed late on and Carlos Sainz was knocked out at Turn 1, there were signs of cautious optimism.
Without the pressure of the Drivers’ and Teams’ titles, Ferrari enjoyed solidly executed pit stops with no major stuck lug nuts or obvious hesitations. Meanwhile, the timing of those pit stops was far more conventional compared to some of the more radical and harder to justify calls made at Silverstone and the Hungaroring in 2022.
While the end result was less than Ferrari would have expected given their driver’s nailed poles, the flaws in this soft preview of 2023 were not of their own making.
Alonso and Stroll were lucky enough to escape unscathed from their dramatic crash on the backstretch
Photo by: Carl Bingham / Aston Martin
6. Weaving in a straight line must be stamped out at the top
Ex-F1 drivers, IndyCar champions and sportscar title winners all seemed to be singing the same anthem when it came to their reactions to Lance Stroll and Fernando Alonso’s rather chilling encounter on the COTA backstretch on Lap 21 of 56. The consensus from pros on social media was that the Aston Martin driver was dead wrong in defending seventh place down the straight and that this unwanted habit has seeped down the single-seater ladder, so it’s time for that send a message to the FIA to do so.
Stroll slips three spots onto the grid as a result of his change of direction at the Mexican Grand Prix, and the shunt is a lot less serious than it first appeared when the Alpine’s front axle blew up.
The typically outspoken Alonso wrote off the retirement as a racing accident, but that could be linked in small part to the Spaniard’s move to Aston Martin for 2023, where his salary will be paid by Stroll Sr. However, the possible consequences were clear and clear. An opportunity for the stewards to set a stricter precedent appears to have been missed.
Questions were asked as to why Alonso was allowed to continue with a damaged car
Photo by: Andy Hone / Motorsport Images
7. Not everyone appreciated Alonso’s car-preserving heroics
Further dissatisfaction spread when Fernando Alonso was late receiving a 30-second penalty for rejoining the track with a car that was in an “unsafe condition”. This is largely consistent with Kevin Magnussen being pinged again in Singapore for a damaged front wing endplate, consistent with his similar incidents in Canada and Hungary.
However, the anger comes from the FIA statement that “a slapping mirror was dangerous and could detach and hit another driver and cause injury. Therefore this was unsafe.” But Alonso was not flagged for the rest of the race for the loose mirror, the body eventually working its way free in Kevin Magnussen’s wash on lap 48. In the words of IMSA SportsCar ace Filipe Albuquerque: “Let’s say you agree with that [decision], then why did you let him drive the whole race? You risked a racer’s life and had 34 attempts to change that.”
Given that Alonso had brought the once-airborne Alpine back to the pits for a new front wing and rubber, it was remarkable to cross the finish line in seventh. But with the 30 penalty, that ultimately proved to be a pointless endeavor.
Brad Pitt officiated at a star-studded US GP
Photo by: Mark Sutton / Motorsport Images
8. With Pitt in the pits, the F1 movie hype is building
Tim Cook’s blank face as he waved the checkered flag might have said otherwise, but excitement around the proposed F1 blockbuster continued to mount in Austin. Helping that, the Silicon Valley giant was present alongside the film’s producer, Lewis Hamilton, with Apple Original Films getting the rights before the flick could be distributed on Apple TV in due course.
As we know, Hollywood superstar (and Martin Brundle gunner) Brad Pitt will take the lead as F1 supreme star and show the young pretenders how it’s done – Top Gun: Maverick style. He was also on hand in Texas to meet teams while discussions took place on how best to represent F1 on screen, ensuring the mix of CGI and real-life cinematography is just right.
Expectations are rising that real F1 cars will be used to capture much of the footage as principal filming is expected to take place during race events in 2023, according to Championship CEO Stefano Domenicali.
Red Bull’s F1 cost cap breach from 2021 continues to rumble
Photo by: Steven Tee / Motorsport Images
9. The FIA has a punishment in mind for Red Bull’s alleged overspending
While absolute transparency will have to wait, the governing body has at least started discussions with Red Bull about how it thinks the team should be penalized for exceeding the approximately $145 million cost cap in 2021.
Should Red Bull agree to the proposed Accepted Breach Agreement, this would inevitably result in an admission of breach of the rules. The “slight” overspending is rumored to be in the $2 million range. But the team has always strenuously denied going over the limit. Therefore, should Christian Horner and the company maintain this stance, the process should theoretically move to the next phase via the Cost Cap Adjudication Panel. Still, progress has been made behind closed doors 10 months after the event.
However, in light of the death of Red Bull co-founder Dietrich Mateschitz, those talks have understandably been put on hold for the time being. A brief statement from the team said: “The settlement period has been extended and we expect talks to resume mid-week.”
The rivals, led by Valtteri Bottas and Carlos Sainz, have called for a “severe and harsh” penalty that “really hurts” to ensure the cost cap is preserved for future seasons.
Can Sargeant rise to the F1 ranks in 2023?
Photo by: Carl Bingham / Motorsport Images
10. Williams will quick march into 2023 with new recruit Sargeant
Now only the position next to Kevin Magnussen at Haas is to be filled. Then the most frenzied driver’s market summer slump of recent times will finally be settled. This comes after Williams used the US GP weekend to announce his fellow American rider Logan Sargeant will be partnering with incumbent Alex Albon for 2023.
Once talks between AlphaTauri and Monza super sub de Vries progressed, the odds that Sargeant would earn his place in the top flight quickly plummeted. Should he finish the Formula 2 season sixth or higher, he will receive enough Super License Points to guarantee his promotion. Currently third, with one lap to go, Nicholas Latifi’s replacement looks all but tied. The team insists that an American driver’s commercial boon is a bonus rather than the determining factor in Sargeant’s draft.
The announcement of Sargeant’s new contract comes after his FP1 debut, when he finished 19th, and ahead of his return to the cockpit of the FW44 in Mexico. Meanwhile, Latifi didn’t do much to revive his case. Spins, penalties and lack of pace summed up his Austin outing.
The boom of F1 in America will be followed by a full-time motorist for the first time since Scott Speed in 2007
Photo by: Zak Mauger / Motorsport Images
