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Formula 1
United States GP
F1 United States GP Live Commentary and Updates – Race
Minute-by-minute updates for the 2023 Formula 1 United States Grand Prix
Max Verstappen controlled the US GP sprint race on Saturday, but takes on a trickier challenge in the grand prix as he starts from sixth place with Charles Leclerc on pole.
While the Red Bull driver remains favourite, having wrapped up the F1 world drivers’ title last time out in Qatar, his rivals will be looking to spring an upset at the Circuit of the Americas.
The US GP starts at 8pm BST.
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Hulkenberg passes Riccardo for 13th into Turn 1.
Mercedes gives Hamilton encouragement to chase down Norris and Verstappen. The team's forecast has him finishing second and potentially even the win. If true, we are in for a heck of a final 12 laps.
Alonso, who started from pitlane, has just passed Tsunoda for ninth. Top work from the Aston driver.
Hamilton gets the move done on Leclerc at Turn 12, using DRS on the back straight, to move into third on lap 43. Hamilton is 3.7s off Norris and 6.2s off leader Verstappen.
Alonso has pitted from seventh, and comes out in the final points paying position.
Hamilton, zipping along on his new mediums, is within DRS of Leclerc in the fight for third but has to back out of a move into Turn 1. That hampers his pace through the first sector.
Sargeant has been shown the black and white flag for track limits. Another foot (or tyre, should I say) wrong and he'll be hit with a penalty.
Nice move from Albon there past Ricciardo for 12th place.
Verstappen is told he's losing time, relative to team-mate Perez, in the heavy braking zones and the response is "yes because the brakes are s***".
Stroll, who was running eighth, has pitted again. He comes out 11th and promotes team-mate Alonso to seventh.
So, Verstappen leads Norris by 1.4s on lap 40 of 56. Leclerc is third but is being reeled in by Hamilton.
Less than a lap later at Turn 12 Norris overtakes Leclerc up the inside to move into second and continues to give chase to Verstappen.
Pit stop
Verstappen charges by Leclerc up at Turn 1 at the start of lap 39. That gives him the lead again, as Hamilton pits for fresh mediums and comes out in fourth.
On lap 38 Verstappen has a look at overtaking Leclerc into the favoured Turn 12 but can't get close enough, while behind them Sainz gets by Russell for fifth.
Gasly has also stopped, coming out 10th.
Stopwatch
Sainz, running seventh, has set the fastest lap.
Pit stop
Perez pits from second and comes out behind Sainz in seventh.
Hamilton is told to save fuel in order to attack more at the end of the race. This one is set to go all the way to the finish.
So, both Verstappen and Norris are on the same compound of tyre in the sprint to the end of the race. Verstappen is closing in on Leclerc on the alternative strategy. Hamilton leads by 7.6s from Perez but both are due to stop again.
Pit stop
Verstappen's stop is a little slow, 3.3s, as he comes out in fourth and about a second in front of Norris.
Norris comes out in sixth, between Leclerc and Russell, as Verstappen replies a lap later by pitting.
Pit stop
At the end of lap 34 Norris pits and switches to hards to take him to the end of the race.
Tsunoda has pitted again, he comes out 11th, while Hulkenberg does the same behind him.
Quote
"Mate, these brakes are so s*** compared to yesterday. What a piece of s***!" Verstappen informs Red Bull over team radio. His lead is up to 3.2s but he isn't happy.
Verstappen is belatedly starting to move clear now, as his lead grows to 1.8s over Norris, having gone seven-tenths quicker than the McLaren driver on the last lap.
At the end of lap 32, Hamilton is clawing into the gap to the front two, as he moves within six seconds of Verstappen and Norris.
Credit to Norris, he is sticking to Verstappen's rear wing and keeping within DRS range. He is close enough to spot Verstappen breaching track limits, which he duly reports on team radio.
Albon also opts for another stop, as does Magnussen.
Verstappen is making a bolt into the distance, as Norris tries to cling onto the DRS range of the Red Bull.
So, who had lap 28 for Verstappen taking the lead?
Some of the early stoppers are now pitting again - both Alfas have stopped for a second time.
What a move by Verstappen for the lead! Using DRS down the back straight, the Red Bull driver makes a very late dive up the inside on Norris into Turn 12. He gets his car stopped in time and defends his lead into Turn 13.
A Turn 12 incident between Sargeant and Stroll has been noted by the stewards.
Zhou has been asked to let team-mate Bottas past him for 12th. They're both on the hard compound tyre.
Verstappen is within DRS range of Norris on lap 27 and what comes next looks inevitable.
Mercedes encourages Hamilton to push more on his hard tyres, looking at the pace of Norris, as he looks to catch up to the leaders.
Albon breezed past Zhou for 11th there, with Bottas in 13th.
Norris drops a chunk of time at Turn 11 as he locks up and that brings Verstappen to 1.2s behind him.
With Norris back in the lead on lap 25, he has a 2.2s advantage over Verstappen, with Hamilton in third 7.3s back.
Pit stop
Leclerc pits from the lead and comes out in sixth, behind Sainz and Perez, and is running on hard tyres that he may look to take to the finish.
By: Autosport Staff
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