Brigit Adongo
Formula One excited US fans yesterday when the top two contenders raced it out for the championship standings’ lead. Lewis Hamilton and Max Verstappen came into the race six points apart, and left it a dozen apart in favor of the Dutch.
This time, there were little controversies if any, and Hamilton took a brilliant lead from the start. Wanting to avoid last time’s mistakes, the Briton pitted early, though after Verstappen, and rejoined the race fifth placed.
Verstappen on the other hand kept improving after his early stop and Hamilton just couldn’t catch up. Unlike he would have wanted, the reigning champion couldn’t get past his rival after the stop as Verstappen was just too good.
After a 1.3 second winning margin against Hamilton, Verstappen doubled his lead and now the 7-time champion, Lewis has to chase the current leader all the way to the end.
The 36-year old isn’t so settled after the loss, as he is well aware that the Dutchman is capable of winning this season and denying him a record 8th title since most of the remaining races will probably favor Max.
“We are going to the next two tracks which are very strong circuits for Red Bull, so it is going to be tough,” Hamilton admitted about the upcoming Mexican and Brazilian races.
The 100 times prix winner admittedly felt great in the race but just didn’t have enough to catch up with his rival who had opened up such a huge gap by the time Hamilton rejoined after a stop. “It felt good at the time…but they were just too quick,” said the reigning champion.
Mercedes will be keen to minimize Red Bull’s lead, or even overtake them in the coming races, and if Hamilton maintains the speed he showed during the last laps yesterday, he may still have a big chance to make it a record 8 titles.
