F1 | Mercedes, Lewis Hamilton: “For a second I thought I could win”

Lewis Hamilton really tried everything, but without success: Max Verstappen is the winner of the United States Grand Prix, and the frustration of the world champion is visible, as he gets out of his car with his head down, without congratulating his opponent. Palpable tension, at the end of a race which saw Lewis in the lead after the first corner: the Briton managed to stay in front during the first stint, but Red Bull wanted to gamble, anticipating Max's pit stop after sun ten rounds. Hamilton follows a few laps later, returning to second position. It took Lewis a while to get the hard tires to work, a compound that best suited the W12 on the COTA curves, and that's when Max surprised, returning to the pits well early to mount the second hard. The Finn's undercut works and Hamilton recovers seconds on each lap, getting closer, as he had predicted, to the Red Bull in the last three laps: nothing to be done though. Max remains in front, pulling ahead of the world championship - he is now at plus twelve - while Hamilton gets out, disconsolate with the car. The final rounds of the world championship promise to be heart-pounding, but what is certainly surprising is the attitude of these two rivals: Verstappen, cool and controlled, dictating the rules for the strategy also for his teammate, while Lewis responds to Toto Wolff calling him “bro” and asking to be left alone.

"First of all congratulations to Max, he did a brilliant job today. And again, a huge thank you to the wonderful crowd of fans who animated Austin this weekend, racing in front of the stands packed with passionate fans was a real honor – Lewis initially said – for a second I really thought we could win, I really gave everything on the track. It was a really tough race, but unfortunately it didn't pay off. Red Bull had more and we couldn't keep up with their pace. They seemed to have a better and more stable rear end, they didn't slide much. The start was obviously good, and so was the end when I closed the gap, but then the dirty air came and the tires overheated in the last laps. Thanks to the team for the fantastic pit stops and hard work this weekend. We didn't succeed this time, but we'll try again next time".