2023 United States Grand Prix

The 2023 United States Grand Prix (officially known as the Formula 1 Lenovo United States Grand Prix 2023) was a Formula One motor race that took place on October 22, 2023, at the Circuit of the Americas in Austin, Texas, United States. It was the eighteenth round of the 2023 Formula One World Championship and the fifth Grand Prix weekend of the season to utilise the sprint format.

Max Verstappen won both races. In the main race, Lewis Hamilton and Charles Leclerc finished second and sixth respectively but were disqualified due to post-race scrutineering determining that their skid blocks were excessively worn. The race became the first that ended with more than one driver disqualified since the 2019 Japanese Grand Prix. Due to this, Logan Sargeant was promoted to tenth place and scored his first career point.

Background

The event was held across the weekend of October 20–22. It was the eighteenth round of the 2023 Formula One World Championship and the 52nd running of the United States Grand Prix. The weekend was the fifth of six in the season to follow the sprint format.

Championship standings before the race

Coming into the weekend, Max Verstappen, who took his third consecutive Drivers' Champion title at the preceding Qatar Grand Prix, led the Drivers' Championship by 209 points from teammate Sergio Pérez, with Lewis Hamilton third, a further 30 points behind. Red Bull Racing, having secured the title at the Japanese Grand Prix, led the Constructors' Championship over Mercedes by 331 points and Ferrari by a further 28 points.

Entrants

The drivers and teams were the same as the season entry list with the exception of the returning Daniel Ricciardo, who replaced Nyck de Vries at AlphaTauri starting at the Hungarian Grand Prix. Ricciardo's seat was filled by Liam Lawson in the previous five Grands Prix after Ricciardo was forced to withdraw due to a broken metacarpal bone in a crash during the second practice of the Dutch Grand Prix.

Tyre choices

Tyre supplier Pirelli brought the C2, C3 and C4 tyre compounds (designated hard, medium, and soft, respectively) for teams to use at the event.

Practice

The only free practice session was held on October 20, 2023, at 12:30 local time ( UTC−5). Max Verstappen topped the session, followed by Ferrari driver Charles Leclerc and Mercedes driver Lewis Hamilton in second and third, respectively. Lance Stroll of Aston Martin ran only five laps before he was forced to return to the pits due to brake issues.

Qualifying

Qualifying was held on October 20, 2023, at 16:00 local time ( UTC−5), and determined the starting grid for the main race.

Qualifying report

Charles Leclerc took pole position ahead of Lando Norris and Lewis Hamilton. Championship leader Max Verstappen qualified in sixth after having a lap time fast enough for pole position deleted due to track limits. Aston Martin suffered a double Q1 knockout with Fernando Alonso and Lance Stroll placing seventeenth and nineteenth, respectively.

Qualifying classification

;Notes
* – Kevin Magnussen qualified 14th, but he was required to start the race from the pit lane as elements of different specifications from the ones originally used were installed on his car during parc fermé conditions.
* – Nico Hülkenberg qualified 16th, but he was required to start the race from the pit lane as elements of different specifications from the ones originally used were installed on his car during parc fermé conditions.
* – Fernando Alonso qualified 17th, but he was required to start the race from the pit lane as elements of different specifications from the ones originally used were installed on his car during parc fermé conditions.
* – Lance Stroll qualified 19th, but he was required to start the race from the pit lane as elements of different specifications from the ones originally used were installed on his car during parc fermé conditions.

Sprint shootout

The sprint shootout was held on October 21, 2023, at 12:30 local time ( UTC−5), and determined the starting grid for the sprint.

Sprint shootout classification

Notes
* – George Russell received a three-place grid penalty for impeding Charles Leclerc in SQ1.
* – Kevin Magnussen and Valtteri Bottas set identical lap times in SQ1. Magnussen was qualified ahead of Bottas as he set his time earlier.

Sprint

The sprint was held on October 21, 2023, at 17:00 local time ( UTC−5), and was run for 19 laps.

Sprint report

Max Verstappen won the race comfortably from Lewis Hamilton and Charles Leclerc. Having suffered from them earlier in the free practice session, Lance Stroll retired with brake issues.

Sprint classification

Notes
* – George Russell finished seventh, but he received a five-second time penalty for leaving the track and gaining an advantage.
* – Zhou Guanyu finished 16th, but he received a five-second time penalty for leaving the track and gaining an advantage.

Race

The race was held on October 22, 2023, at 14:00 local time ( UTC−5), and was run for 56 laps.

Race report

Max Verstappen, despite brake issues, won the race, his fifteenth victory in the season. Verstappen held off Lewis Hamilton and Lando Norris, who had both led during the race and ultimately finished second and third respectively. Both drivers showed pace, getting closer to Verstappen during the closing stages. Yuki Tsunoda achieved the fastest lap. There were three retirements. Oscar Piastri retired with damage to his radiator and a water leak after making contact with Esteban Ocon's sidepods, which also caused Ocon to retire. Fernando Alonso, who had to start from the pit lane, suffered from failures of the rear suspension and the floor.

Hamilton and polesitter Charles Leclerc, who finished second and sixth respectively, were both disqualified after failing a post-race plank test. Verstappen noted that the fact that a sprint was held may have contributed to the excessive wear to the plank that lead to the disqualification of Leclerc and Hamilton. This disqualification means that Leclerc became the first driver to start on pole position and get disqualified since Ralf Schumacher at the 2004 Canadian Grand Prix with himself and Hamilton the first drivers to be disqualified for excessive plank wear since Michael Schumacher at the 1994 Belgian Grand Prix. This also means that he became the first Ferrari driver that failed to finish, failed to start, and was disqualified from at least one race where he starting on pole position. This promoted Norris to second place, Sainz to third, and gave Logan Sargeant his first Formula One point. This marked the first time an American had scored in Formula One since Michael Andretti at the 1993 Italian Grand Prix.

Following the race, still images appeared to show both Sergio Pérez and Alexander Albon breaching track limits at turn 6. However, these breaches went undetected as, according to the FIA, the CCTV camera being used to monitor track limits at that corner had been placed at an inadequate viewing position. Lando Norris also admitted to breaching track limits at this corner several times during the race. The FIA stated they will, "update heirmonitoring infrastructure to provide enhanced coverage to ensure that any potential breaches can reliably be identified during the race in future." However, thirteen days after the race, the Haas team filed a right of review request, with Reuters indicating it was regarding the turn 6 track limits. Depending on the outcome of the review, the results of the race could be changed. According to Motorsport.com, the onboard evidence Haas is using for its right of review indicates that Lance Stroll and the Williams drivers Alex Albon and Logan Sargeant committed multiple track limit infringements that were not detected. McLaren team principal Andrea Stella criticised Haas for their belated use of the right of review in the same article. It was subsequently confirmed that a hearing on November 8 will decide whether Haas's request will be upheld. Williams, Aston Martin, and Red Bull will be required to attend this hearing along with Haas. However, the hearing was delayed by the FIA until November 9 to give stewards additional time to "independently consider the submissions made". At the hearing, the Haas right of review request was rejected on the grounds of the evidence submitted by Haas being evidence that was not new (as in unavailable at the time of the original investigation by the stewards after the race) or relevant, and the results of the race were allowed to stand. Despite rejecting the Haas appeal, the stewards did criticise the FIA's policing of track limits in Formula One stating 'they find their inability to enforce standards for track limits for all competitors to be completely unsatisfactory' urging the governing body to find better solutions to police track limits in the sport ahead of the 2024 season. The full stewards verdict also revealed that representatives from the McLaren and Ferrari teams also chose to attend the hearing voluntarily along with the representatives from the four teams summoned as well as representatives from the FIA itself.

Race classification

Notes
* – Includes one point for fastest lap.
* – Alexander Albon received a five-second time penalty for exceeding track limits. His final position was not affected by the penalty.
* – Lewis Hamilton and Charles Leclerc finished second and sixth, respectively, but were disqualified for having excessive wear on their rear skid blocks.

Championship standings after the race

;Drivers' Championship standings

;Constructors' Championship standings

* Note: Only the top five positions are included for both sets of standings.
* Competitors in bold and marked with an asterisk are the 2023 World Champions.

References

External links

{{F1GP 2020–29

United States
Grand Prix
United States Grand Prix
2023