Introduction
Charles Leclerc took a flawless victory in the 2024 Formula 1 United States Grand Prix, the Monegasque leading Ferrari teammate Carlos Sainz in a one-two after storming through into the lead on the opening lap, while a tense late-race battle between Lando Norris and Max Verstappen saw Norris receive a penalty and drop to fourth behind his title rival.
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Pole-sitter Norris initially looked to have held the lead off the line when the lights went out for the 56-lap encounter, but the McLaren went side-by-side with Verstappen into the first corner, which led to the Briton being pushed wide, allowing Leclerc to sneak through and snatch P1.
From there, the Monegasque enjoyed an unchallenged drive to victory, while teammate Sainz benefitted from an undercut to put himself into second place ahead of Verstappen following his pit stop, the Spaniard putting in a solid drive to cross the line 8.5s back from Leclerc.
As the race entered into its final stages, Norris overtook Verstappen for P3 following a fiercely close duel between the championship rivals – but the nature of the move prompted discussion over the radio, with Verstappen and Red Bull claiming that Norris had overtaken outside of the track limits.
This ultimately saw Norris receive a five-second time penalty for leaving the track and gaining an advantage, dropping him down from third to fourth and promoting Verstappen to the final podium position.
Oscar Piastri took fifth behind his McLaren teammate, while George Russell worked his way up to sixth in the Mercedes after starting from the pit lane. Sergio Perez added to Red Bull’s points tally in seventh, ahead of Haas’s Nico Hulkenberg in eighth.
Liam Lawson scored two points by finishing P9 on his first weekend back on the grid for RB, while Franco Colapinto was an impressive P10 for Williams. Kevin Magnussen missed out in P11 for Haas, with Alpine’s Pierre Gasly behind in P12 from Fernando Alonso in P13 for Aston Martin.
Yuki Tsunoda slotted into 14th for RB, having dropped backwards following a spin, while Aston Martin’s Lance Stroll was 15th in front of Alex Albon in 16th, a disappointing result for the Williams driver on his 100th race start.
The Kick Saubers of Valtteri Bottas and Zhou Guanyu again missed out on breaking their points duck down in P17 and P19, with the Alpine of Esteban Ocon – who claimed the fastest lap late on to take a point away from previous holder Colapinto – sandwiched between them in P18.
Lewis Hamilton, meanwhile, was the sole retiree after spinning off track early in the race and beaching his Mercedes in the gravel.
Mario Isola, Motorsport Director, Pirelli:
First, congratulations to Ferrari for an excellent one-two finish in a country that has always been very important for the Prancing Horse. On the tyre front, it was an exciting Sunday because of the technical insights it provided. Based on previous data and from what we learned in yesterday’s Sprint, when the Medium demonstrated a very high wear rate, combined with what we knew from this race last year, a one-stop did not seem viable. Yet, it proved to be the winning strategy and almost the only one adopted by the field. As for the behaviour of the Medium, the Safety Car following Hamilton going off the track in the early stages meant that those who had started on this compound could extend their stint, while it also meant the tyres were put under less stress during the crucial early stages when the cars are running with a heavy fuel load.
There were two other elements to consider: the significant evolution of the track condition, with much of it resurfaced leading to a major reduction in graining compared to what we saw in the Sprint and then the changes the teams were able to make to their set-up, based on what they learned yesterday.
The day on the track:
Fifteen drivers opted to start on the Medium tyre, with the Sauber drivers, Bottas and Zhou, going with a used set. Five others, Hamilton and Russell in the Mercedes, Stroll (Aston Martin), Colapinto (Williams) and Lawson (Racing Bulls) lined up on Hard tyres. As expected, the Soft was not considered, although Ocon (Alpine) fitted them right at the very end to deprive Colapinto in the Williams of picking up the point for the race’s fastest lap, a mission successfully accomplished by the Alpine driver.
The one-stop was the preferred strategy for the vast majority of drivers. Apart from the previously mentioned Ocon, only Zhou and Magnussen (Haas) made two planned stops, while Albon (Williams) had to stop in the early stages to take on a second set of Mediums.
Russell and Bottas both drove the longest stints of all, driving 40 laps on the Hard, the Englishman on his first stint, the Finn on his second. Piastri, who went 32 laps in the McLaren, completed the longest run on the Medium Tyre.
2024 Formula 1 United States Grand Prix Race Results
| Pos | No | Driver | Country | Team | Time | Points | Overall |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1. | 16 | Charles Leclerc | Monaco | Scuderia Ferrari | 1:35:09.639 | 25 | 275 |
| 2. | 55 | Carlos Sainz | Spain | Scuderia Ferrari | +8.562s | 18 | 215 |
| 3. | 1 | Max Verstappen | Netherlands | Red Bull Racing | +19.412s | 15 | 354 |
| 4. | 4 | Lando Norris | Great Britain | Mclaren Racing | +20.354s | 12 | 297 |
| 5. | 81 | Oscar Piastri | Australia | McLaren Racing | +21.921s | 10 | 247 |
| 6. | 63 | George Russell | Great Britain | Mercedes-AMG Petronas | +56.295s | 8 | 167 |
| 7. | 11 | Sergio Perez | Mexico | Red Bull Racing | +59.072s | 6 | 150 |
| 8. | 27 | Nico Hulkenberg | Germany | Haas F1 Team | +62.957s | 4 | 29 |
| 9. | 30 | Liam Lawson | New Zealand | Visa Cash App F1 Team | +70.563s | 2 | 2 |
| 10. | 43 | Franco Colapinto | Argentina | Williams Racing | +71.979s | 1 | 5 |
| 11. | 20 | Kevin Magnussen | Denmark | Haas F1 Team | +71.979s | 0 | 8 |
| 12. | 10 | Pierre Gasly | France | Alpine F1 Team | +90.558s | 0 | 8 |
| 13. | 14 | Fernando Alonso | Spain | Aston Martin F1 Team | +1 lap | 0 | 62 |
| 14. | 22 | Yuki Tsunoda | Japan | Visa Cash App F1 Team | +1 lap | 0 | 22 |
| 15. | 18 | Lance Stroll | Canada | Aston Martin F1 Team | +1 lap | 0 | 24 |
| 16. | 23 | Alexander Albon | Thailand | Williams Racing | DNF | 0 | 12 |
| 17. | 77 | Valtteri Bottas | Finland | Kick Sauber F1 Team | +1 lap | 0 | 0 |
| 18. | 31 | Esteban Ocon | France | Alpine F1 Team | +1 lap | 0 | 5 |
| 19. | 24 | Zhou Guanyu | China | Kick Sauber F1 Team | +1 lap | 0 | 0 |
| 20. | 44 | Lewis Hamilton | Great Britain | Mercedes-AMG Petronas | DNF | 0 | 177 |
2024 Constructor Standings
| Pos | Team | Points |
|---|---|---|
| 1. | McLaren Racing | 544 |
| 2. | Red Bull Racing | 504 |
| 3. | Scuderia Ferrari | 496 |
| 4. | Mercedes-AMG Petronas | 344 |
| 5. | Aston Martin F1 Team | 86 |
| 6. | Haas F1 Team | 38 |
| 7. | Visa Cash App F1 Team | 36 |
| 8. | Williams Racing | 17 |
| 9. | Alpine F1 Team | 13 |
| 10. | Kick Sauber F1 Team | 0 |
Here are the team-by-team highlights:
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