Yahoo Autos Leclerc, Ferrari Dominate F1 United States Grand Prix at Austin
Charles Leclerc spearheaded a Ferrari 1-2 finish at Formula 1’s United States Grand Prix, while Max Verstappen beat Lando Norris after a titanic tussle was decided by a penalty. Autoweek reports from the Circuit of the Americas at Austin, Texas.
Forza Ferrari
Ferrari was the only one of the front-running teams not to bring an upgrade package to COTA, but the demands of the 3.4 km circuit suited the characteristics of the SF-24, and in race trim it was the class of the field.
Leclerc started only fourth but a strong getaway left him in prime position to profit when title rivals Verstappen and Norris ran deep into Turn 1. Verstappen hugged the inside line and forced himself and Norris wide, allowing Leclerc to sneak through to claim the lead.
From there Leclerc was unchallenged as he managed a one-stop strategy to pick up his third victory of the season, following on from triumphs in Monaco and Italy.
Ferrari teammate Carlos Sainz held third during the first stint but successfully used the undercut to vault Verstappen through the pit stop phase, ensuring it was a Ferrari 1-2.
"It feels really good, as every victory feels special for its own reason,” said Leclerc after his eighth win. “I was quite confident after yesterday, the car felt great, and we knew we had a good race pace, we were more sceptical about qualifying, but P4 was good, after the start ending in first I knew it was just about using the pace we had.
"The car felt great, so it was a bit of a lonely race but it was a good kind of lonely and I hope we can reproduce that in the future."
Leclerc, at 79 points back from Verstappen, is an exceptionally longshot to win the Drivers’ Championship in spite of his impressive recent form. But the result enabled Ferrari to close to within eight points of Red Bull in the Constructors' Standings, with leaders McLaren a further 40 points ahead.
Haas Moves Up in the Championship
Haas F1 Team put a little bit of breathing room between itself and RB in the scrap for sixth in the Constructors’ Championship. The upgrades to the VF-24 worked well throughout the weekend at COTA, and Nico Hulkenberg carried out a one-stop strategy to rise to eighth place, giving it a two-point advantage over RB.
“I’m very pleased with that, we maximized what was possible and at the end we were actually getting closer to [Sergio] Perez in a Red Bull,” Hulkenberg said. “I had a suspicion it could be a one-stop race, and it was, although halfway through the first stint it felt really poor and horrible. The tires recovered and came back to me, and going long opened the door for this race and this result. That was key, so two lots of points this weekend and two points in front of RB, it’s been a good weekend.”
There was a more frustrating outcome for Kevin Magnussen, who held seventh through the first stint, but lost out through virtue of running a two-stop strategy. That left him 11th.
Including Saturday’s Sprint, Haas has now scored points in each of the last five races, marking an encouraging trajectory for the team in a phase of the season where it has sometimes struggled.
“It was good to get P8 with Nico,” said boss Ayao Komatsu. “He executed a very good one-stop strategy, and considering the situation he managed the tires very well and communicated well. On Kevin’s side, it was almost the opposite as our baseline was a two-stop strategy and then there was some messy communication towards the end of the race.
“We got seven points out of the weekend, and two ahead of RB so that’s the positive. We’re now P6 in the Constructors’ Championship with five events to go, and we’re competitive, so we’ll go for more.”
Misery for Mercedes
Mercedes had a fairly miserable trip to COTA as its W15 lacked performance and caused its occupants headaches.
George Russell spun off during Q3 while in sixth place and the damage to the car meant he had to change spec of certain parts, consigning him to starting from the pit lane. He recovered to sixth place, which was a strong drive in the circumstances.
Lewis Hamilton had one of the gloomiest showings of his career, as a suspected suspension problem hobbled him in Sprint, he went on to qualify only 19th, and after a decent start he spun into the gravel on the second lap.
“I had a great start, and I thought we were in for a positive race,” Hamilton said. “I was just bringing the tires in when I had the accident, which was a really strange moment. I wasn't pushing too hard but the car bounced a little into turn 19, I lost the back end and that was that. We measured a large gust of wind, up to 40 kph, as I turned in which likely didn't help. George had a similar spin to me yesterday so we will work hard to analyse both incidents and see what we can learn from them.”
Hamilton suggested that “something wasn't quite right there with the car and it's been the same most of the weekend with this new package we have. It's obviously devastating, but it is what it is.”
After its win spree mid-season Mercedes has regressed to being a distant fourth once more.
“It has been a tough weekend overall here in Austin,” said team boss Toto Wolff. “We see that there is pace in the car, as was shown on Friday and with George in the race today, but we are still dealing with its inconsistency. That is not something unique to us though. Different teams have come into and out of form throughout the season, but it is something we will be working hard to improve over the final five races of the season.”
Young Guns Impress
Liam Lawson had a five-race outing in place of the injured Daniel Ricciardo in mid-2023 but the COTA weekend marked the true start of his full-time Formula 1 career, taking the place of veteran Ricciardo.
Lawson started on the back foot due to a pre-event engine change, consigning him to the back of the grid for Sunday’s race, but the Kiwi impressed by running a Hard/Medium tire strategy.
Lawson worked a solid first stint to bring himself to the fringes of the top 10 and then methodically chipped away to classify in ninth place.
Lawson was followed by Franco Colapinto, who rounded out the top 10, scoring points for the second time in the four races since he replaced Logan Sargeant.
F1 United States Grand Prix
at Circuit of the Americas, Austin, Texas
Charles Leclerc, Ferrari, 56 laps, 1:35.09.639
Carlos Sainz, Ferrari, +8.562 seconds
Max Verstappen, Red Bull, +19.412
Lando Norris, McLaren, +20.354
Oscar Piastri, McLaren, +21.921
George Russell, Mercedes, +56.295
Sergio Perez, Red Bull, +59.072
Nico Hulkenberg, Haas, +1:02.957
Liam Lawson, RB, +1:10.563
Franco Colapinto, Williams. +1:11.979
Kevin Magnussen, Haas, +1:19.782
Pierre Gasly, Alpine, +1:30.558
Fernando Alonso, Aston Martin, +1 lap
Yuki Tsunoda, RB, +1 lap
Lance Stroll, Aston Martin, +1 lap
Alex Albon, Williams, +1 laps
Valtteri Bottas, Kick Sauber, +1 lap
Esteban Ocon, Alpine, +1 lap
Zhou Guanyu, Kick Sauber, +1 lap
Lewis Hamilton, Mercedes, DNF
F1 Drivers Championship Standings
Max Verstappen 354
Lando Norris 297
Charles Leclerc 275
Oscar Piastri 247
Carlos Sainz 215
Lewis Hamilton 177
George Russell 167
Sergio Perez 150
Fernando Alonso 62
Nick Hulkenberg 29
Lance Stroll 24
Yuki Tsunoda 22
Alex Albon 12
Daniel Ricciardo 12
Kevin Magnussen 8
Pierre Gasly 8
Oliver Bearman 7
Franco Colapinto 5
Esteban Ocon 5
Liam Lawson 2
Zhou Guanyu 0
Logan Sargeant 0
Valtteri Bottas
F1 Constructors' Championship Standings
McLaren 544
Red Bull 504
Ferrari 496
Mercedes 344
Aston Martin 86
Haas 38
RB 36
Williams 17
Alpine 13
Kick Sauber 0
