Five Formula 1 Winners & Losers: United States Grand Prix

Photo from Formula 1

Caution: Objects in your mirror may be closer than they appear.

And it’s getting closer and closer.

Here are the winners & losers from the US Grand Prix.

Losers

5. Gabriel Bortoleto

Bortoleto has had a very strong rookie season. He’s even been faster in qualifying than teammate Nico Hulkenberg.

But Hulkenberg was much faster all weekend, as Bortoleto never truly found the pace in the sprint or the full grand prix.

A weekend to forget.

4. Isack Hadjar
My personal rookie of the year pick this year had a miserable weekend as well.

Hadjar crashed in qualifying and then was simply never able to make any headway during the race, coming home to finish 16th.

3. Kimi Antonelli

Antonelli was one rookie who was having a great weekend.

That is, until Carlos Sainz punted him off the track and ruined his race where he came home 13th and got zero points.

Not his fault, but still very frustrating.

2. Williams

Carlos Sainz got a sprint race podium. That was great.

After that, it was nothing but pain, with Alex Albon getting knocked out in Qualifying 1, and Carlos Sainz wrecking his car after the contact with Antonelli.

It’s been a good season for Williams, but this weekend they had quite a stinker.

1. Oscar Piastri

Piastri had a ruined suspension after a crash with Lando Norris on the opening lap of the sprint, which was neither drivers fault and a total racing incident. Don’t listen to what Twitter says.

And I’m not sure if it was due to the rebuilt suspension, or just a simple lack of confidence, but Piasti had absolutely no pace in qualifying or the race, and his championship lead is getting significantly smaller to his teammate and to Max Verstappen.

Piastri has been in very poor form recently, and if he doesn’t snap out of it, he’s in big trouble.

Winners

5. Yuki Tsunoda

Ever since that Red Bull found a little bit more pace, Yuki has put together some stronger performances, this time finishing 7th in the race.

It’s not spectacular, but it’s something good for a man fighting for a spot on the grid next year.

4. Oliver Bearman

Bearman had a risky overtake attempt on Tsunoda that went quite poorly, but he still recovered and brought home a 9th place finish at his teams home race, and beat his teammate soundly.

Can’t complain with that.

3. Lando Norris

It was a good weekend for Norris (apart from the Sprint), as he was much faster than his teammate all weekend and keeps getting closer and closer to the top spot in the championship.

The problem is, the other rival is coming quickly.

2. Ferrari

Ferrari finishing 3rd and 4th at the US Grand Prix was their best finish since Austria back in June.

For a team that has been struggling mightily recently, that was a great race result for the team.

1. Max Verstappen

After Max won in Italy, I said that I hope Red Bull give him a car to compete for a championship.

After he won in Baku, I said that there’s probably no chance he fights for the championship, but the fact it’s even slightly possible is amazing.

It’s now very, very possible, as Verstappen is only 40 points behind the championship lead, and we are heading to three tracks (Mexico, Brazil, Las Vegas) where Verstappen and Red Bull have been absolutely excellent.

Not only is Verstappen very much in this championship fight, I think he’s going to come all the way back and win it.

I really, truly do.