The United States Grand Prix 2021 was the 17th round of the 2021 F1 season, and took place at the Circuit of the Americas in Austin, USA, during the weekend of the 22nd to the 24th of October.
Max Verstappen won the race from the pole, followed by Lewis Hamilton, and Sergio Pérez completing the podium.
Final results
Race evolution
Pit Stops
There were a total of 41 pit stops during the race.
The most popular pit stop windows were:
- Laps 7-13: 14 stops
- Laps 24-26: 4 stops
- Laps 28-32: 10 stops
- Laps 37-39: 4 stops
The fastest pit stop was Fernando Alonso's, stopping the clock at 23.314 seconds during his pit stop on lap 39, while the slowest one was was Esteban Ocon's, who stopped the clock at 40.800 seconds, 17.486 seconds slower than Alonso, during his pit stop on lap 3.
These times include the time the driver spent going through the pit lane, as well as the actual time he stopped for the mechanics to work on his car.
Strategy
We saw a variety of options in terms of pit stop strategies during this race, however most drivers chose a 2 stops. Only 1 driver tried a 1 stop, and 2 drivers tried a 3 stops.
The race winner, Max Verstappen, was on a 2 stops strategy.
1 stop
-
12Pierre Gasly
2 stops
-
8Esteban Ocon
-
1Nicholas Latifi
-
1Antonio Giovinazzi
-
6George Russell
-
1Yuki Tsunoda
-
-Max Verstappen
-
1Lando Norris
-
1Daniel Ricciardo
-
2Carlos Sainz
-
-Mick Schumacher
-
2Kimi Räikkönen
-
-Sergio Pérez
-
-Charles Leclerc
-
-Lewis Hamilton
-
3Valtteri Bottas
-
8Sebastian Vettel
-
1Lance Stroll
3 stops
-
-Nikita Mazepin
-
1Fernando Alonso
Excluding those drivers who could not finish the race, those on a 2 stops strategy gained 1.19 positions on average, while those on a 3 stops strategy didn't gain or lose any positions on average.
This difference in possitions gained, together with a deeper nalaysis of each strategy, reinforces the conclusion that a 2 stops strategy was the best option.
It is important to note that this might not always be the case for other races held at the Circuit of the Americas, as the conditions might change from year to year, in terms of wheel degradation, accidents, safety cars, etc.
Incidents
There race went on mostly with no incidents. Only 3 divers were involved in circumstances that were severe enough to prevented them from finishing the race.
These included, Fernando Alonso, who took damage to the rear wing of the car on lap 49, Esteban Ocon, who suffered from an unidentified mechanical problem on lap 40, and Pierre Gasly, who suffered a suspension problem on lap 14.
Rear wing
-
Fernando AlonsoLap 49
Mechanical
-
Esteban OconLap 40
Suspension
-
Pierre GaslyLap 14
Qualifying
Max Verstappen managed to get the pole position by 0.209 seconds and a final lipe time of 1:32.910. Right next to him, completing the first line of the grid, was Lewis Hamilton.
Track evolution
As the qualifying session went on, with the track rubbering in, and the drivers testing the limits of the grip of their cars, the times per lap dropped, and 10 out of the 14 drivers that took place in Q2 were able to improve their times.
The Q3 is the time were all the remaining drivers put all their cards on the table, even those with a superior car who might have been managing their times in Q1 and Q2 push their cars to the limit in Q3. It therefore comes as no surprise that 9 out of the 10 drivers that took place in Q3 were able to improve their times.