Red Bull ended Mercedes’ 8-year championship-winning run in Austin, Texas as Max Verstappen registered another win of the season. Mercedes, who haven’t won a single race this season, came ever so close as Hamilton drove wonderfully at COTA. Verstappen winning despite a horrible pit stop earned him 7-time world champion Michael Schumacher’s sibling Ralf Schumacher’s praise.

In the 41st lap of the race, Lewis Hamilton took the lead after overtaking Sebastian Vettel. The newest changes to the W13 by Mercedes showed positive results as Hamilton led the race for 9 laps. However, it wasn’t enough as the Flying Dutchman overtook the 7-time champion with ease in the 50th lap to win the race.

Ralf Schumacher praises Max Verstappen’s consistent performance

Max Verstappen equaled Michael Schumacher and Sebastian Vettel’s joint record of 13-race wins in a single season. The win at the US Grand Prix also sealed the World Constructors’ Championship title for Red Bull. Ralf Schumacher, talking with Germany’s Sky Sports F1, showered praises on the Dutchman and his team.

“In Austin, Verstappen showed again why he deserves the world title this season. Verstappen and his car made the difference in Austin. Throughout the season, even in more difficult stages, he always gets the most out of his package.” [Translated using Google]

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Ralf said, “Thirteen wins in 19 races is an impressive statistic and a record for most wins in a season,” he continued.

Verstappen won the 2022 Drivers’ Championship in Japan after Charles Leclerc was handed a 5-second time penalty for going wide and gaining an unfair advantage over Sergio Perez. This penalty & FIA’s point system created a lot of confusion, which eventually made fans angry.

To make matters worse, soon came FIA’s report on the 2021 cost cap that Red Bull was adjudged to have breached. This also meant that Red Bull could have possibly got an advantage over other constructors in 2022 as this year’s car was developed in 2021.

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But it seems Schumacher’s comments put an end to all these controversies and deem Verstappen a worthy champion.

Max Verstappen and Lewis Hamilton gave fans a thrilling end to the US Grand Prix

Verstappen had a terrible pit stop in the 36th lap of the race. The world champion stood stationary in the pit box for about 11 seconds. He rejoined the race in P6 and extracted every bit of performance from the car to go back in front.

In the 39th lap, Verstappen made the move stick to overtake Leclerc after failing earlier as Leclerc retook the position after a switcheroo. Lewis Hamilton, in the 41st lap, overtook Sebastian Vettel to lead the race. While this was happening, Leclerc was still on Verstappen’s tail and chasing him within the DRS range.

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As Vettel pitted in the 42nd lap, Max was free to chase Hamilton. It was the 47th lap when Verstappen started gaining on Lewis. In the 50th lap, the Dutchman overtook Hamilton, who tried the old switcheroo to retake the lead but could not make the move stick.

He fiercely battled Verstappen until the 54th lap, until he got the black and white flags for exceeding track limits. In the final lap of the race, Verstappen won with a gap of 4 seconds to Hamilton.