Charles Leclerc secured a commanding victory at the US Grand Prix, with Carlos Sainz following closely to achieve a 1-2 finish for Ferrari at the Circuit of the Americas. Max Verstappen of Red Bull claimed third place after a competitive race with title contender Lando Norris, who received a five-second penalty for passing Verstappen off the track.
At the race’s outset, polesitter Norris made a strong start, but Verstappen made a decisive move on the inside approaching Turn 1. Both drivers encountered difficulties exiting the turn, allowing Leclerc to slip into the lead, followed by Verstappen, Sainz, and Norris.
“I’ve been struggling a little bit with the feeling with the car, but I had the confidence that in the race the feeling was better, and it was the case,” Leclerc said. “So we’ve seen it yesterday in the Sprint race. We were a bit not scared, but we thought that the others would improve a lot more today, but we still had the upper hand. So really happy with today. 1-2 for the team. We couldn’t have dreamed for better.”
On lap 3, Lewis Hamilton of Mercedes spun off the track, resulting in his car becoming stranded in a gravel trap, prompting the deployment of the Safety Car. Hamilton’s vehicle was swiftly recovered, and the race resumed at the beginning of lap six. Although Verstappen remained close to Leclerc on the restart, the latter effectively maintained his lead and gradually extended it during the first stint on Medium tires.
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Leclerc made his only pit stop on lap 26, emerging behind McLaren drivers Norris and Oscar Piastri. After overtaking Piastri and waiting for Norris to complete his pit stop for Hard tires, Leclerc showcased impressive performance in the second stint and secured a comfortable victory.
Sainz employed his pit stop strategically to gain an advantage over Verstappen. While he remained in contention with Leclerc, the Spanish driver ultimately settled for second place, marking his 24th career podium finish.
While Ferrari’s drivers navigated the race smoothly, a more intense battle was unfolding behind them.
Verstappen expressed dissatisfaction with the performance of his hard tires during his second stint, informing the Red Bull pit wall that he was experiencing difficulties with braking and cornering. Meanwhile, Norris, benefiting from six-lap younger Hard tires, steadily closed the gap to the Dutch driver.
Following the pit stops, Norris rapidly closed a six-second gap to Verstappen and entered DRS range by lap 45. He then launched a series of consistent attempts to challenge Verstappen, strategically pressuring him at Turns 1 and 12 in hopes of causing a mistake.
Verstappen demonstrated exceptional defensive skills, managing to keep Norris at bay until lap 52, when Norris made a decisive move.
“For me, it was quite a difficult race. I never really had the pace to attack,” Verstappen said.
The McLaren driver attempted an overtaking maneuver on the outside of Turn 12, but both drivers went off-track, allowing Norris to pass Verstappen and secure third place. Anticipating a possible sanction, he aimed to extend his lead to five seconds over the Red Bull driver. However, Verstappen remained steadfast, and as they crossed the line, he finished just four seconds behind. The race Stewards issued a five-second penalty for the off-track overtaking, ensuring that Verstappen secured a podium finish by a mere 0.9 seconds.
“Extremely happy for everyone in Ferrari right now. At the same time, obviously, I knew a lot of the race was going to be decided at the start,” Sainz said. “I knew Lando and Max were going to go hard at it into Turn 1, and unfortunately, I got the worst of it, and I couldn’t get that lead. and even though the pace from there on was really good and I was all weekend really fast, track position is key and I had to settle for P2, which anyway was a good race.”
Oscar Piastri achieved fifth place in the second McLaren, finishing 34 seconds ahead of George Russell. The Mercedes driver performed admirably, starting from the pit lane and overcoming a five-second penalty during the race to finish in sixth place, overtaking Red Bull’s Sergio Pérez in the closing laps.
Nico Hulkenberg secured eighth place for Haas, while Liam Lawson delivered a commendable performance, rising from 19th at the start to finish ninth and earn two points on his return to Formula 1. Franco Colapinto earned the final point for Williams.
2024 FIA Formula 1 United States Grand Prix – Race
1 Charles Leclerc Ferrari 56 1:35’09.639
2 Carlos Sainz Ferrari 56 1:35’18.201 8.562
3 Max Verstappen Red Bull/Honda RBPT 56 1:35’29.051 19.412
4 Lando Norris McLaren/Mercedes 56 1:35’29.993 20.354
5 Oscar Piastri McLaren/Mercedes 56 1:35’31.560 21.921
6 George Russell Mercedes 56 1:36’05.934 56.295
7 Sergio Pérez Red Bull/Honda RBPT 56 1:36’08.711 59.072
8 Nico Hülkenberg Haas/Ferrari 56 1:36’12.596 1’02.957
9 Liam Lawson RB/Honda RBPT 56 1:36’20.202 1’10.563
10 Franco Colapinto Williams/Mercedes 56 1:36’21.618 1’11.979
11 Kevin Magnussen Haas/Ferrari 56 1:36’29.421 1’19.782
12 Pierre Gasly Alpine/Renault 56 1:36’40.197 1’30.558
13 Fernando Alonso Aston Martin/Mercedes 55 1:35’11.365 1 lap /1.726
14 Yuki Tsunoda RB/Honda RBPT 55 1:35’17.851 1 lap /8.212
15 Lance Stroll Aston Martin/Mercedes 55 1:35’26.622 1 lap /16.983
16 Alexander Albon Williams/Mercedes 55 1:35’27.731 1 lap /18.092
17 Valtteri Bottas Sauber/Ferrari 55 1:35’43.972 1 lap /34.333
18 Esteban Ocon Alpine/Renault 55 1:35’51.751 1 lap /42.112
19 Zhou Guanyu Sauber/Ferrari 55 1:35’58.879 1 lap /49.240
Photo/CharlesLeclerc/X
