Sundaram Ramaswami
The Circuit of the Americas (COTA) threw yet another strategic thriller on Sunday with Max Verstappen edging out Lewis Hamilton in a closely contested battle in Texas. Hamilton snatched the lead after a brilliant start off the line, but it was Verstappen and Red Bull who had the last laugh as their well-timed pit strategy earned them a double podium. Let’s take a look at the numbers from that tense United States Grand Prix.
Here are all the numbers from the 2021 United States GP –
GENERAL –
- All the races at the Circuit of the Americas (COTA) have been won from the front row.
- In the last 30 years, the pole-sitter at the United States GP has always ended up on the podium, barring 2005 when Michelin’s customers were forced to withdraw from the race due to safety concerns. That trend continued on Sunday, with Max Verstappen taking the win from pole position.
- The championship leaders (drivers’ and constructors’ both) after the Austin round in previous seasons have always ended up winning the title later that year. Currently, Verstappen leads the drivers’ standings while Mercedes are on top amongst the constructors.
RED BULL –
- Verstappen took the 12th pole position and the 18th win of his career at Austin.
- It was his fourth victory in the Americas and first on US soil.
- It was the 33rd podium with Honda engines for Verstappen, whose racing number is also 33. Only Ayrton Senna has more podiums with the Japanese manufacturer (56), a record which won’t be broken anytime soon with Honda’s departure from the sport after 2021.
- The Dutchman has led 504 of 990 raced laps in 2021. Although 17 other drivers have led over 500 laps in a year before, only once has a driver has failed to win the championship – Lewis Hamilton in 2016.
- Sergio Perez registered his fourth podium of 2021, the most he’s accumulated in a year. He previously took three podium finishes with Sauber in 2012.
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- Verstappen and Perez’s podium appearance meant Red Bull became the fifth team, after Ferrari, McLaren, Williams and Mercedes, to reach the landmark of 200 podiums in F1.
- Both Red Bull drivers made it to the podium in consecutive races (Turkey & USA), a first for the team since Malaysia-Japan 2017.
- Honda last won a Grand Prix stateside with Ayrton Senna in 1991.
- Red Bull had led just nine laps at COTA in the hybrid era prior to Sunday.
MERCEDES –
- Lewis Hamilton has been a podium regular at COTA since 2014 but his last triumph here came in 2017.
- The Brit continues to be the only driver to have completed 100% of all racing laps at COTA.
FERRARI –
- Charles Leclerc scored for the fifth time in six races.
- Leclerc has an interesting relationship with the number 4. It’s his most common starting (12) and finishing (12) position in F1. He has started and finished in the same position in three races this year (Imola, Barcelona and Austin). In fact, he started and finished fourth in the 2019 United States Grand Prix as well.
- Carlos Sainz scored for the 10th successive time, the longest active streak on the grid and also of Sainz’s career.
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McLAREN –
- Daniel Ricciardo is finally finding his feet at McLaren. He has outraced Lando Norris in four of the last six races.
ALPHATAURI –
- With a P9 finish, Yuki Tsunoda scored his first points after the summer break.
- Pierre Gasly will want to improve his record at COTA. He’s yet to score points in three outings here and suffered a suspension-related retirement in the 2019 United States Grand Prix as well.
- After a brilliant start to the season, AlphaTauri have managed to collect just 10 points in the last four races. Nevertheless, they managed to bridge the gap to Alpine, who suffered a double-DNF, with just 10 points between them in the Constructors’ standings.
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ALPINE –
- Alpine had scored in each of the last 15 races but went home without any points last weekend. It was the French team’s first double-DNF since the 2019 German Grand Prix.
- Fernando Alonso will look to see the chequered flag at the next United States Grand Prix, considering he’s retired from the previous three races at Austin.
ASTON MARTIN –
- Lance Stroll still hasn’t scored points at COTA in four appearances.
- His teammate, Sebastian Vettel, had a better outing scoring points after four races. Although Vettel has scored points in only five races this year, he still holds a 10-point lead over Stroll, who has finished in the points in 8 races in 2021.
- Before 2020, Vettel had never finished a race in tenth. Since then, he’s recorded a P10 race result on five instances.
HAAS –
- It was Mick Schumacher’s maiden race at COTA and he finished two laps down in sixteenth. Coincidentally his seven-time world champion father, Michael Schumacher, also finished sixteenth in his first race in Austin.
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