Charles Leclerc struck when least expected, snatching the lead in the first corner from fourth with Lando Norris’ and Max Verstappen’s attention focused squarely on each other. Leclerc pulled away in his Ferrari and wasn’t challenged on his way to a dominant win in the Pirelli United States Grand Prix at the Circuit Of The Americas on Sunday (October 20th). Carlos Sainz finished second to give Ferrari a 1-2 finish and a huge boost in the constructors standings, where they are only seven points behind Red Bull for second.
[I’m] very happy,” Leclerc said after jumping out of the car. “It hasn’t been an easy weekend; until now, I have been struggling a 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.“We’ve seen it yesterday (October 19th) in the Sprint race, we were a bit… not scared, but we thought the others would improve a lot more today but we still had the upper hand, so [I’m] really happy with today. A one-two for the team, we couldn’t have dreamed for better.”
Verstappen finished third after coming out on top in an exciting battle with Norris (Norris finished third on the track but was dropped to fourth after a five-second penalty for leaving the track to gain an advantage over Verstappen while passing him on lap 52). Norris’ fourth was little consolation for another failure to win from the pole. Oscar Piastri finished fifth, followed by Mercedes’ George Russell in sixth, who started from the pit lane. Sergio Perez took seventh, and Haas’ Nico Hulkenberg. was eighth. In his first F1 races since October of 2023, Visa Red Bull’s Liam Lawson finished ninth and is likely to be strongly considered for a seat alongside Verstappen in 2024. Williams’ rookie Franco Colapinto grabbed the final points-paying position in 10th.
In the driver standings, Verstappen leads Norris by 57 points, 354 to 297. With a 30-point weekend, Leclerc is in third, only 22 behind Norris, with Piastri just 28 behind Leclerc.
In the constructor standings, McLaren leads Red Bull by 40 points, 544 to 504. Ferrari knocked 26 points off their deficit to Red Bull and trail by just eight points.
The Race
Norris was off decently at lights out but failed to cover Verstappen on the inside, allowing the Red Bull to get by. But as the McLaren and Red Bull jockeyed for position, Leclerc stole the lead, while Sainz moved into third, dropping Norris down to fourth from the pole. A disastrous start for Norris, who now found himself battling Piastri for position, a spot that often does not end well for Norris.
Hamilton, who started 17th, picked up five spots at the start. But his race ended suddenly when he spun into the gravel trap at Turn 19. The incident brought out the first safety car since the Canadian Grand Prix. It was the first time Hamilton had failed to finish in the United States Grand Prix.
Racing resumed on lap six, and Leclerc held serve, putting a second between him and Verstappen after one lap. Sainz was less than a second behind Verstappen, while Norris seemed to be lagging back, possibly in tire conservation mode.
The Ferrari pace was fully displayed as Leclerc built his lead to nearly three seconds by lap 10. Meanwhile, Sainz radioed the pit wall that he could smell fuel in the cockpit of his Ferrari, though Sainz was soon given the all-clear by the team that there was no issue.
After 14 laps and with the pit window approaching, the order was Leclerc, Verstappen, Sainz, Norris, Piastri, Gasly, Magnussen, Tsunoda, Perez, and Hulkenberg.
Leclerc’s lead was over six seconds over Verstappen by lap 15, and Red Bull radioed Verstappen that his car might have an issue that would have to be addressed when he pitted. Leclerc steadily increased his lead and alleviated much of the pressure on the team to make a flawless pit stop.
Pit stops started in earnest on lap 19, with Kevin Magnussen pulling off the undercut on Gasly. Ferrari was considering an undercut attempt on Verstappen with Sainz, who trailed the Red Bull by less than two seconds. Sainz pitted on lap 22 for a set of hard tires and emerged in fifth, and the wait until the Verstappen pit stop began.
McLaren’s observed that their pace was good, and their tires were still solid, so the team decided to lengthen their stints until their first stop. A one-stop strategy for one or both McLaren’s was in the cards.
Verstappen pitted on lap 26 and came out in fifth, well behind Sainz in fourth. Leclerc pitted a lap later and left with a set of hard tires after a solid 2.5-second stop. Leclerc resumed in third behind Norris and Piastri, who were stretching their medium tires to the limit.
Thirty laps in and the McLaren’s had yet to pit. Leclerc, in third, was only a second behind Piastri in second, and Leclerc was a good 10 seconds clear of Verstappen. The race win looked like a foregone conclusion for Leclerc, barring a disaster or an untimely safety car.
Leclerc overtook Piastri for second on lap 31, while Norris dove in for hard tires on lap 32. Norris resumed in fifth, and took fourth when Piastri pitted a lap later. Norris trailed Verstappen by nearly seven seconds but had tires that were seven laps fresher, as well as the knowledge that the McLaren setup appeared to be easier on tires. A podium for Norris might not alleviate the pain of another wasted pole, but it would pay valuable dividends in the constructors standings.
Verstappen’s lead was down to less than three seconds over Norris, and if Norris had any hopes for his fading championship hopes, he needed to clear the Red Bull, and hope his teammate would soon follow.
Leclerc’s lead over Sainz was about seven seconds at the end of lap 40, and a 1-2 finish for Ferrari would vault them closer to Red Bull and McLaren in the constructors standings.
Norris trimmed Verstappen’s lead to just over one second with 13 laps to go, with many parties involved thinking what could have been had this battle been for the lead. Norris was in DRS range a lap later and would soon strike for the position. When it happened, would one, both, or neither of the drivers survive?
The battle heated up on lap 47 when Verstappen used a series of brilliant blocks to maintain the position. Norris remained patient, and Verstappen remained aggressive, and the laps were dwindling, down to six remaining.
Norris finally made the pass on lap 53, but did so off the track after Verstappen craftily forced the McLaren into an illegal pass. It was a move that was scrutinized by race stewards and eventually resulted in a five-second penalty for Norris.
Leclerc crossed the finish line seven seconds ahead of his teammate as Ferrari maximized their point production. Norris finished third but was relegated to third after the five-second penalty was implemented.
The Good
In a race in which Leclerc left the field in a cloud of dust, nearly all of the excitement was reserved for the late Norris-Verstappen clash for third place, which culminated in a Norris pass that was then nullified due to the penalty. But the action before that was amazing, with Verstappen showing incredible defensive instincts in keeping Norris at bay. You know, the very things that Verstappen would complain and curse about had he been on the other end.
If the season’s final six races are an audition for a seat at the Red Bull table, then Liam Lawson nailed it and may have earned a callback. Lawson started 19th for the Visa Cash App Red Bull team and drove 37 laps on hard tires before finishing strong on a set of mediums for ninth place. Lawson’s ninth equaled his career-best finish. If the finish hasn’t quite earned him that Red Bull seat, then it at least should have earned him the right to bully Fernando Alonso.
The Bad
Lewis Hamilton had a weekend to forget at COTA, failing to advance out of Q1 on Saturday (October 19th), and spinning into the gravel trap at Turn 3 on lap three, ending his day. It was unfortunate for Hamilton, mostly because he wasn’t on the track long enough to witness the speed of the Ferrari he’ll be sitting pretty in next season.
Indifferent
Is Red Bull’s adjustable ride-height system legal or not? It depends on who you ask. Ask anyone other than Red Bull, and they will tell you it is not and is an affront to the integrity of the sport. And they’ll also tell you they wished they were smart enough to develop the technology.
Formula 1 wouldn’t be Formula 1 without these types of controversies. One might ask, “Why didn’t Red Bull just go to F1 and ask if their prospective tech advancements were legal?” Here’s why: because some mole(s) in F1 would have submitted to temptation and auctioned off their knowledge of the tech to opposing teams.
Grid Walk Moments
Four words: Where was Matthew McConaughey? This was a “Grid Walk” sorely lacking in celebrity presence, and a show biz icon like McConaughey would have certainly lent some glitz to a Grid Walking lacking in that department. Maybe he was there but was keeping a low profile, of which he seems totally incapable. Of course, McConaughey may have been weeping in his Lincoln, drowning the sorrows of a devastating Texas Longhorns loss in Wild Turkey and some pretentious organic tequila while extolling the virtues of Uber Eats. But chin up, Matthew, everything will be “all right, all right, all right.”
Brundle’s first non-driver interview was with US sprinter and 200-meter gold medalist Gabby Thomas, who graciously and kindly introduced herself. Thomas could have arrogantly used the “Don’t you know who I am?” line, to which Brundle would have replied, “No,” because he had no idea who she was. Come on, Martin, do your homework. Had you done so, you would have known that Thomas won the 200 gold in a time of 21.83 seconds, or roughly the time of a Kick Sauber pit stop.
And sticking with the track and field theme, Brundle spoke with world record-holding and two-time Olympic gold medalist pole vaulter Armand Duplantis. Apparently, Brundle knew Duplantis because he called him by his nickname, “Mondo.” Come on, Martin. This is low-hanging fruit. You could have asked Mondo any question relating to a “pole,” and I’m sure an interesting answer, or look of confusion, would have followed.
Finally, Martin was totally ignored by Williams driver Franco Colapinto, who appeared not to know who Martin Brundle is, or was. Maybe “ignored” is not the right word to describe Colapinto’s reaction. He did look at Brundle; he just looked at him like he was crazy.
The Disappointing
Once again, Norris failed to cash in a pole position, leaving himself to wonder, “What might have been?” If there was a drivers championship based on the number of times you’ve asked yourself “What might have been?” Norris would have clinched it in August.
The post-race trophy presentation was a bit awkward after Pirelli had to pull the podium trophies out of fear that they too closely resembled other designs, and it may have opened up Pirelli to potential copyright infringement issues. At least Leclerc received a token that resembled a trophy, but Verstappen and Sainz received miniature tires that were similar, if not identical, to the ones awarded in qualifying. Good job, Pirelli. On the bright side, some lucky track workers cleaning up likely took home some nice race hardware.
The Driver
If you can quietly dominate a race, Leclerc did it. His start was anything but quiet as Leclerc roared his Ferrari around Norris and Verstappen in the ultimate “Hey, don’t forget about me” moment. After that, it was quiet for Leclerc, as he was so far ahead he was barely heard from again on the broadcast.
The Results (Pirelli United States Grand Prix, Circuit Of The Americas)
| Pos | No | Driver | Car | Laps | Time/retired | Pts |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 16 | Charles Leclerc | Ferrari | 56 | 1:35:09.639 | 25 |
| 2 | 55 | Carlos Sainz | Ferrari | 56 | +8.562s | 18 |
| 3 | 1 | Max Verstappen | Red Bull Racing Honda RBPT | 56 | +19.412s | 15 |
| 4 | 4 | Lando Norris | McLaren Mercedes | 56 | +20.354s | 12 |
| 5 | 81 | Oscar Piastri | McLaren Mercedes | 56 | +21.921s | 10 |
| 6 | 63 | George Russell | Mercedes | 56 | +56.295s | 8 |
| 7 | 11 | Sergio Perez | Red Bull Racing Honda RBPT | 56 | +59.072s | 6 |
| 8 | 27 | Nico Hulkenberg | Haas Ferrari | 56 | +62.957s | 4 |
| 9 | 30 | Liam Lawson | RB Honda RBPT | 56 | +70.563s | 2 |
| 10 | 43 | Franco Colapinto | Williams Mercedes | 56 | +71.979s | 1 |
| 11 | 20 | Kevin Magnussen | Haas Ferrari | 56 | +79.782s | 0 |
| 12 | 10 | Pierre Gasly | Alpine Renault | 56 | +90.558s | 0 |
| 13 | 14 | Fernando Alonso | Aston Martin Aramco Mercedes | 55 | +1 lap | 0 |
| 14 | 22 | Yuki Tsunoda | RB Honda RBPT | 55 | +1 lap | 0 |
| 15 | 18 | Lance Stroll | Aston Martin Aramco Mercedes | 55 | +1 lap | 0 |
| 16 | 23 | Alexander Albon | Williams Mercedes | 55 | +1 lap | 0 |
| 17 | 77 | Valtteri Bottas | Kick Sauber Ferrari | 55 | +1 lap | 0 |
| 18 | 31 | Esteban Ocon | Alpine Renault | 55 | +1 lap | 0 |
| 19 | 24 | Zhou Guanyu | Kick Sauber Ferrari | 55 | +1 lap | 0 |
| NC | 44 | Lewis Hamilton | Mercedes | 1 | DNF | 0 |
