F1 United States Grand Prix 2024: Leclerc Dominates From Star To Finish

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The United States Grand Prix at Circuit of the Americas, Austin, Texas, 2024, was a Competition with much action and controversy over the weekend. It had a Sprint race, a Qualifying session, and the main race. Each of those obviously brought its own exciting moments.

It was a great race for fans who enjoy every overtaking, which mostly happens in the mid-section. George Russell, who started from 20th position, finished the race on the P6, and the new driver, Liam Lawson, finished the race from P19 to P9, which is a great result for him.

Some thrills of the Sprint Race

The Sprint race took place on 19 October 2024; Max Verstappen of Red Bull Racing Honda RBPT was the race winner. He could now increase his lead over Lando Norris of McLaren Mercedes, who sat on his shoulder as they waited for the main race to start, such blistering speed he displayed during the whole race. As the Sprint race could order it, the grid for the main race became Verstappen from the second row after Lando Norris from the first row, who had taken the pole.

Pos	No	Driver	Car	Laps	Time/Retired	Pts
1	1	Max Verstappen	Red Bull Racing Honda RBPT	19	31:06.146	8
2	55	Carlos Sainz	Ferrari	19	+3.882s	7
3	4	Lando Norris	McLaren Mercedes	19	+6.240s	6
4	16	Charles Leclerc	Ferrari	19	+6.956s	5
5	63	George Russell	Mercedes	19	+15.766s	4
6	44	Lewis Hamilton	Mercedes	19	+18.724s	3
7	20	Kevin Magnussen	Haas Ferrari	19	+25.161s	2
8	27	Nico Hulkenberg	Haas Ferrari	19	+26.588s	1
9	11	Sergio Perez	Red Bull Racing Honda RBPT	19	+29.950s	0
10	81	Oscar Piastri	McLaren Mercedes	19	+37.059s	0
11	22	Yuki Tsunoda	RB Honda RBPT	19	+38.363s	0
12	43	Franco Colapinto	Williams Mercedes	19	+39.460s	0
13	18	Lance Stroll	Aston Martin Aramco Mercedes	19	+41.236s	0
14	10	Pierre Gasly	Alpine Renault	19	+41.995s	0
15	31	Esteban Ocon	Alpine Renault	19	+42.804s	0
16	30	Liam Lawson	RB Honda RBPT	19	+44.008s	0
17	23	Alex Albon	Williams Mercedes	19	+44.564s	0
18	14	Fernando Alonso	Aston Martin Aramco Mercedes	19	+46.807s	0
19	24	Zhou Guanyu	Kick Sauber Ferrari	19	+52.842s	0
20	77	Valtteri Bottas	Kick Sauber Ferrari	19	+54.476s	0

Qualifying Highlights

Qualifying was a closely contested battle between Verstappen and Norris. Norris could take the pole, as a dramatic session was curtailed by George Russell’s crash. Verstappen could not finish his lap, meaning that he would have the second starting position. This session was tense as drivers put every effort into driving at their limits to get the best starting places.

Main Race Points

Main Race on October 21, 2024: The main race was also dominated by Charles Leclerc. However, he did it only for himself, going throughout the whole race in leading positions and taking victory after an overwhelming performance. Carlos Sainz took second as Ferrari completed the 1-2 finish. Verstappen finished third but with some controversy in the race.

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	Alex 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

Dramatic Incident At The End of Race

A dramatic incident in the race’s closing laps with Lando Norris and Max Verstappen against each other. On lap 12, Norris attempted a pass outside Verstappen, and both drivers went wide. The two of them rejoined ahead of each other, but the officials declared that Verstappen had overtaken Norris because he had crossed the white line; this resulted in a five-second time penalty for Norris, sending him down to fourth. Fans and teams erupted into debate and controversy in response to this decision.

Comments from Drivers

“Quite a tough race for me. I never really had the pace to attack, so it’s a bit different compared to yesterday. Defending was tough because I couldn’t break that late.” Norris was annoyed at the penalty: I mean clearly I didn’t give the position back because we thought we were in the right – clearly we weren’t.
I still think we were, considering Max went off the track – normally if you defend your position and you go off the track, you have to give the position up. In that case I was ahead, I kept my position because he needed to give it back, and that’s the way it is. I think I did the correct thing, but I don’t make the rules. Max drove well, it was a fun race between us, a good battle. He defended well, he did everything he had to do.”
After racing, Verstappen commented how he found it difficult to get past Norris and said:

Constructor Standings (After US GP)

Constructor	Points
McLaren	544
Ferrari	275
Red Bull Racing	354
Mercedes	177
Haas	29
Aston Martin	24
Williams	5
Alpine	5
Kick Sauber	0

Driver Standings (After US GP)

Pos	Driver	Car	Points
1	Max Verstappen	Red Bull Racing Honda RBPT	354
2	Lando Norris	McLaren Mercedes	297
3	Charles Leclerc	Ferrari	275
4	Oscar Piastri	McLaren Mercedes	247
5	Carlos Sainz	Ferrari	215
6	Lewis Hamilton	Mercedes	177
7	George Russell	Mercedes	167
8	Sergio Perez	Red Bull Racing Honda RBPT	150
9	Fernando Alonso	Aston Martin Aramco Mercedes	62
10	Nico Hulkenberg	Haas Ferrari	29
11	Lance Stroll	Aston Martin Aramco Mercedes	24
12	Yuki Tsunoda	RB Honda RBPT	22
13	Alex Albon	Williams Mercedes	12
14	Daniel Ricciardo	RB Honda RBPT	12
15	Kevin Magnussen	Haas Ferrari	8
16	Pierre Gasly	Alpine Renault	8
17	Oliver Bearman	Haas Ferrari	7
18	Franco Colapinto	Williams Mercedes	5
19	Esteban Ocon	Alpine Renault	5
20	Liam Lawson	RB Honda RBPT	2
21	Zhou Guanyu	Kick Sauber Ferrari	0
22	Logan Sargeant	Williams Mercedes	0
23	Valtteri Bottas	Kick Sauber Ferrari	0

It was a great weekend for all the F1 fans who saw a great race. Ferrari enjoyed the celebration, and Lando Norris once again slipped some points to challenge Max in the Driver Championship.