Team by team analysis of the U.S. Grand Prix

[October 25, 2021] (Reuters) -Team by team analysis of Sunday's U.S. Formula One Grand Prix at the Circuit of the Americas in Austin, Texas (teams listed in current championship order):

MERCEDES (Lewis Hamilton 2, Valtteri Bottas 6)

Hamilton started on the front row and seized the lead at the start before losing out to pitstop strategy. He is now 12 points behind Max Verstappen with five races remaining. Bottas started ninth due to a five-place penalty for exceeding his engine allocation. Mercedes' lead in the constructors' standings shrunk to 23 points.

RED BULL (Max Verstappen 1, Sergio Perez 3)

Verstappen started on pole and celebrated his eighth win of the season, and 18th of his career, to double his championship lead. He did two stops, both ahead of Hamilton. The win was his first in the United States. Perez struggled with a drinks bottle failure but secured his fourth top-three finish of the season. The win was Red Bull's first in America since 2013.

MCLAREN (Daniel Ricciardo 5, Lando Norris 8)

McLaren lost ground to Ferrari, now just 3.5 points behind. Ricciardo started sixth but overtook Ferrari's Sainz on the opening lap. Norris started seventh and failed to make up any positions at the start.

FERRARI (Charles Leclerc 4, Carlos Sainz 7)

Leclerc started and finished fourth after a lonely race. Sainz lost two places from his start position, with the team blaming a mistake during a pitstop for costing him time.

ALPINE (Esteban Ocon and Fernando Alonso retired)

Both cars retired with mechanical problems. Alonso started 19th after grid penalties but gained places on lap one. Ocon made contact with Giovinazzi's Alfa at the start, requiring an immediate front wing change, and retired on lap 40 for precautionary reasons. Alonso retired with damage to his car's rear wing.

ALPHATAURI (Yuki Tsunoda 9, Pierre Gasly retired)

Mercedes' Lewis Hamilton in action during the race REUTERS/Brian Snyder

Gasly was the first retirement of the race, out with a suspected suspension problem. Tsunoda scored his first points in six races.

ASTON MARTIN (Sebastian Vettel 10, Lance Stroll 12)

Stroll was hit by Williams' Nicholas Latifi, a fellow Canadian, at turn one on lap one. The contact dropped him to the back and the front wing was damaged. Vettel started 18th due to a power unit change.

WILLIAMS (George Russell 14, Nicholas Latifi 15)

Latifi collided with Stroll at the start. Russell started 20th and Latifi 13th.

ALFA ROMEO (Antonio Giovinazzi 11, Kimi Raikkonen 13)

Giovinazzi started 12th and Raikkonen 15th.

HAAS (Mick Schumacher 16, Nikita Mazepin 17)

Still no points for the U.S.-owned team this season.

(Reporting by Alan Baldwin in London, editing by Peter Rutherford)

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