The United States Grand Prix has guaranteed us a great title fight. Another weekend in Max Verstappen’s favour, both McLarens fell short, losing key points in the Dutchman’s mounting title defence. Lando Norris managed a late overtake on Charles Leclerc to take P2 in the grand prix, thus closing the gap slightly to his teammate, Oscar Piastri, who remains in the lead of the Drivers’ Championship title.
Friday: FP1 and Sprint Qualifying
Nico Hulkenberg surprised everyone in FP1 by recording the second quickest time of the session. He was sandwiched between Norris (P1) and Piastri (P3), who continue to show McLaren’s team dominance even in non-competitive sessions.
Later on in the day, the Sprint Qualifying session took place. The McLarens were predicted to win out, as they have been for most of this season, however Verstappen was able to beat both drivers to claim Sprint pole. This continued his incredible run of form. Norris pipped his teammate to take the second place on the grid, while Hulkenberg continued his good Friday running to slot into P4, behind Piastri.
There were some issues in SQ1, which saw many drivers not reach the line in time to record a final fast lap, thus failing to improve on their times. Yuki Tsunoda was caught out by this, so was set to begin the Sprint race in P18.
Saturday: Sprint Race and Grand Prix Qualifying
In the Sprint Race, a collision in the first corner took out the McLarens, as well as Fernando Alonso, while other cars were caught in the melee. Tsunoda was able to capitalise on this crash, storming through from P20 up into the points, eventually ending the race un P7. Verstappen won despite two safety car periods, and following a tense battle with George Russell. Russell came home in second position. After a good Sprint Qualifying, Sainz was able to convert his earlier performance into a podium in the Sprint, gaining six points for the Williams team. Alex Albon, in the other Williams, came home in P6, meaning the team achieved a double points finish in the Sprint. Between the Williams, the Ferraris started the competetive portion of the weekend as they meant to go on, ending up in P4 (Lewis Hamilton) and P5 (Leclerc). Kimi Antonelli, fresh off a new contract announcement, took the final point.
The main Qualifying session followed. Verstappen dominated again, showing that he really is trying his best to defend his title in the face of McLaren’s dominance. He went out very late for his final run in Q3, putting everyone on edge. Norris was yet again kept on his toes with Verstappen’s speed. Championship leader Piastri fell short, only good enough for P6. The rest of the top ten saw the Ferraris and Mercedes in the mix, with Ollie Bearman’s Haas (P8), Sainz in P9 and Alonso making a comeback from his Sprint race exit to line up tenth on the grid.
Verstappen finished the day with yet another Sprint win and pole position for Sunday’s race. Should we expect another period of Verstappen dominance?
Sunday: Race
Starting from pole, expectation mounted against Verstappen. His recent form indicated that he was a shoe-in for yet another victory in the second half of this season.
All drivers avoided opening lap collisions, ensuring that the early retirements of the Sprint Race did not occur again this weekend. That didn’t mean that drivers didn’t clash however. Sainz was forced to retire after a collision with Mercedes’ Antonelli.
After all talk surrounded McLaren’s internal fight, both drivers are faced with the very real possibility that Verstappen may catch up to the pair in the remaining races. Austin did them no favours. After a disappointing double DNF from the Sprint Race, Norris was able to stick to P2, following battles with Leclerc, while Piastri could only manage P5. Recovering a place from an equally disappointing main qualifying session, he was still not good enough to prevent losing points to his direct rivals. The championship is really beginning to open up, and with only five races to go, it is easy to predict that there will be a lot of drama in the coming weeks.
The Ferraris performed well again, building on their P4/P5 to achieve a P2/P4 in Sunday’s race. Leclerc fought with Norris throughout the race, keeping him behind for a while in the first stint on soft tyres and then only being overtaken in the closing stages of the race for P2. His choice of soft tyres for the race start paid off, as he jumped Norris at the start.
The top ten was as follows:
- Max Verstappen
- Lando Norris
- Charles Leclerc
- Lewis Hamilton
- Oscar Piastri
- George Russell
- Yuki Tsunoda
- Nico Hulkenberg
- Oliver Bearman
- Fernando Alonso
With only five races left of this season, the fight is very much still on. Piastri remains in the lead of the championship, but has slipped to only fourteen points ahead of his closest rival, his teammate Norris. Norris himself sits only 40 points ahead of Verstappen, whose recent form is reminiscent of his hugely dominant 2023 season. Further down the field, Ferrari had a great weekend, with both drivers finishing well into the points positions.
Written and edited by Alexandra
Featured image credit: GETTY IMAGES via bbc.com
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