Formula One in USA: Red Bull takes charge in Austin

Each year since its inaugural season in 1950, Formula One grows in popularity. Twenty drivers on 10 teams drive in an average of 19 races yearly to compete for the Formula One Driver’s Championship, as well as the Formula One Constructors’ Championship. This sport has been extremely popular in Europe, South America, and Western Asia for a very, very long time, but recently Formula One’s popularity has boomed in America as well. In March 2019 Netflix premiered its docuseries “Drive to Survive,” covering in close detail the 2018 Formula One season. The first season was a hit, and the subsequent two seasons premiered in March of 2020 and 2021 during the COVID-19 pandemic, leaving the masses ample time for TV consumption, and in turn consumption of the real thing. Not only is the driving exciting, the drama behind the scenes is awfully entertaining as well. For many new fans, “Drive to Survive” was their first introduction to the sport.

The United States Grand Prix (USGP), held in Austin, Texas, on Friday, Oct. 22, to Sunday, Oct. 24, at the Circuit of the Americas is predicted to be the highest attended sporting event in the United States this year, welcoming an estimated 140,000 fans on race day. For reference, 70,000 people attended the Super Bowl in 2019. Not only will it likely be the largest sporting event in America this year, the 2021 United States Grand Prix blew three-day attendance records for previous Formula One races out of the water. The record holder for weekend attendance prior to the 2021 USGP was the British Grand Prix at Silverstone in 2019, with 351,000 fans in attendance. The USGP welcomed an estimated total of 380,000 fans over the weekend.

Entering the weekend in the midst of tense competition, title contender Max Verstappen (Netherlands, Red Bull Racing) and seven-time defending champion Lewis Hamilton (England, Mercedes F1) were only six points apart in the championship standings. Mercedes historically performs better than Red Bull at the Circuit of the Americas, so it seemed likely that Hamilton could take the lead back from Verstappen. Hamilton and teammate Valteri Bottas (Finland, Mercedes F1) both outpaced Verstappen at Free Practice (FP) 1 on Friday, however FP 2 and FP 3 were led by Verstappen’s teammate and crowd favorite Sergio Perez (Mexico, Red Bull Racing). It was looking quite promising for Perez to take pole position in Saturday’s qualifying session, holding provisional pole until Verstappen and Hamilton outpaced him by mere hundredths of seconds, ending with Verstappen on pole, Hamilton in P2, Perez in P3 and Texas’ biggest fan Daniel Ricciardo (Australia, Mclaren) taking P7.

Race Sunday began dark and dreary, with the F4 race and the W Series Finale race experiencing a bit of rain. Brit Jamie Chadwick (Veloce Racing) took home the $500,000 W Series Championship purse and her second W Series Championship Title. Chadwick is currently a development driver for Williams F1. By the time the USPG got under way the clouds had burned off and the classic Texas heat and humidity was in full effect. After a formation lap, the grid lined up at the main straight, and then it was, as they say, “lights out, and away we go!” Hamilton pulled ahead of Verstappen at turn one. Verstappen took an early pit stop at lap 10 onto hard tires in an effort to undercut Hamilton. Verstappen gained back his places lost during the pit stop, and once Hamilton got rid of his medium tires at lap 14, it was all over. With some lapped traffic between Hamilton and Verstappen, it became clear as the laps went by that it would require a crash or an act of God for Hamilton to make back the seconds in front of him. Though it did become quite the nail biter in the last 10 laps, Verstappen took victory in Austin, widening the championship gap from six points to 12. Hamilton took second, and Perez third. With such a small gap between first and second place,  the final five races of the season are sure to be monumentally exciting. Tune into ESPN November 5-7 for the Mexican Grand Prix.