Max Verstappen outduels Lewis Hamilton to win U.S. Grand Prix, extend F1 points lead

Associated PressOct 24, 2021, 5:00 PM EDT
F1 Verstappen COTA
Chris Graythen/Getty Images
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AUSTIN, Texas — Max Verstappen held off F1 title rival Lewis Hamilton over the final thrilling laps at COTA for his eighth Formula One victory of the season, doubling double his lead in the championship standings Sunday in the United States Grand Prix.

Verstappen, who entered the Circuit of The Americas with a six-point lead over Hamilton in the F1 standings, now leads the seven-time champion by 12 points with five races remaining.

Hamilton in his Mercedes was bearing down on Verstappen over the final 18 laps and had cut the Red Bull driver’s lead to less than 1 second by the final lap. But he couldn’t make the pass at the end and settled for second.

Verstappen, the 24-year-old Dutchman chasing his first championship, now has some breathing room heading into Mexico City, a high-altitude stronghold for Red Bull.

Hamilton, a five-time winner at COTA who couldn’t catch Verstappen in the end, is seeking a record eighth F1 title.

As the popularity of Formula One explodes in the U.S., the championship rivals delivered a dramatic finish under a blazing Texas sun in front of an estimated crowd of 140,000. It was one of the largest sporting events since the start of the pandemic and drew the rich and famous to the Austin circuit.

Among the celebrities in attendance were actor Ben Stiller, rapper Meghan Thee Stallion, golfer Rory McIlroy and tennis champion Serena Williams, who all participated in the pre-race grid walk. Shaquille O’Neal hosted a post-race DJ dance party and delivered the winner’s trophy to the podium, where the 7-footer loomed large over Verstappen and Hamilton.

Verstappen and Hamilton were locked in a tense fight all weekend, first when Verstappen called Hamilton a “stupid idiot” and flipped him the middle finger during Friday practice. Then Verstappen edged Hamilton for pole position on the final lap of qualifying Sunday.

It set up a fierce fight for the lead headed into the first turn because the winner at COTA has always come from the front row. Hamilton quickly jumped past Verstappen and the two traded the lead four times over 56 laps.

But Hamilton just couldn’t make one more pass in the end. It’s a missed victory at a circuit where Mercedes have been dominant and Sunday’s result could prove pivotal if Verstappen hangs on to dethrone Hamilton.

Verstappen has had high expectations since he first joined the F1 grid as a 17-year-old in 2015. Hamilton, at 36 a series veteran, has been the dominant figure in F1 for a decade and has won four consecutive championships.

One more Hamilton title will break his tie with Michael Schumacher for most in F1. But he hasn’t been in a fight like this in a long time.

The U.S. Grand Prix was canceled in 2020 because of the COVID-19 pandemic and returned with a flourish as fans poured in to watch the F1’s best championship duel in years.

Winner Josef Newgarden earns $3.666 million from a record Indy 500 purse of $17 million

By May 29, 2023, 6:01 PM EDT
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INDIANAPOLIS — The first Indy 500 victory for Josef Newgarden also was the richest in race history from a record 2023 purse of just more than $17 million.

The two-time NTT IndyCar Series champion, who continued his celebration Monday morning at Indianapolis Motor Speedway earned $3.666 million for winning the 107th running of the Greatest Spectacle in Racing.

The purse and winner’s share both are the largest in the history of the Indianapolis 500.

It’s the second consecutive year that the Indy 500 purse set a record after the 2022 Indy 500 became the first to crack the $16 million mark (nearly doubling the 2021 purse that offered a purse of $8,854,565 after a crowd limited to 135,000 because of the COVID-19 pandemic).

The average payout for IndyCar drivers was $500,600 (exceeding last year’s average of $485,000).

Indianapolis Motor Speedway owner Roger Penske, whose team also fields Newgarden’s No. 2 Dallara-Chevrolet, had made raising purses a priority since buying the track in 2020. But Penske but was unable to post big money purses until the race returned to full capacity grandstands last year.

The largest Indy 500 purse before this year was $14.4 million for the 2008 Indy 500 won by Scott Dixon (whose share was $2,988,065). Ericsson’s haul made him the second Indy 500 winner to top $3 million (2009 winner Helio Castroneves won $3,048,005.

Runner-up Marcus Ericsson won $1.043 million after falling short by 0.0974 seconds in the fourth-closest finish in Indy 500 history.

The 107th Indy 500 drew a crowd of at least 330,000 that was the largest since the sellout for the 100th running in 2016, and the second-largest in more than two decades, according to track officials.

“This is the greatest race in the world, and it was an especially monumental Month of May featuring packed grandstands and intense on-track action,” Penske Entertainment president and CEO Mark Miles said in a release. “Now, we have the best end card possible for the 107th Running of the Indianapolis 500: a record-breaking purse for the history books.”

Benjamin Pedersen was named the Indy 500 rookie of the year, earning a $50,000 bonus.

The race’s purse is determined through contingency and special awards from IMS and IndyCar. The awards were presented Monday night in the annual Indy 500 Victory Celebration at the JW Marriott in downtown Indianapolis.

The payouts for the 107th Indy 500:

1. Josef Newgarden, $3,666,000
2. Marcus Ericsson, $1,043,000
3. Santino Ferrucci, $481,800
4. Alex Palou, $801,500
5. Alexander Rossi, $574,000
6. Scott Dixon, $582,000
7. Takuma Sato, $217,300
8. Conor Daly, $512,000
9. Colton Herta, $506,500
10. Rinus VeeKay, $556,500
11. Ryan Hunter‐Reay, $145,500
12. Callum Ilott, $495,500
13. Devlin DeFrancesco, $482,000
14. Scott McLaughlin, $485,000
15. Helio Castroneves, $481,500
16. Tony Kanaan, $105,000
17. Marco Andretti, $102,000
18. Jack Harvey, $472,000
19. Christian Lundgaard, $467,500
20. Ed Carpenter, $102,000
21. Benjamin Pedersen (R), $215,300
22. Graham Rahal, $565,500*
23. Will Power, $488,000
24. Pato O’Ward, $516,500
25. Simon Pagenaud, $465,500
26. Agustín Canapino (R), $156,300
27. Felix Rosenqvist, $278,300
28. Kyle Kirkwood, $465,500
29. David Malukas, $462,000
30. Romain Grosjean, $462,000
31. Sting Ray Robb (R), $463,000
32. RC Enerson (R), $103,000
33.  Katherine Legge, $102,000

*–Broken down between two teams, $460,000 Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing, $105,500 Dreyer & Reinbold Racing/Cusick Motorsports