© Oracle Red Bull Racing2024 United States Grand Prix - Sunday ReportMax Verstappen battled fiercely with Lando Norris, securing a 3rd-place podium finish after a dramatic late-race tussle, as Ferrari dominated with a 1-2 finish at the US Grand Prix. Checo claimed 7th.
Maxwonatitaniclate-racebattlewithtitlerivalLandoNorristotakehis12thpodiumfinishoftheseason,asFerraritookaone-twofinishattheUnitedStatesGrandPrix.Checo,meanwhile,droveasolidraceatCOTAtoclaimseventhplaceattheflag.
With race winner Charles Leclerc and Ferrari team-mate Carlos Sainz forging a strong lead early in the race, Max was forced to settle into third place as the race entered its final third. Norris, however, was closing in and armed with fresher tyres, the McLaren driver was able to attack with 10 laps to go. That set up an epic tussle and over the following five laps the champion delivered a masterclass of defensive driving to keep the quicker Norris behind.
Lights Out At Austin© Oracle Red Bull Racing
On lap 52, though, the McLaren driver went for broke. He lunged late in Turn 12 and when both drivers went wide, Norris got by – though off the track.
And though the arguments raged over the radio channels, the race Stewards eventually ruled that Norris had left the track and gained an advantage. He crossed the line four seconds ahead of Max, but with a five-second sanction immediately applied, he dropped back to fourth behind Max who claimed the 110th podium of his career.
The battle with Lando at the end was cool as we were racing hard and it was actually a lot of fun.
We lacked pace the whole weekend; it has not been a straightforward weekend and we have plenty of work to do. I am looking forward to next week but we need to make sure we learn from Austin to make sure Mexico is more successful.”
All in all there are a lot of positives to take from today, the Team did a good job at turning things around from Singapore.
EarlyRaceDrama:MaxandNorrisBattlefromtheStart
At the race start, pole sitter Norris got away well, but on the run up to Turn 1 he left the door slightly ajar and Max instinctively dived to the inside to try to pass the McLaren. The champion had to brake late, though, and when he and Norris went wide on exit, Leclerc powered through to claim the lead.
With Ferrari looking the quickest team all weekend that was all the incentive the Monegasque driver needed and though Max was able to hang on to second, it soon became clear that matching the Ferrari driver’s pace would not be possible. Further back at the start, Checo also got a good start and when Alonso slipped back, the Mexican climbed to ninth.
First Turn Move© Oracle Red Bull Racing
SafetyCarShakesUptheField
An incident towards the rear of the field involving Alpine’s Esteban Ocon and Williams’ Alex Albon allowed both Liam Lawson and Lewis Hamilton to power through toward the points positions. But while Lawson continued to progress in the opening laps Hamilton’s race ended on lap 3 spin when the Mercedes driver spun off. With his car beached, the Safety Car was released.
The action resumed on lap 6, with Leclerc controlling the restart well to keep Max at bay, while Sainz held third ahead of the McLarens. Behind the leaders, Alpine’s Pierre Gasly sat in fifth ahead of Haas’ Kevin Magnussen and VCARB’s Yuki Tsunoda, who was bottling up Checo. Nico Hülkenberg held the final points position but the Haas driver was just two seconds clear of Lawson, who had powered through to 11th place from 19th on the grid at the start.
Checo In the Mix© Oracle Red Bull Racing
Tsunoda’s defence came to an end on lap 17, however. The Minister lined up the VCARB driver on the long run to Turn 12 and executed a textbook pass on the Japanese driver to take eighth place.
At the front, Leclerc had managed to carve out a comfortable eight-second lead over the champion, who was 1.5s ahead of Sainz.
PitStrategiesShakeUptheOrder
On lap 22, Sainz was the first of the frontrunners to pit as he attempted to undercut Max. The Spanish driver emerged in fifth, ahead of Checo, who had moved up thanks to pit stops for Gasly and Magnussen. The team waited until lap 26 to pit Max, and that allowed Sainz to work the undercut and he swept past to take what would shake out as P2. Leclerc then made his switch to Hard tyres on lap 27 and when he rejoined in third, Norris led ahead of Piastri.
Pit For Hard tyres© Oracle Red Bull Racing
Checo made his stop for Hard tyres on lap 27 and when the Medium tyre runners had all made their stops, the Minister was 11th, which soon became ninth as he passed Magnussen and Hülkenberg pitted.
At the front, Norris pitted from the lead on lap 32 and when Piastri made his switch to Hard tyres on the following lap, Leclerc led again ahead of Sainz, with Max third, six seconds ahead of Norris.
Max, however, was struggling with his tyres. This meant that Norris was able to close the gap over the following three laps to less than three seconds.
Checo, meanwhile, was making progress. On lap 37 the Mexican made his way past Williams’ Franco Colapinto to claim P7 and then claimed sixth when Mercedes’ George Russell pitted.
TheFinalStages:Maxvs.Norris
Tense Watching© Oracle Red Bull Racing
With 15 laps to go, Max was coming under increasing pressure from Norris and on lap 44, the McLaren driver got within a second of the champion and the epic battle between the pair began.
Max Keeps Strong© Oracle Red Bull Racing
Penalty for Norris© Oracle Red Bull Racing
With Max eventually coming out on top to take a third place that extends his title lead over Norris to 57 points, and with Norris hanging on to fourth, P5 at the flag went to Piastri.
Behind them another huge battle had unfolded, with Checo attempting to resist late-race pressure from George Russell. The Mercedes driver was armed with fresher Medium tyres, and though Checo gave it everything to hang onto sixth, he was passed in the final laps and was forced to settle for seventh ahead of Hülkenberg and the impressive Lawson who rose ten places to claim ninth and two championship points. The final point went to Williams’ Franco Colapinto.
Conclusion:MaxExtendsTitleLead
Max’s third-place finish extends his championship lead over Norris to 57 points, while Leclerc’s dominant performance highlights Ferrari’s resurgence. Norris settled for fourth after his penalty, while Checo secured valuable points for Red Bull in seventh place.
