The Formula 1 edit

the united states grand prix

Howdy! Welcome to the Circuit of the Americas in Austin, Texas! After a couple very eventful days of the drivers bull riding (or pretending to, rather), wearing cowboy hats, and talking like true Texans, it’s time to get down to business. With 6 races left on the 2025 calendar, Austin is a very important GP in terms of WDC points!

the grid

Here is the grid for the 2025 COTA GP

  1. Max Verstappen (Red Bull)
  2. Lando Norris (McLaren)
  3. Charles Leclerc (Ferrari)
  4. George Russell (Mercedes)
  5. Lewis Hamilton (Ferrari)
  6. Oscar Piastri (McLaren)
  7. Kimi Antonelli (Mercedes)
  8. Oliver Bearman (Haas)
  9. Carlos Sainz (Willliams)
  10. Fernando Alonso (Aston Martin)
  11. Nico Hulkenberg (Sauber)
  12. Liam Lawson (Racing Bulls)
  13. Yuki Tsunoda (Red Bull)
  14. Pierre Gasly (Alpine)
  15. Franco Colapinto (Alpine)
  16. Gabriel Bortoleto (Sauber)
  17. Esteban Ocon (Haas)
  18. Alexander Albon (Williams)
  19. Lance Stroll (Aston Martin)
  20. Isack Hadjar (Racing Bulls)

the race

It’s lights out and away we go racing in Austin! Max Verstappen launches off of the starting line to maintain first! Our third place starter, Charles Leclerc, goes wide and passes Lando Norris for second! Being one of the only drivers starting the Grand Prix with soft tires, maybe this was the right call! Charles takes second! Lewis Hamilton takes 4th from his old teammate George Russell. Oscar quickly passes Russell as well to take 5th position. Within the first few turns of lap 1, the top 6 has already changed quite a bit. Max continues to lead with Charles in second. Lando rounds out the podium positions followed by the second Ferrari of Sir Lewis, then Oscar and George trail behind him!

At the start of the race and towards the back of the field, Williams driver Alex Albon attempts to pass Esteban Ocon for 17th, but since the cars are so jam-packed together, he goes wide after passing the Frenchman and hits the back of Gabriel Bortoleto’s Sauber, which results in Alex spinning on the track. He recovers but not without difficulty! He is now P20.

In lap two, the Smooth Operator Carlos Sainz passes rookie Oliver Bearman for 7th with quite a ‘smooth’ overtake! Unfortunately, the Spaniard’s luck has run out. In lap 7, Carlos attempts a second round of clean passing with Kimi Antonelli, but ends up hitting the back of the Mercedes. Kimi is able to recover and continue on racing, but Carlos isn’t as fortunate. He pulls off the track to retire his car.

In lap 15, Lando Norris gets the closest that he’s ever been to 2nd since the opening lap, less than a second. So, now is the time to attack if the Brit wishes to bring home a victory greater than third. During a long straightaway, Lando comes around the outside to try and pass Charles but is unsuccessful. The following turn he tries again but Charles is persistent in defending 2nd! Over the next couple laps, Charles holds him back, but in lap 19, Lando has at it again! On the same straightaway as last time, Lando takes the outside line, but Charles cuts him short once more! He tries to overtake with the inside line in the next turn, but he just can’t seem to muster enough power out of the car to pass the streak of crimson we call a Ferrari! In lap 21, it’s evident that Lando will not give up! He takes the outside line, and this time, he successfully passes Charles! Lando takes 2nd! Despite this victory, Lando receives the radio message that he has been awarded, for lack of better words, three penalty strikes for exceeding track limits. If he gets one more, a penalty will be issued. The team seems to think that the last time he went off the track was because he was pushed off, but apparently the FIA doesn’t agree!

In lap 22, Lewis Hamilton goes around the outside to try and pass his teammate for third. It seems as though Charles is going to let him take it, but at the last minute he defends his position! In the next turn of the track, Lewis tries again to pass the Monegasque, and this time they nearly bump wheels! Charles comes out on top of the little accident! But it’s a wise move from Ferrari! Charles gets called into the pit lane that same lap, so Lewis ends up passing him anyway!

In lap 33, Lando Norris pits for a fresh set of tires. The pit stop isn’t fast or slow, 3.8 seconds. Charles Leclerc reclaims 2nd.

Two laps later, Oliver Bearman attempts to pass Yuki Tsunoda for 7th, but Yuki is very defensive of his position! When Oliver tries to take the inside line, Yuki pushes him into the dirt! They both spin out, but Yuki makes out like a bandit and leaves a stunned Ollie in his dirty air! Oliver is, fortunately, able to recover with only losing one place to Nico Hulkenberg!

In lap 51, Lando is back to tormenting Charles! He receives DRS and smoothly passes Charles for second! Finally! But his cheering fans will abruptly stop their screaming when they see that Charles knew what Lando was planning and took back second just as quickly as he lost it! A little later in the lap, Lando Norris tries again, and this time, he truly claims his rightful second! If Lando can maintain this position for the final 5 laps, he will bring his gap down from first in the WDC race to 14 points!

The four-time world champion of Max Verstappen sees the checkered flag first to secure his 68th Grand prix win of his Formula 1 career! Max Verstappen wins the United States Grand Prix! What a drive from the Dutchman! He held back second with excruciatingly long gaps. At one point, second place was around 27 seconds behind him! He was able to make a pit stop and still come out on top. Never once losing the lead, the Red Bull racer certainly has a shot at sneaking up on the fighting McLaren boys to secure a fifth WDC title for himself! Chants of “DU DU DU DU” can still be heard all across the country!

results

Here are the ending results of the 2025 COTA GP!

  1. Max Verstappen (Red Bull)
  2. Lando Norris (McLaren)
  3. Charles Leclerc (Ferrari)
  4. Lewis Hamilton (Ferrari)
  5. Oscar Piastri (Mclaren)
  6. George Russell (Mercedes)
  7. Yuki Tsunoda (Red Bull)
  8. Nico Hulkenberg (Sauber)
  9. Oliver Bearman (Haas)
  10. Fernando Alonso (Aston Martin)
  11. Liam Lawson (Racing Bulls)
  12. Lance Stroll (Aston Martin)
  13. Kimi Antonelli (Mercedes)
  14. Alex Albon (Williams)
  15. Esteban Ocon (Haas)
  16. Isack Hadjar (Racing Bulls)
  17. Franco Colapinto (Alpine)
  18. Gabriel Bortoleto (Sauber)
  19. Pierre Gasly (Alpine)
  20. Carlos Sainz (Williams) (DNF)

What a fantastic race! The battle for World Champion continues next Sunday in Mexico City! I’ll see you there!

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