The 2023 USA Austin Grand Prix Thread

[cmlean]

This is the place to discuss everything related to the 19th round of the 2023 season taking place in Austin, Texas between the 20th and 22nd of October.

The event timetable for the USA Austin Grand Prix.

Friday
Practice 12:30 local time - 17:30 GMT
Qualifying 16:00 local time - 21:00 GMT

Saturday
Sprint Shootout 12:30 local time - 17:30 GMT
Sprint Race 17:00 local time - 22:00 GMT

Sunday
Grand Prix 14:00 local time - 19:00 GMT

[cmlean]

Practice Results

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Pos	Time		Driver		  Team
1	1:35.912	Max Verstappen	  Red Bull Racing
2	1:36.068	Charles Leclerc	  Ferrari
3	1:36.193	Lewis Hamilton	  Mercedes
4	1:36.212	Sergio Perez	  Red Bull Racing
5	1:36.472	Kevin Magnussen	  Haas
6	1:36.474	George Russell	  Mercedes
7	1:36.492	Alexander Albon	  Williams
8	1:36.533	Carlos Sainz	  Ferrari
9	1:36.702	Nico Hulkenberg	  Haas
10	1:36.705	Pierre Gasly	  Alpine
11	1:36.987	Logan Sargeant	  Williams
12	1:37.066	Esteban Ocon	  Alpine
13	1:37.104	Yuki Tsunoda	  AlphaTauri
14	1:37.152	Daniel Ricciardo  AlphaTauri
15	1:37.256	Lando Norris	  McLaren
16	1:37.418	Zhou Guanyu	  Alfa Romeo
17	1:37.517	Valtteri Bottas	  Alfa Romeo
18	1:37.840	Fernando Alonso	  Aston Martin
19	1:38.420	Oscar Piastri	  McLaren
20	1:39.940	Lance Stroll	  Aston Martin

[cmlean]

Lance Stroll and his Aston Martin had an overheating brake issue which kept him out of most of the session.
Oscar Piastri had huge moment coming out of turn 9 which could have ended his weekend. Good luck, skill or a combination of both saved both him and the car.

[cmlean]

Qualifying

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Pos	Time		Driver		  Team
1	1:34.723	Charles Leclerc	  Ferrari
2	1:34.853	Lando Norris	  McLaren
3	1:34.862	Lewis Hamilton	  Mercedes
4	1:34.945	Carlos Sainz	  Ferrari
5	1:35.079	George Russell	  Mercedes
6	1:35.081	Max Verstappen	  Red Bull Racing
7	1:35.089	Pierre Gasly	  Alpine
8	1:35.154	Esteban Ocon	  Alpine
9	1:35.173	Sergio Perez	  Red Bull Racing
10	1:35.467	Oscar Piastri	  McLaren
_____________________________________________________
11	1:35.697	Yuki Tsunoda	  AlphaTauri
12	1:35.698	Zhou Guanyu	  Alfa Romeo
13	1:35.858	Valtteri Bottas	  Alfa Romeo
14	1:35.880	Kevin Magnussen	  Haas
15	1:35.974	Daniel Ricciardo  AlphaTauri
_____________________________________________________
16	1:36.235	Nico Hulkenberg	  Haas
17	1:36.268	Fernando Alonso	  Aston Martin
18	1:36.315	Alexander Albon	  Williams
19	1:36.589	Lance Stroll	  Aston Martin
20	1:36.827	Logan Sargeant	  Williams

[cmlean]

Biggest shock from the session was that Max Verstappen didn't take pole.
Given that he had his final lap time deleted due to exceeding track limits however, normally, Max would have had pole position in his pocket and then gone out to assert his and the Red Bull's dominance over the rest of the field.
Another surprise was that Aston Martin's failure to make it through Q1 considering the expected improvement in performance through the upgrades.

[cmlean]

Sprint Qualifying

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Pos	Time		Driver		 Team
1	1:34.538	Max Verstappen	 Red Bull Racing
2	1:34.593	Charles Leclerc	 Ferrari
3	1:34.607	Lewis Hamilton	 Mercedes
4	1:34.639	Lando Norris	 McLaren
5	1:34.894	Oscar Piastri	 McLaren
6	1:34.939	Carlos Sainz	 Ferrari
7	1:35.041	Sergio Perez	 Red Bull Racing
8	1:35.199	George Russell	 Mercedes
9	1:35.366	Alexander Albon	 Williams
10	1:35.897	Pierre Gasly	 Alpine
________________________________________________
11	1:35.978	Daniel Ricciardo AlphaTauri
12	1:36.087	Fernando Alonso	 Aston Martin
13	1:36.137	Esteban Ocon	 Alpine
14	1:36.181	Lance Stroll	 Aston Martin
15	1:36.182	Zhou Guanyu	 Alfa Romeo
________________________________________________
16	1:36.749	Nico Hulkenberg	 Haas
17	1:36.922	Kevin Magnussen	 Haas
18	1:36.922	Valtteri Bottas	 Alfa Romeo
19	1:36.945	Yuki Tsunoda	 AlphaTauri
20	1:37.186	Logan Sargeant	 Williams

[cmlean]

The Aston Martins both improved compared to yesterday but failed to make it out of Q2 and into Q3.
George Russell and Sergio Perez used the last of their new super soft tyres yesterday and had to do Q3 on used rubber.

[cmlean]

George Russell incurred a 3 place grid penalty for impeding Charles Leclerc during qualifying.
Alex Albon, Pierre Gasly and Daniel Ricciardo all benefit by moving up one grid position.

[cmlean]

Sprint Results

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Pos	Driver		 Team
1	Max Verstappen	 Red Bull Racing
2	Lewis Hamilton	 Mercedes
3	Charles Leclerc	 Ferrari
4	Lando Norris	 McLaren
5	Sergio Perez	 Red Bull Racing
6	Carlos Sainz	 Ferrari
7	Pierre Gasly	 Alpine
8	George Russell	 Mercedes
9	Alexander Albon	 Williams
10	Oscar Piastri	 McLaren
11	Esteban Ocon	 Alpine
12	Daniel Ricciardo AlphaTauri
13	Fernando Alonso	 Aston Martin
14	Yuki Tsunoda	 AlphaTauri
15	Nico Hulkenberg	 Haas
16	Valtteri Bottas	 Alfa Romeo
17	Zhou Guanyu	 Alfa Romeo
18	Kevin Magnussen	 Haas
19	Logan Sargeant	 Williams
DNF	Lance Stroll	 Aston Martin

[cmlean]

George Russell received a 5 second penalty for leaving the track and gaining an advantage which dropped him from 7th to 8th.

[cmlean]

Race

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Pos	Driver		 Team
1	Max Verstappen	 Red Bull Racing
2	Lando Norris	 McLaren
3	Carlos Sainz	 Ferrari
4	Sergio Perez	 Red Bull Racing
5	George Russell	 Mercedes
6	Pierre Gasly	 Alpine
7	Lance Stroll	 Aston Martin
8	Yuki Tsunoda	 AlphaTauri
9	Alexander Albon	 Williams
10	Logan Sargeant	 Williams
11	Nico Hulkenberg	 Haas
12	Valtteri Bottas	 Alfa Romeo
13	Zhou Guanyu	 Alfa Romeo
14	Kevin Magnussen	 Haas
15	Daniel Ricciardo AlphaTauri
DNF	Fernando Alonso	 Aston Martin
DNF	Oscar Piastri	 McLaren
DNF	Esteban Ocon	 Alpine
DISQ	Lewis Hamilton	 Mercedes
DISQ	Charles Leclerc	 Ferrari

Lewis Hamilton and Charles Leclerc were both disqualified from the race following post race scrutineering. Both were deemed to have excessive wear to the floor and failed to meet the minimum allowable thickness to the plank.

[cmlean]

Next: Round of Mexico '23
Date: 27-29 October 2023