The 2024 United States GP provided us with a late thriller between Max Verstappen and Lando Norris. But this fight was not for the race win or even 2nd place. Those two positions were locked by Charles Leclerc and Carlos Sainz in the Ferraris which was dominant on race pace.
Charles Leclerc won in Austin by 8 seconds to his teammate. Max Verstappen finished 19 seconds behind the leader with Norris right behind. This result was quite unexpected as both Norris and Verstappen had originally locked the front row. So how did the Prancing Horse come out on top?
Ferraris show dominant race pace at United States GP
Ferrari has shown signs of dominance throughout the weekend. Sainz and Leclerc topped the charts during FP1, but neither Ferrari was able to achieve pole position in the Sprint Race or the US Grand Prix. Ferrari showed incredible race pace on Sunday.
Right off the start, Charles Leclerc was able to take the lead as Verstappen and Norris were too busy fighting each other. Ever since Leclerc took the lead, he showed no signs of weaknesses. He had the best race pace throughout the Grand Prix.
CHARLES LECLERC TAKES VICTORY IN TEXAS!
Sainz finishes in 2nd and Verstappen takes the final step on the podium#F1 #USGP pic.twitter.com/QvNVCN5XUJ
— Fastest Pitstop (@FastestPitStop) October 20, 2024
Carlos Sainz was able to get past Norris off the start but was unable to get past Verstappen. For the entire first stint, Sainz was stuck behind the Red Bull. On lap 20, Sainz came to the pits for fresh tyres to attempt an undercut. This worked perfectly as Verstappen was 4 seconds behind Sainz when he pitted 5 laps later.
Since then, the Ferraris went on to cruise to victory. Their performance has now put the team only 8 points behind Red Bull in the Constructors’ Championship. If Ferrari is able to continue this form in the next 5 races, we could even see them beat McLaren who are 48 points ahead.
Max Verstappen extends Championship lead
While the Ferraris were dominating at the front, Max Verstappen and Lando Norris were engaged in a thrilling battle for 3rd position. Although McLaren’s race pace was poor in the first stint, they were able to extend the stint and pit for fresh hard tyres much later than Verstappen. This allowed Norris to catch up to the Dutch driver with just 10 laps to go.
Norris put constant pressure on Verstappen during the final few laps of the race. With just 3 laps to go, Norris did manage to get past Verstappen. However, he had done so by going off the track. But there is an argument from McLaren’s side stating that Norris was ahead at the apex and that Verstappen pushed Norris off the track.
Lando Norris on his battle with Max Verstappen:
“He defends by going off track and overtakes by going off track, but I’m not going to complain, he (Verstappen) defended well and drove well.”#F1 #USGP pic.twitter.com/XSS3ZbXlPO
— Fastest Pitstop (@FastestPitStop) October 20, 2024
But the FIA investigated the incident and decided to give a 5-second time penalty to the British driver who had to settle for a 4th place finish.
So now, Verstappen has extended his lead in the Drivers’ Championship by another 3 points. This is becoming increasingly difficult for Norris. Especially with Ferrari back in the mix for race wins, Norris won’t have to just beat Verstappen, but Sainz and Leclerc as well.
On a scale of 1-10, how would you rate the 2024 United States Grand Prix? Post them in the comments section below.
