Paul Henman formula1 USA (COTA) Grand Prix – Race

USA (COTA) Grand Prix – Race

It’s dry (that’s a change compared to recent races) but windy in Austin.
Air temperature 28°C; track 34°C; humidity 53%

There were a few penalties to apply after qualifying: LEC has a 10-place grid penalty for engine changes; PER, ZHO, ALO and ZHO all have 5-place penalties for (fewer) engine changes; OCO has to start from the pit lane after changes were made under parc ferme conditions
Grid: SAI, VER, HAM, RUS, STR, NOR, BOT, ALB, PER, VET, GAS, LEC, MAG, ALO, RIC, SCH, LAT, ZHO, TSU, OCO

Mercedes mechanics working on the front brakes on HAM’s car – HAM reported the brakes “just aren’t working” on his way to the grid
Apparently there’s an “offset” which caused the car to pull to one side under braking
FIA officials are overseeing the changes; Mercedes have decided to replace all the brake material on both sides

SAI leads everyone away on the formation lap
Front runners are all on medium compound tyres; MAG, ALO, SCH and OCO are all on hard tyres

01/56: VER makes a good start, leads into Turn 1
SAI has been spun around and is now P19
Replay shows SAI cut across and RUS tagged him

02: VER, HAM, STR, RUS, VET, NOR, PER, GAS, ALB, LEC, BOT, ALO, RIC, TSU, LAT, ZHO, SCH, MAG, OCO, SAI
SAI pits; retires
RUS given 5-sec penalty for causing the collision with SAI

03: DRS enabled
ALB runs wide, rejoins but almost collects BOT

04: VER has 2.2-sec lead over HAM

05/56: VER, HAM, STR, RUS, PER, VET, NOR, GAS, LEC, BOT
Ferrari report SAI’s car had a water leak

06: LAT has spun; pits for new medium tyres
PER’s front wing damage has fixed itself, as the end-plate flies off as he passes VET

07: GAS inside NOR to take P8

08: NOR fights back but the AlphaTauri stays ahead

10/56: VER, HAM, RUS, PER, STR, VET, LEC, GAS, NOR, BOT
Radio from HAM reporting tyre wear already

11: Radio from VER saying he’s struggling with the wind
BOT pits from P10; hard tyres go on; rejoins P14

12: Radio for VER wearing him to avoid the bump into Turn 12
GAS pits; rejoins just ahead of BOT
LEC inside VET for P6
Radio for HAM, “It’s hammer time”

13: HAM pits from P2; hard tyres go on; rejoins P7
Radio for VER telling him he’s free to push
PER closing on RUS

14: VER pits, followed by RUS
RUS serves his 5-sec penalty before taking on new tyres; rejoins P8
LEC inside STR to steal P3

15/56: PER pits from P1

16: STR pits from P3
HAM takes P3 from VET
OCO passes SCH for P9

17: VER, LEC, HAM, VET, PER, RUS, ALO, STR, OCO, SCH, MAG, GAS, BOT, NOR, TSU, ALB, ZHO, RIC, LAT; out: SAI
Black and white flag for ALB for exceeding track limits

18: Yellow flag – BOT is in the gravel at Turn 19
Safety Car deployed

19[SC]: LEC pits from P2; hard tyres; rejoins P4
VET pits too, followed by ALO, OCO, SCH, MAG and ALB
Race control advised the teams there’s a recovery vehicle on track – that’s an improvement since the Japan fiasco

20/56[SC]: VER, HAM, PER, LEC, RUS, VET, STR, GAS, ALO, NOR, TSU, OCO, SCH, ZHO, MAG, RIC, ALB, LAT; out: BOT, SAI

21[SC]: SC in at the end of this lap
VER slows everyone up, ready for the restart

22: RUS looking to find a way past LEC
NOR drops back
OCO locks up into Turn 11
ALO went to pass STR but I think STR defended and they made contact
ALO airborne! Hits the barriers but manages to continue
STR is stranded in the middle of the track – lots of damage to his Aston Martin
There’s a lot of debris on the track
SC deployed

23[SC]: ALO pits
Replay shows STR made a small move left just as ALO was coming around that side
Replay on-board with NOR shows his car being hit by debris
Incident involving ALO and STR will be investigated after the race
VET reports the debris isn’t too bad

24[SC]: STR’s car is being moved away
ZHO pits

25/56[SC]: VER, HAM, PER, LEC, RUS, VET, GAS, TSU, NOR, SCH, OCO, MAG, RIC, ALB, LAT, ALO, ZHO; out: STR, BOT, SAI
SC in at the end of this lap

26: VER keen to restart

27: VER fastest lap 1:41.378

28: DRS enabled
McLaren report NOR’s car picked up damage from that debris

Half distance

29: LEC has a go at passing PER but PER locks up, LEC runs wide, so PER holds on to P3

30/56: VER, HAM, PER, LEC, RUS, VET, GAS, TSU, NOR, SCH, MAG, OCO, RIC, ALB, ALO, ZHO, LAT
VER f/lap 1:41.045
LEC dives inside PER; PER threatens to turn in on him, but LEC takes P3
Wait for the whining from Red Bull

31: 5-sec penalty for GAS for SC infringement (being more than 10 cars behind)
Yep, radio from PER claiming LEC went off track – what a whiner

33: RUS closing on PER
GAS pits; serves his 5-sec penalty

34: TSU and SCH pit together

35/56: HAM pits from P2; hard tyres go on; rejoins P6
NOR pits; hards; rejoins P15, just behind TSU

36: VER pits; medium tyres; slow stop
LEC pits too; mediums; leaves his box ahead of VER
LEC rejoins P5, VER P6
VER, “Beautiful, beautiful” – there’s a team player!

37: RUS pits from P2; hards; rejoins P7, behind MAG
HAM f/lap 1:40.395
VER has to be reminded by the team that “we’re in this together”

38: PER, VET, HAM, LEC, VER, RUS, MAG, OCO, ALO, ALB, ZHO, TSU, NOR, LAT, SCH, GAS, RIC
VER f/lap 1:39.541
GAS “penalty not served correctly” – under investigation
Black and white flag for

39: VER dives inside LEC into Turn 1; takes P3
LEC switches back and reclaims P3
VER makes an aggressive pass on LEC and seals P3

40/56: VET, HAM, VER, LEC, PER, RUS, MAG, OCO, ALO, ALB
VET has led 3,500 laps

41: HAM inside VET for P1
LEC still has DRS behind VER

42: VET pits from P2; they can’t get the front left changed; horrible stop; rejoins P13

44: 5-sec penalty for LAT for forcing a car (SCH) off the track – funny, I’ve seen PER do worse
NOR around ALB for P9

45/56: HAM, VER, LEC, PER, RUS, MAG, ALO, OCO, NOR, ALB, ZHO, TSU, VET, GAS, SCH, LAT, RIC

46: HAM leads by 2.5sec

47: Lead is down to 1.9sec

48: Now it’s only 1.4sec
OCO takes P15 from LAT

49: ALO passes MAG for P6, and the Alpine’s mirror lets go
Gap is now under 1sec – VER will have DRS

50/56: HAM, VER, LEC, PER, RUS, ALO, NOR, MAG, ALB, ZHO, VET, TSU, GAS, SCH, OCO, LAT, RIC; out: STR, BOT, SAI
VER has DRS but doesn’t attack into Turn 1
VER dives inside; HAM switches side
Mandatory radio call where Red Bull make up allegations – pathetic!

52: Radio for VER warning him to keep it on the track
VET takes P9 from ALB
Black and white flag for VER

53: HAM still has DRS behind VER

54: Black and white flag for HAM
TSU takes the final points position from ALB

55/56: VER, HAM, LEC, PER, RUS, ALO, NOR, MAG, VET, TSU, ALB, GAS, ZHO, OCO, SCH, RIC, LAT
RUS pits; soft tyres go on; rejoins still P5
NOR passes ALO for P6

VER takes the chequered flag
VET squeaks past MAG
SCH given 5-sec penalty for exceeding track limits

Provisional result: VER, HAM, LEC, PER, RUS, NOR, ALO, VET, MAG, TSU; OCO, ALB, ZHO, GAS, SCH, RIC, LAT
RUS f/lap 1:38.788
DNF: STR, BOT, SAI

[2022 calendar and line-up]

4 thoughts on “USA (COTA) Grand Prix – Race”

  1. “Fernando Alonso has dropped from P7 to P15 in the classification for the 2022 United States Grand Prix, following a protest against his car by rivals Haas.” [..] “Alpine, meanwhile, opted to protest the verdict”
    https://www.formula1.com/en/latest/article.alonso-dropped-out-of-points-following-haas-protest-at-united-states-grand.2W3bnKWlLL7wafh6yc9R9V.html
    But what about Haas’ similar protest against Perez? “the stewards opted not to act in the case of Perez’s car”

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