UNITED STATES GRAND PRIX 2024
Charles Leclerc dominates the Texan track!
Ferrari are back on top with the one-two finish. Charles Leclerc took the lead down at turn 1 in the first lap and never looked backed again , utterly dominating the race. He won by a big margin of 8.5 seconds to his teammate who in turn finished 11 seconds in front of Max Verstappen in third- showing the tremendous race pace that Ferrari had this weekend which was not quite expected.
It was a sublime drive by both the Scuderia drivers especially Charles Leclerc. This was Charles Leclerc's third win of the season and Ferrari's fourth. In addition to this the great run of form they are having has put them only 8 points behind Red Bull, which puts the Red Bull team under great pressure as they are at risk to lose another position in the Constructor's World Championship after losing a position to McLaren earlier this year.
The Red Bull team looked to have more pace compared to previous weekends and were faster than the McLaren in the sprints, making Max Verstappen win the sprint. Yet they could not carry this form further in the main race losing out to the Ferrari as they were no match for their pace. Sergio Perez in fact finished in seventh place behind George Russell who started from the pit lane. One of the main reasons Red Bull are losing ground to their rivals even though Max is leading the Driver's Championship is Sergio Perez's poor run of form. He is currently eight in the driver's world championship 204 points behind his teammate which is the most out of any driver pairing on the grid.
McLaren did not get the result they wanted as the track did not suit the car yet Norris made a valiant charge at the end to catch Max and pass him but he was demoted back to P4 even after crossing the line in P3 as he got a 5 second time penalty due to passing Max off the track. Norris would be quite frustrated as the gap to Max has increased this weekend rather than decreasing, in all making Norris's chance to win the Driver's World Championship even slimmer. Overall the McLaren team finished 4th and 5th.
Mercedes had a terrible qualifying but had a decent race which was not the result they wanted but was better than expected. After qualifying P18 Hamilton was looking to make his way through the field. In the first lap he got up to P12 but in the second lap at turn 19 as he turned the car, the rear tires lost grip and he went sliding into the gravel trap, beaching his car there which in turn ended his race. A day he would want to forget. On the other hand, Russell starting from the pit lane due to his qualifying crash, made up a ton of places and ended the race in P6. A brilliant recovery drive from him.
It was a brilliant drive by Nico Hulkenberg to finish in P8 and get 4 points for Haas which puts them above the VCarb team after this weekend. Liam Lawson made a statement in his first outing of the season after he was replaced in place of Daniel Riccardo. He finished P9 scoring 2 points for the team but the main thing is he finished quite ahead of Yuki Tsunoda who finished in P14, showing the senior Red Bull team that he is the contender to replace Sergio Perez for the second Red Bull seat.
Franco Colapinto the hidden gem! He again drove fabulously and got a point for the Williams team, showing that he is consistent and wants to prove himself to possibly secure the second Sauber seat (the only remining seat on the grid). The Alpines, Aston Martins and the Saubers just did not have the pace of the other cars and were battling within themselves to gain position yet none of them scored a point. In the end we got a marvelous grand prix with wheel to wheel racing and many overtakes.
With the eventful race in Cota done and dusted we head on to Mexico next week to see if Ferrari can continue winning or will McLaren or potentially even Red Bull bounce back. Can Ferrari overtake Red Bull in the Constructor's Championship next race is what everyone will be looking forward to.
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