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(Reuters) – Team-by-team analysis of Sunday’s Formula 1 U.S. Grand Prix at the Circuit of the Americas in Austin, Texas (teams listed in current championship order):
MERCEDES (Lewis Hamilton 2, Valtteri Bottas 6)
Hamilton started in the front row and took the lead at the start before losing to the pitstop strategy. He is now 12 points behind Max Verstappen with five races to go. Bottas started ninth due to a five-place penalty for exceeding his engine allowance. Mercedes ‘lead in the constructors’ standings was reduced to 23 points.
RED BULL (Max Verstappen 1, Sergio Perez 3)
Verstappen started from pole and celebrated his eighth win of the season, and the 18th of his career, to double his championship lead. He made two saves, both ahead of Hamilton. This victory was his first in the United States. Perez struggled with a drink bottle failure, but earned his fourth top three of the season. The victory was Red Bull’s first in America since 2013.
MCLAREN (Daniel Ricciardo 5, Lando Norris 8)
McLaren lost ground to Ferrari, now just 3.5 points behind. Ricciardo started sixth but passed Sainz de Ferrari on the first lap. Norris started seventh and failed to regain any positions at the start.
FERRARI (Charles Leclerc 4, Carlos Sainz 7)
Leclerc started and finished fourth after a lonely race. Sainz fell two places from his starting position, with the team blaming an error during a pit stop for wasting time.
ALPINE (Esteban Ocon and Fernando Alonso retired)
Both cars retired with mechanical problems. Alonso started 19th after grid penalties, but gained places in the first round. Ocon made contact with Giovinazzi’s Alfa at the start, requiring an immediate front wing change, and retired on lap 40 for precautionary reasons. Alonso retired with damage to the rear wing of his car.
ALPHATAURI (Yuki Tsunoda 9, Pierre Gasly retired)
Gasly was the first to retire from the race, with a suspected suspension problem. Tsunoda scored his first points in six races.
ASTON MARTIN (Sebastian Vettel 10, Lance Stroll 12)
Stroll was hit by Nicholas Latifi of Williams, a compatriot Canadian, at the first corner in the first lap. The contact caused it to fall to the rear and the front fender was damaged. Vettel started 18th due to a powertrain change.
WILLIAMS (George Russell 14, Nicholas Latifi 15)
Latifi collided with Stroll at the start. Russell started 20th and Latifi 13th.
ALFA ROMEO (Antonio Giovinazzi 11, Kimi Raikkonen 13)
Giovinazzi started 12th and Raikkonen 15th.
HAAS (Mick Schumacher 16, Nikita Mazepin 17)
Still no points for the American team this season.
(Report by Alan Baldwin in London, edited by Peter Rutherford)
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