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Formula 1
United States GP
F1 United States GP Live Commentary and Updates - Race day
Minute-by-minute updates for the Formula 1 United States Grand Prix at the Circuit of the Americas
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The 2022 F1 world title might be decided after Max Verstappen clinched the drivers’ crown in Japan last time out, but there’s still plenty at stake and many talking points both off and on the track.
Red Bull can clinch the F1 world constructors’ title at the Circuit of the Americas if it outscores Ferrari by 19 points this weekend, although Carlos Sainz starts the race on pole from Max Verstappen
Elsewhere, Charles Leclerc and Sergio Perez will battle for the runner-up spot in the drivers’ standings, with just a point separating the pair with four races to go - but the two will contend with grid penalties at the start.
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Penalty
Gasly's nightmare afternoon is complete, as he's given a 10-second penalty for not serving his earlier penalty correctly. Oh dear.
An incident at Turn 12 between Latifi and Schumacher has been noted, which hasn't been seen by the TV cameras, so it is all going on now!
But Verstappen's irrepressible march with DRS cannot be warded off by Leclerc into Turn 12, and that lifts the Red Bull driver up a position. He's got 4.4s to find on Hamilton.
Perez comes in for his stop, which promotes Sebastian Vettel into the lead. Verstappen charges down the inside at Turn 1 to pass Leclerc, but Leclerc gets the switchback and remains in front of him! Great battle.
Meanwhile Zhou has been shown the black and white flag for track limits. One more and he'll have a penalty.
This isn't Gasly's afternoon. The AlphaTauri has been flagged for not serving his earlier penalty correctly, so that could mean further penalty trouble to come.
Stopwatch
Leclerc and Verstappen have given it good guns on lap 37, taking a nice chunk of time - about a second - out of the Mercedes driver. Verstappen does a 1m39.541s as he duels with Leclerc.
"It's a long way to go," Lambiase says to Verstappen, and the Dutchman knows that it's not over yet.
Russell makes light work of passing Magnussen on his out-lap to move up to sixth place.
Pit stop
Hamilton is 5.6s ahead of Leclerc, as Russell stops - but comes out behind Magnussen who is yet to do a second stop.
This race has well and truly come alive now! Who is ready for a fight to the finish?
"Beautiful, ****ing beautiful," Verstappen says. It's mediums for Leclerc and Verstappen, but will they last for another 20 laps against Hamilton's hard tyres?
Thus, Verstappen and Leclerc respond to Hamilton's stop at the end of lap 35 - but it's a slow stop for Verstappen! Leclerc gets out ahead, but Hamilton will be some way ahead of them now too!
Pit stop
Norris pits next time around and just comes out behind Tsunoda. The overcut almost worked.
Pit stop
"I feel like it's hurting my driveability, these strat changes," Verstappen says. Meanwhile, Hamilton pits from second for fresh hards.
Pit stop
Tsunoda and Schumacher pit at the end of lap 33, as the second pitstop window is cracked open.
Alonso, undeterred by his earlier clash with Stroll on the back straight, gets by Ricciardo at the same place.
Russell's now having a look at Perez, seeking a way back past for fourth. Leclerc's scarpered out of DRS range, so Perez won't be able to get past for now.
Pit stop
Gasly pits immediately following his penalty and comes out down in 17th and last place.
TV replays show Gasly's dropping of 10 car lengths behind offence. It is clear cut. A harsh penalty? Maybe.
"Leclerc went off, he needs to give the place back" Perez complains, but it seems engineer Hugh Bird doesn't agree. "Just do it on track," Bird says, and Perez is keeping in touch.
Penalty
Gasly has been given a five-second penalty for being more than 10-car lengths behind under the safety car. Gasly is curretly in seventh so that could wreck his points hopes.
Gasly is now duly under investigation for being more than 10 car lengths behind under the safety car. Meanwhile, Magnussen has been noted for ignoring yellow flags. It is getting busy in the stewards' office.
Leclerc has another go on lap 30, and although Perez makes the gap very small into Turn 12, the Ferrari threads the needle and grabs third place!
Leclerc tries to have a tilt at Perez with DRS, but goes deep into Turn 12 and can't stay on the road! He backs out, and Perez hangs onto third.
Given the bangs Alonso's car suffered in his clash with Stroll it is impressive that he is still in this race, and what's more impressive is that with the same car he is up to 15th having got by Latifi.
Quote
"What happened to my driveability?" Verstappen asks. "Strat 2" comes Gianpiero Lambiase's reply, which will presumably require some frantic fiddling on the steering wheel.
Gasly has been noted by the stewards for being more than 10 car lengths behind during the safety car period. That could be a penalty incoming.
At the restart Magnussen overtakes Ocon to take 11th place on the exit of Turn 1.
Green flag
The safety car is coming in, so Verstappen will crack on with another restart. He pulls the trigger through Turn 17, like last time, and gets away.
That incident will be investigated by the stewards after the race.
"As a reference, tyre life for the medium was better than expected," Leclerc is told. I'm sure that's very useful to the hard-tyred Ferrari driver.
Stroll's broken Aston Martin is craned away as he walks back into the paddock. Alonso is still in the race, having pitted for a new front wing and tyres, and is in 16th place.
It seems a couple of drivers were affected by the debris; Norris' wheel deflector was knocked off by a piece of crash flotsam, and Zhou has pitted in the meantime.
Thankfully both Stroll and Alonso are OK. The collision sprayed a shower of debris on to the track, with the pack behind the two of them lucky to avoid joining the accident.
That's a nasty one. Alonso with better drive on to the back straight pulls to the left of Stroll to make a move, as the Aston Martin driver also moves left, meaning Alonso runs into the rear of his future team-mate.
Stroll has stopped on the track with heavy damage, as Alonso pits with a broken front wing.
Crash
Woah, big crash! Alonso and Stroll have come together on the back straight! The safety car is out.
Tsunoda gets around the outside of Norris on the exit of Turn 1 to take 10th place - great move! Behind Magnussen gets ahead of Zhou for 14th.
Green flag
The safety car lights go out, so Verstappen is now in charge of leading the pack. He hits the throttle, Hamilton goes with him, and we get back going again.
By: autosport.com
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