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US Grand Prix: Verstappen pips Hamilton in thrilling finish – as it happened

Lewis Hamilton overtook pole-sitting Max Verstappen on the first corner but Red Bull eventually won the day in Texas in a thrilling finish

As the drivers take to the track for the We Race As One gesture, here’s some pre-race reading from yesterday’s qualifiers:

And Sebastian Vettel: “Turn 12 will be the best spot to do overtaking. I think today will be quite warm, expecting the sun to come out and then yeah, it will be a difficult race on tyres.”

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Stefano Domenicali: ‘What Mandela said is understandable but it was a different time’ | Giles Richards

F1’s chief executive defends taking the sport to controversial countries and thinks it can help change the world for the better

As Formula One revels in its most enthralling season for years, no one is enjoying it more than Stefano Domenicali. The sport is lucky to have him at the helm. For the Italian, who grew up as a fan and was competing at the heart of the sport for the greater part of his career, this is much more than a business. Domenicali knows that to the drivers, the teams, and most importantly the fans, it is racing that matters.

Born in Imola it is unsurprising that Domenicali, the Formula One Group’s chief executive, took to motor racing and he laughs and launches a fond recollection when asked to recall his youth.

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Christian Horner: ‘You have to defend yourself if you come under attack’

Red Bull’s team principal on his spiky rivalry with Toto Wolff and why a Max Verstappen title win would be his ‘biggest achievement’

‘Our determination means we’ve got a chance, a true chance, of delivering a world championship this year and we’re going to give it everything to achieve that,” Christian Horner says as, in his role as the team principal of Red Bull, he looks ahead to the final six races of the grand prix season. The travelling Formula One circus descends on Austin in Texas for this Sunday’s US Grand Prix with Max Verstappen of Red Bull leading the driver’s championship. Verstappen, who has already won seven races this year for Horner’s resurgent team, has a narrow six-point lead over Lewis Hamilton and his usually dominant Mercedes car.

The 47-year-old Horner is still among the youngest leaders in F1, despite this being his 17th season in charge of Red Bull, and he has helped his team clinch four drivers’ championships. But the last of these, with all four titles being won in successive years, was in 2013. Red Bull went through a testing seven-year period when they were out of the championship frame.

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F1 risks teams’ ire with two triple-headers and record 23 races in 2022

  • Programme presents a potentially gruelling test for teams
  • Australia, Japan, Canada and Singapore set to return

Formula One has confirmed its calendar for 2022, with a record-breaking 23 races planned. The programme presents a potentially gruelling test for the teams, with one more race than this year but running across a shorter period and including two triple-headers.

The calendar was ratified by the World Motor Sport Council on Friday. It will open in Bahrain on 20 March and conclude in Abu Dhabi on 20 November, a 36-week period. This year the season will finish in Abu Dhabi on 12 December but F1 wanted to avoid its 2022 season finale clashing with the World Cup, which will begin in Qatar on 21 November.

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