By James Broughton, October 21, 2024
really don’t understand this season. 2024 began with Red Bull dominating, seemingly set to crush the competition. Yet, by mid-season, Red Bull lost Adrian Newey, and since the Spanish GP, they have struggled to maintain their form. Mercedes had a surge, followed by Ferrari, and from all the chaos, McLaren emerged as legitimate title contenders. Despite this, Red Bull had built a substantial points buffer, allowing them to withstand uncertainties regarding their performance.
At the 2024 USA GP, Lando Norris secured pole position with what he considered the best qualifying lap of his career. However, he squandered that hard-fought advantage at the start, fluffing his getaway and allowing second-place Max Verstappen to muscle past his McLaren on the run to Turn 1.
Verstappen had other plans and opened his steering as both cars went side-by-side into the apex. In the process, he forced Norris wide, compromising both of their exits and allowing Charles Leclerc’s Ferrari to seize the lead. Lewis Hamilton, the race’s only retiree, spun out early and was unable to recover.
The battle between Verstappen and Norris for position allowed Leclerc to cruise to a dominant victory, Leclerc enjoying an uncontested lead from start to finish. His teammate, Carlos Sainz, executed a well-timed undercut to secure second place ahead of Max Verstappen. Sainz maintained a steady pace throughout the race, finishing 8.5 seconds behind Leclerc.
In the closing laps, Lando Norris engaged in a thrilling battle with Verstappen for third position. Norris ultimately overtook Verstappen, but the move sparked controversy as Verstappen and Red Bull claimed that Norris had exceeded the track limits. As a result, Norris was issued a five-second time penalty, dropping him to fourth and elevating Verstappen to the final podium position.
Oscar Piastri finished fifth, just behind his McLaren teammate Lando Norris, while George Russell, starting from the pit lane, impressively climbed to sixth for Mercedes. Sergio Perez added to Red Bull’s points haul in seventh, followed by Nico Hulkenberg, who secured a solid eighth for Haas.
Liam Lawson, making a temporary return to the grid for AlphaTauri, earned two points with a ninth-place finish, while Franco Colapinto delivered an impressive performance for Williams, rounding out the top ten.
2024 USA GP: Results
1 Charles Leclerc Ferrari
2 Carlos Sainz Ferrari +8.562
3 Max Verstappen Red Bull Racing +19.412
4 Lando Norris McLaren +20.354
5 Oscar Piastri McLaren +21.921
6 George Russell Mercedes +56.295
7 Sergio Perez Red Bull Racing +59.072
8 Nico Hulkenberg Haas F1 Team +62.957
9 Liam Lawson RB +70.563
10 Franco Colapinto Williams +71.979
11 Kevin Magnussen Haas F1 Team +79.782
12 Pierre Gasly Alpine +90.558
13 Fernando Alonso Aston Martin +1L
14 Yuki Tsunoda RB +1L
15 Lance Stroll Aston Martin +1L
16 Alexander Albon Williams +1L
17 Valtteri Bottas Kick Sauber +1L
18 Esteban Ocon Alpine +1L
19 Zhou Guanyu Kick Sauber +1L
DNF Lewis Hamilton Mercedes
