Max Verstappen takes 50th win as Lando Norris shines

Max Verstappen came from sixth on the grid at the United States Grand Prix to achieve a half-century of Formula 1 wins at just 26 years old, making him one of only five drivers in history to reach 50 wins. This monumental milestone is Verstappen’s 15th victory of the season with four races still remaining in 2023.   

Verstappen wasn’t the sole star in Austin, however. Lando Norris also delivered a strong performance throughout the weekend amid McLaren’s resurgence and was eventually awarded a fine second place following the post-race disqualification of Lewis Hamilton.   

After overtaking pole sitter Charles Leclerc for the lead before the first corner, Norris gained over two seconds on the Ferrari driver by lap three. Rookie teammate Oscar Piastri also showed promise when he climbed from 10th to sixth in an excellent opening lap. The Australian even dared to challenge Verstappen, but an unfortunate retirement on lap 10 put an end to Piastri’s United States Grand Prix.  

As a result of the young teammates’ recent performances, McLaren have been propelled into fourth place in the World Constructors' Championship. Though Aston Martin looked to be the second-best team at the start of the season, their drop in performance is highlighted by their fall to fifth in the standings and the fact that both Astons went out during Q1 of COTA’s qualifying.  

Mercedes’ Lewis Hamilton and Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc were both found to have cars which exceeded the allowed wear of their skid blocks, a component designed to ensure that cars aren’t running too close to the track surface. Both cars’ skid blocks had worn below the minimum 9mm thickness, possibly due to the bumpy circuit and lack of car set-up time during the sprint race weekend.  The FIA checked four cars at random, so Hamilton’s and Leclerc’s disqualification has raised eyebrows considering that it represented a 50% failure rate. 

The elimination means that, despite Hamilton’s excellent performance and initial second-place result, he now has even more points to make up if he wants to challenge Sergio Pérez for second in the Drivers’ standings. However, with a 39-point gap to bridge, it may be slipping out of reach.