Max Verstappen will seek to beat Lewis Hamilton in one of the defending champion’s favorite backyards this weekend to realize his own American dream and consolidate his lead in the Formula One drivers’ world championship.
Having finished fourth, third and second, but never won at the Circuit of the Americas, the Dutchman is aiming to claim a maiden Texan triumph to extend his six-point advantage with six races to go.
“We have always been competitive in the US and have got close to some good results – so it’s about converting that into a win now,” he said.
Verstappen and his Red Bull team know, however, that Mercedes have enjoyed a dominant run of results since the inaugural race in 2012, when Hamilton recorded the first of his five wins in the eight races to date.
Of the remaining three, his teammate Valtteri Bottas was victorious once, in the last event held in 2019, while Red Bull’s Sebastian Vettel won in 2013 and Kimi Raikkonen in 2018.
That statistical evidence, added to the way Mercedes bounced back in the last two contests in Russia and Turkey, with one win apiece for Hamilton and Bottas, suggests the Honda-powered team will have their work cut out this weekend.
“It was encouraging to see our momentum continue last time out in Turkey,” said the Silver Arrows’ team chief Toto Wolff.
“We haven’t scored back-to-back race wins in a little while so naturally spirits have been high in the factories.
“It was a dominant performance from Valtteri in tricky conditions, taking his first win of the season – a faultless drive. He was in control from the start and it’s a great boost to him and the team.”
Mercedes’ recent return to form has in part been due to improved power and pace, albeit that Hamilton’s grid penalty for taking a new engine in Turkey restricted him to finishing only fifth.
“For Lewis, the absolute view of Turkey is that he lost one point more than Max did in the previous race in Russia with a similar engine change – which we can live with,” said Wolff.
As Wolff voiced his own upbeat views, Red Bull boss Christian Horner sought to raise the stakes and add pressure on his Austrian counterpart.
“Toto’s done a tremendous job operating that team and maintaining their performance, but he’s never experienced anything other than winning,” said Horner.
“So for him now, it’s a different type of pressure. It’s tough… He came in 2013 when the structure was already there, in place, built by Ross Brawn.”
