The 2023 United States Grand Prix (officially known as the Formula 1 Lenovo United States Grand Prix 2023) was a Formula One motor race that took place on October 22, 2023, at the Circuit of the Americas in Austin, Texas, United States. It was the eighteenth round of the 2023 Formula One World Championship and the fifth Grand Prix weekend of the season to utilise the sprint format.
Max Verstappen won both races. In the main race, Lewis Hamilton and Charles Leclerc finished second and sixth respectively but were disqualified due to post-race scrutineering determining that their skid blocks were excessively worn. The race became the first that ended with more than one driver disqualified since the 2019 Japanese Grand Prix. Due to this, Logan Sargeant was promoted to tenth place and scored his first career point. It was the only time when Sargeant scored points in his career as he was dropped by Williams midway through the following season. This disqualification of Hamilton and Leclerc promoted McLaren's Lando Norris to second place, on his 100th race start, and Carlos Sainz Jr. of Ferrari to third, taking the final podium place.
Background The event was held across the weekend of October 20–22. It was the eighteenth round of the 2023 Formula One World Championship and the 52nd running of the United States Grand Prix. The weekend was the fifth of six in the season to follow the sprint format.
Championship standings before the race Coming into the weekend, Max Verstappen, who took his third consecutive Drivers' Champion title at the preceding Qatar Grand Prix, led the Drivers' Championship by 209 points from teammate Sergio Pérez, with Lewis Hamilton third, a further 30 points behind. Red Bull Racing, having secured the title at the Japanese Grand Prix, led the Constructors' Championship over Mercedes by 331 points and Ferrari by a further 28 points.
Entrants
The drivers and teams were the same as the season entry list with the exception of the returning Daniel Ricciardo, who replaced Nyck de Vries at AlphaTauri starting at the Hungarian Grand Prix. Ricciardo's seat was filled by Liam Lawson in the previous five Grands Prix after Ricciardo was forced to withdraw due to a broken metacarpal bone in a crash during the second practice of the Dutch Grand Prix.
Tyre choices
Tyre supplier Pirelli brought the C2, C3 and C4 tyre compounds (designated hard, medium, and soft, respectively) for teams to use at the event.
Practice The only free practice session was held on October 20, 2023, at 12:30 local time (UTC−5). Max Verstappen topped the session, followed by Ferrari driver Charles Leclerc and Mercedes driver Lewis Hamilton in second and third, respectively. Lance Stroll of Aston Martin ran only five laps before he was forced to return to the pits due to brake issues.
Qualifying Qualifying was held on October 20, 2023, at 16:00 local time (UTC−5), and determined the starting grid for the main race.
Qualifying report Charles Leclerc took pole position ahead of Lando Norris and Lewis Hamilton. Championship leader Max Verstappen qualified in sixth after having a lap time fast enough for pole position deleted due to track limits. Aston Martin suffered a double Q1 knockout with Fernando Alonso and Lance Stroll placing seventeenth and nineteenth, respectively.
Qualifying classification DriverConstructorQ1Q2Q3116 Charles LeclercFerrari1:36.0611:35.0041:34.723124 Lando NorrisMcLaren-Mercedes1:35.1101:35.4411:34.8532344 Lewis HamiltonMercedes1:35.0911:35.2401:34.862 3455 Carlos Sainz Jr.Ferrari1:35.8241:35.3021:34.9454563 George RussellMercedes1:36.1651:35.6061:35.079561 Max VerstappenRed Bull Racing-Honda RBPT1:35.3461:35.0081:35.0816710 Pierre GaslyAlpine-Renault1:36.1581:35.4961:35.0897831 Esteban OconAlpine-Renault1:36.1311:35.4131:35.1548911 Sergio PérezRed Bull Racing-Honda RBPT1:35.9891:35.6791:35.17391081 Oscar PiastriMcLaren-Mercedes1:36.0641:35.5761:35.467101122 Yuki TsunodaAlphaTauri-Honda RBPT1:35.9131:35.697N/A111224 Zhou GuanyuAlfa Romeo-Ferrari1:36.0521:35.698N/A121377 Valtteri BottasAlfa Romeo-Ferrari1:36.0821:35.858N/A131420Haas-Ferrari1:36.0091:35.880N/A153 Daniel RicciardoAlphaTauri-Honda RBPT1:36.2131:35.974N/A141627Haas-Ferrari1:36.235N/AN/A1714 Fernando Alonso1:36.268N/AN/A1823 Alexander AlbonWilliams-Mercedes1:36.315N/AN/A151918Aston Martin Aramco-Mercedes1:36.589N/AN/A202 Logan SargeantWilliams-Mercedes1:36.827N/AN/A16107% time: 1:41.747Source: Notes – Kevin Magnussen qualified 14th, but he was required to start the race from the pit lane as elements of different specifications from the ones originally used were installed on his car during parc fermé conditions. – Nico Hülkenberg qualified 16th, but he was required to start the race from the pit lane as elements of different specifications from the ones originally used were installed on his car during parc fermé conditions. – Fernando Alonso qualified 17th, but he was required to start the race from the pit lane as elements of different specifications from the ones originally used were installed on his car during parc fermé conditions. – Lance Stroll qualified 19th, but he was required to start the race from the pit lane as elements of different specifications from the ones originally used were installed on his car during parc fermé conditions.
Sprint shootout The sprint shootout was held on October 21, 2023, at 12:30 local time (UTC−5), and determined the starting grid for the sprint.
Sprint shootout classification DriverConstructorSprintgridSQ1SQ2SQ311 Max VerstappenRed Bull Racing-Honda RBPT1:35.9971:35.1811:34.5381216 Charles LeclercFerrari1:35.9991:35.3861:34.5932344 Lewis HamiltonMercedes1:36.3931:35.8871:34.607344 Lando NorrisMcLaren-Mercedes1:36.4991:35.5941:34.6394581 Oscar PiastriMcLaren-Mercedes1:36.7031:35.7531:34.8945655 Carlos Sainz Jr.Ferrari1:36.2681:35.5421:34.9396711 Sergio PérezRed Bull Racing-Honda RBPT1:36.3471:35.7181:35.0417863 George RussellMercedes1:36.2811:35.8471:35.19911923 Alexander AlbonWilliams-Mercedes1:36.2301:35.9471:35.36681010 Pierre GaslyAlpine-Renault1:36.5951:35.7851:35.8979113 Daniel RicciardoAlphaTauri-Honda RBPT1:36.7371:35.978N/A101214 Fernando Alonso1:36.3651:36.087N/A121331 Esteban OconAlpine-Renault1:36.3721:36.137N/A131418Aston Martin Aramco-Mercedes1:36.5751:36.181N/A141524 Zhou GuanyuAlfa Romeo-Ferrari1:36.5541:36.182N/A151627Haas-Ferrari1:36.749N/AN/A161720Haas-Ferrari1:36.922N/AN/A171877 Valtteri BottasAlfa Romeo-Ferrari1:36.922N/AN/A181922 Yuki TsunodaAlphaTauri-Honda RBPT1:36.945N/AN/A19202 Logan SargeantWilliams-Mercedes1:37.186N/AN/A20107% time: 1:42.716Source: Notes – George Russell received a three-place grid penalty for impeding Charles Leclerc in SQ1. – Kevin Magnussen and Valtteri Bottas set identical lap times in SQ1. Magnussen was qualified ahead of Bottas as he set his time earlier.
Sprint The sprint was held on October 21, 2023, at 17:00 local time (UTC−5), and was run for 19 laps.
Sprint report Max Verstappen won the race comfortably from Lewis Hamilton and Charles Leclerc. Having suffered from them earlier in the free practice session, Lance Stroll retired with brake issues.
Sprint classification DriverConstructorTime/RetiredPoints11 Max VerstappenRed Bull Racing-Honda RBPT19 31:30.84918244 Lewis HamiltonMercedes19 +9.46537316 Charles LeclercFerrari19 +17.9872644 Lando NorrisMcLaren-Mercedes19 +18.86345511 Sergio PérezRed Bull Racing-Honda RBPT19 +22.92874655 Carlos Sainz Jr.Ferrari19 +28.307 63710 Pierre GaslyAlpine-Renault19 +32.40392863 George RussellMercedes19 +34.250111923 Alexander AlbonWilliams-Mercedes19 +34.567 8 1081 Oscar PiastriMcLaren-Mercedes19 +42.40351131 Esteban OconAlpine-Renault19 +44.98613 123 Daniel RicciardoAlphaTauri-Honda RBPT19 +45.50910 1314 Fernando Alonso19 +49.08612 1422 Yuki TsunodaAlphaTauri-Honda RBPT19 +49.73319 1527 Nico HülkenbergHaas-Ferrari19 +56.65016 1677 Valtteri BottasAlfa Romeo-Ferrari19 +1:04.40118 1724 Zhou GuanyuAlfa Romeo-Ferrari19 +1:07.97215 1820Haas-Ferrari19 +1:11.12217 192 Logan SargeantWilliams-Mercedes19 +1:11.44920 18 Lance StrollAston Martin Aramco-Mercedes16 Brakes14 Fastest lap: Max Verstappen (Red Bull Racing-Honda RBPT) – 1:39.060 (lap 2)Source: Notes – George Russell finished seventh, but he received a five-second time penalty for leaving the track and gaining an advantage. – Zhou Guanyu finished 16th, but he received a five-second time penalty for leaving the track and gaining an advantage.
Race The race was held on October 22, 2023, at 14:00 local time (UTC−5), and was run for 56 laps.
Race report Max Verstappen, despite brake issues, won the race, his fifteenth victory in the season. Verstappen held off Lewis Hamilton and Lando Norris, who had both led during the race and ultimately finished second and third respectively. Both drivers showed pace, getting closer to Verstappen during the closing stages. Yuki Tsunoda achieved the fastest lap. There were three retirements. Oscar Piastri retired with damage to his radiator and a water leak after making contact with Esteban Ocon's sidepods, which also caused Ocon to retire. Fernando Alonso, who had to start from the pit lane, suffered from failures of the rear suspension and the floor.
Hamilton and polesitter Charles Leclerc, who finished second and sixth respectively, were both disqualified after failing a post-race plank test. Verstappen noted that the fact that a sprint was held may have contributed to the excessive wear to the plank that lead to the disqualification of Leclerc and Hamilton. This disqualification means that Leclerc became the first driver to start on pole position and get disqualified since Ralf Schumacher at the 2004 Canadian Grand Prix with himself and Hamilton the first drivers to be disqualified for excessive plank wear since Michael Schumacher at the 1994 Belgian Grand Prix. This also means that he became the first Ferrari driver that failed to finish, failed to start, and was disqualified from at least one race where he started on pole position. This promoted Norris to second place, Sainz to third, and gave Logan Sargeant his first (and only) Formula One point. This marked the first time an American had scored in Formula One since Michael Andretti at the 1993 Italian Grand Prix.
Track limits controversies