The 2021 United States Grand Prix (officially known as the Formula 1 Aramco United States Grand Prix 2021) was a Formula One motor race, held on October 24, 2021, at the Circuit of the Americas in Austin, Texas, United States. The race was the 17th round of the 2021 Formula One World Championship and the 50th running of the United States Grand Prix, the 42nd time the race was run as a World Championship event since the inaugural 1950 season, and the ninth time a World Championship round was held at the venue.
2021 United States Grand Prix | |||||
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Race 17 of 22[1] in the 2021 Formula One World Championship
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Race details[2][3] | |||||
Date | October 24, 2021 | ||||
Official name | Formula 1 Aramco United States Grand Prix 2021 | ||||
Location | Circuit of the Americas, Austin, Texas | ||||
Course | Permanent racing facility | ||||
Course length | 5.513 km (3.426 miles) | ||||
Distance | 56 laps, 308.405 km (191.634 miles) | ||||
Weather | Sunny | ||||
Attendance | 400,000[4] | ||||
Pole position | |||||
Driver | Red Bull Racing-Honda | ||||
Time | 1:32.910 | ||||
Fastest lap | |||||
Driver | Lewis Hamilton | Mercedes | |||
Time | 1:38.485 on lap 41 | ||||
Podium | |||||
First | Red Bull Racing-Honda | ||||
Second | Mercedes | ||||
Third | Red Bull Racing-Honda | ||||
Lap leaders |
Background
editThe race returned after being cancelled in 2020 due to the COVID-19 pandemic.[5] There was a 20% risk of rain for qualifying and 40% for the race.[6] From this race onward, any practice times set during waved yellow flags would be deleted.[7] The final two rounds of the 2021 W Series were held as support races for the Grand Prix.[8][9] This was the ninth time that Austin has hosted a Formula One Grand Prix.[5] Some restrictions on paddock access related to the COVID-19 pandemic were lowered starting from this event.[10]
Championship standings before the race
editAfter finishing second in the preceding Turkish Grand Prix, Max Verstappen led the drivers' championship from Lewis Hamilton by six points, Verstappen with 262.5 and Hamilton with 256.5. Behind them, Valtteri Bottas was in third place with 177 points. Lando Norris trailed him by 32 points, and Sergio Pérez trailed Norris by 10 points. In the constructors' championship, Mercedes led Red Bull Racing by 36 points. Behind them, third-placed McLaren led fourth-placed Ferrari by 7.5 points with 240 points, with Alpine a distant fifth with 104 points.
Entrants
editThe drivers and teams were the same as the season entry list with no additional stand-in drivers for the race.[11]
The title sponsor of Ferrari, Mission Winnow, returned for this race. The name and sponsor logos were used by Ferrari at the Bahrain, Emilia Romagna, Portuguese, Spanish, Monaco, Azerbaijan, and Russian Grands Prix, but were not used in any races from the French Grand Prix to the Italian Grand Prix, and the Turkish Grand Prix, for legal reasons.[11] For this weekend exclusively, Honda-powered teams Red Bull Racing and Scuderia AlphaTauri raced with sponsorship by Honda's American brand Acura, replacing the engine manufacturer's logos in their cars' respective liveries.[12]
Tyre choices
editSole tyre supplier Pirelli allocated the C2, C3, and C4 compounds of tyre to be used in the race.[13]
Practice
editThe first practice session started at 11:30 local time (UTC−05:00) on Friday, October 22.[14] Valtteri Bottas was the fastest in the session, with Lewis Hamilton and Max Verstappen behind.[15] The second session started at 15:00 local time, also on Friday, and ended with Sergio Pérez fastest ahead of Lando Norris and Hamilton.[16] The third practice session started at 13:00 local time on Saturday, October 23. There were very stiff winds and high temperatures catching the drivers out throughout the session and Verstappen and Hamilton both had quicker lap times deleted for exceeding track limits on Turns 19 and 9, respectively, Pérez was once again the fastest driver, ahead of Carlos Sainz Jr. for Ferrari and Verstappen.[17]
Qualifying
editQualifying started at 16:00 local time (UTC−05:00) on Saturday, October 23.[14] The surface temperature was around 37 °C (99 °F).[clarification needed][18] Before qualifying, Red Bull made alterations to the rear wings of their cars after a crack was found on one of them.[19] Verstappen qualified on pole.[10] Hamilton qualified second, a fifth of a second slower than Verstappen.[18] Pérez qualified third, while Bottas qualified fourth, although the latter had a five-place grid penalty and was relegated to ninth on the starting grid.[19]
Qualifying classification
editPos. | No. | Driver | Constructor | Qualifying times | Final grid | ||
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Q1 | Q2 | Q3 | |||||
1 | 33 | Max Verstappen | Red Bull Racing-Honda | 1:34.352 | 1:33.464 | 1:32.910 | 1 |
2 | 44 | Lewis Hamilton | Mercedes | 1:34.579 | 1:33.797 | 1:33.119 | 2 |
3 | 11 | Sergio Pérez | Red Bull Racing-Honda | 1:34.369 | 1:34.178 | 1:33.134 | 3 |
4 | 77 | Valtteri Bottas | Mercedes | 1:34.590 | 1:33.959 | 1:33.475 | 91 |
5 | 16 | Charles Leclerc | Ferrari | 1:34.153 | 1:33.928 | 1:33.606 | 4 |
6 | 55 | Carlos Sainz Jr. | Ferrari | 1:34.558 | 1:34.126 | 1:33.792 | 5 |
7 | 3 | Daniel Ricciardo | McLaren-Mercedes | 1:34.407 | 1:34.643 | 1:33.808 | 6 |
8 | 4 | Lando Norris | McLaren-Mercedes | 1:34.551 | 1:33.880 | 1:33.887 | 7 |
9 | 10 | Pierre Gasly | AlphaTauri-Honda | 1:34.567 | 1:34.583 | 1:34.118 | 8 |
10 | 22 | Yuki Tsunoda | AlphaTauri-Honda | 1:35.360 | 1:35.137 | 1:34.918 | 10 |
11 | 31 | Esteban Ocon | Alpine-Renault | 1:35.747 | 1:35.377 | N/A | 11 |
12 | 5 | Sebastian Vettel | Aston Martin-Mercedes | 1:35.281 | 1:35.500 | N/A | 182 |
13 | 99 | Antonio Giovinazzi | Alfa Romeo Racing-Ferrari | 1:35.920 | 1:35.794 | N/A | 12 |
14 | 14 | Fernando Alonso | Alpine-Renault | 1:35.756 | 1:44.549 | N/A | 193 |
15 | 63 | George Russell | Williams-Mercedes | 1:35.746 | No time | N/A | 204 |
16 | 18 | Lance Stroll | Aston Martin-Mercedes | 1:35.983 | N/A | N/A | 13 |
17 | 6 | Nicholas Latifi | Williams-Mercedes | 1:35.995 | N/A | N/A | 14 |
18 | 7 | Kimi Räikkönen | Alfa Romeo Racing-Ferrari | 1:36.311 | N/A | N/A | 15 |
19 | 47 | Mick Schumacher | Haas-Ferrari | 1:36.499 | N/A | N/A | 16 |
20 | 9 | Nikita Mazepin[a] | Haas-Ferrari | 1:36.796 | N/A | N/A | 17 |
107% time: 1:40.743 | |||||||
Source:[21][22] |
Notes
- ^1 – Valtteri Bottas received a five-place grid penalty for a new internal combustion engine.[23]
- ^2 – Sebastian Vettel was required to start the race from the back of the grid for exceeding his quota of power unit elements.[23]
- ^3 – Fernando Alonso was required to start the race from the back of the grid for exceeding his quota of power unit elements.[24]
- ^4 – George Russell was required to start the race from the back of the grid for exceeding his quota of power unit elements.[23]
Race
editThe race started at 14:00 local time (UTC−05:00) on Sunday, October 24, and was run over fifty-six laps.[14][5]
Race classification
editNotes
- ^1 – Includes one point for fastest lap.
Championship standings after the race
edit
Drivers' Championship standings
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Constructors' Championship standings
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- Note: Only the top five positions are included for both sets of standings.
- Bold text and an asterisk indicates competitors who still had a theoretical chance of becoming World Champion.
See also
editNotes
edit- ^ a b Nikita Mazepin is Russian, but he competed as a neutral competitor using the designation RAF (Russian Automobile Federation), as the Court of Arbitration for Sport upheld a ban on Russia competing at World Championships. The ban was implemented by the World Anti-Doping Agency in response to the state-sponsored doping program of Russian athletes.[20]
References
edit- ^ Smith, Luke (August 28, 2021). "Formula 1 reveals updated 2021 calendar, drops to 22 races". Autosport. Retrieved August 28, 2021.
- ^ "United States 2021". Formula1. Retrieved October 24, 2021.
- ^ Dodgins, Tony; Hamilton, Maurice; Hughes, Mark; Kirby, Gordon (January 8, 2021). Autocourse 2020-2021. Cheltenham, United Kingdom: Icon Publishing Limited. pp. 272–281. ISBN 978-1910584-42-2.
- ^ "Formula 1 announces TV, race attendance and digital audience figures for 2021". Formula1.com. February 17, 2022. Retrieved February 17, 2022.
- ^ a b c Baldwin, Alan; Osmond, Ed (October 20, 2021). "Motor racing-Formula One statistics for the U.S. Grand Prix". Reuters. Retrieved October 23, 2021.
- ^ "What's the weather forecast for the United States Grand Prix?". Formula 1. October 21, 2021. Retrieved October 22, 2021.
- ^ "Drivers to have lap times set under double waved yellows deleted from US Grand Prix". www.formula1.com. October 21, 2021. Archived from the original on October 22, 2021. Retrieved October 23, 2021.
- ^ Baldwin, Alan; Davis, Toby (October 21, 2021). "Motor racing-W Series heads for Texan title-decider with a tie at the top". Reuters. Retrieved October 23, 2021.
- ^ Richards, Giles (October 22, 2021). "W Series gears up for gripping finale for co-leaders Powell and Chadwick". The Guardian. Retrieved October 23, 2021.
- ^ a b Benson, Andrew (October 24, 2021). "United States GP: Why are Red Bull quickest again?". BBC Sport. Retrieved October 24, 2021.
- ^ a b "2021 United States Grand Prix – Entry List" (PDF). Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile. October 21, 2021. Retrieved October 21, 2021.
- ^ "Acura brand returns to F1 with Red Bull and AlphaTauri at US GP". www.autosport.com. October 20, 2021. Retrieved November 16, 2022.
- ^ "Formula 1 2021 Season - Pirelli Unveils Tire Choices For All 23 GPs". F1Lead. February 20, 2021. Archived from the original on February 21, 2021. Retrieved September 12, 2021.
- ^ a b c "United States timetable". Formula 1. Archived from the original on October 6, 2021. Retrieved October 23, 2021.
- ^ "FP1: Bottas leads Hamilton and Verstappen in opening US Grand Prix practice session". Formula1. October 22, 2021. Archived from the original on October 22, 2021. Retrieved October 23, 2021.
- ^ "FP2: Perez leads Norris in second practice as frustrated Verstappen falls foul of traffic". Formula1. October 22, 2021. Archived from the original on October 22, 2021. Retrieved October 23, 2021.
- ^ "FP3: Perez tops final practice at Austin as Verstappen and Hamilton have quicker laps deleted". Formula1. October 23, 2021. Archived from the original on October 23, 2021. Retrieved October 26, 2021.
- ^ a b Dart, Tom (October 23, 2021). "Hamilton laments 'real struggle' as Verstappen pips him to F1 US GP pole". The Observer. Guardian Media Group. Retrieved October 24, 2021.
- ^ a b Baldwin, Alan; Ferris, Ken; Wallis, Daniel (October 24, 2021). "Verstappen on pole and Hamilton alongside in Texas". Reuters. Retrieved October 24, 2021.
- ^ Luke Smith (February 5, 2021). "Mazepin set to race under neutral flag after CAS ruling extends to F1". motorsport.com. Archived from the original on February 5, 2021. Retrieved February 5, 2021.
- ^ "Formula 1 Aramco United States Grand Prix 2021 – Qualifying". Formula1.com. October 23, 2021. Retrieved October 23, 2021.
- ^ a b "Formula 1 Aramco United States Grand Prix 2021 – Starting Grid". Formula1.com. October 23, 2021. Retrieved October 23, 2021.
- ^ a b c "Bottas, Russell and Vettel hit with United States Grand Prix grid penalties after PU changes". www.formula1.com. October 22, 2021. Retrieved October 22, 2021.
- ^ "Alonso set for back of the grid start in the US Grand Prix after changing PU components". www.formula1.com. October 23, 2021. Retrieved October 23, 2021.
- ^ "Formula 1 Aramco United States Grand Prix 2021 – Race Result". Formula1.com. October 24, 2021. Retrieved October 24, 2021.
- ^ "Formula 1 Aramco United States Grand Prix 2021 – Fastest Laps". Formula1.com. October 24, 2021. Retrieved October 24, 2021.
- ^ a b "United States 2021 - Championship". www.statsf1.com.