Austin (AFP) – After three wins in his last five outings, Max Verstappen was hailed as “the boss” after victory at the United States Grand Prix on Sunday, confirming his and Red Bull’s renaissance as he seeks to claim a fifth title. The four-time champion’s masterclass moved him within 40 points of McLaren’s championship leader Oscar Piastri with five events remaining. AFP Sport looks at three things we learned from Sunday’s intriguing Texan race.
**Red Bull revival**
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Experience and class shone through in Verstappen’s sumptuous controlled drive to victory at the Circuit of the Americas, but it was built on a strong and fast car and slick teamwork that confirmed Red Bull are the team to beat. After finally completing their second successive constructors’ championship triumph, McLaren have been unable to recover the consistent form that made them runaway leaders, and, with their nerves twitching, the unexpected is looming large.
“What Max has done is great,” said Mercedes boss Toto Wolff, reflecting on the Dutchman’s feat in reducing a 104-point deficit to 40. “But they (Red Bull) have just turned the car around and it is the most competitive, at the moment. He is scoring all the big points he is as good as it gets as a driver.” More than anything, it seems Red Bull’s change of leadership in July, when Christian Horner was dismissed, has stimulated a resurgence with the accent on calm and methodical engineering under new team boss Laurent Mekies. That foundation has given Red Bull belief again and a winning car.
“It’s incredible, but it’s down to Max and the team,” said Sauber’s Nico Hulkenberg. “What he can do with Red Bull is just incredible. He is just showing his class. He’s showing us that he is a four-time world champion and that he’s the boss.” Verstappen’s former Red Bull sporting director Jonathan Wheatley, now boss of Sauber, said: “You can never write him off…He’s the best in the world, perhaps, and if I was at McLaren I’d be looking in the mirrors.”
But can Verstappen achieve his goal and claim an ‘impossible’ fifth title? “Is it probable? Not normally,” said Wheatley. “But Max tends to rewrite the rules for himself and has done through his whole career.”
**McLaren’s Brown shows nerves**
Having oozed confidence as his drivers appeared to be turning the title race into a personal duel, McLaren team boss Zak Brown began to show frayed nerves over the Austin weekend. After Piastri and Norris had collided in the sprint race, he was quick to blame others. “That was terrible,” he said. “Neither of our drivers to blame there…Some amateur hour driving, some drivers up there at the front wiped out our two guys.”
When he had reviewed the incident, he admitted he had allowed the heat of the moment to carry him. “I’ve changed my view and I can’t really put that on Nico (Hulkenberg). In the heat of the moment, I was obviously pretty bothered with what I saw there,” he said. Results have not gone McLaren’s way since August, with Verstappen on top and both Mercedes and Ferrari improving – while the champions have stood still without upgrades for the run-in.
**Ferrari silence critics**
They may remain without a victory this year, but Ferrari’s form proved they retain the speed and resilience to silence their critics – and threaten an upset result before the end of the year. Charles Leclerc finished third and seven-time champion Lewis Hamilton fourth in Austin as they closed within seven points of Mercedes in the constructors’ championship.
“A really good race for us,” said Leclerc. “It’s a good thing, especially considering the whole situation with so much completely unfounded noise and rumor around the team. It shows we stay focused on the job and to be rewarded with a podium is really nice.”
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