Tag Archives: USGP

2024 F1 Grand Prix of the United States — Results & aftermath

Ferrari ambush rivals in Austin as Leclerc surges to victory, Sainz P2; Verstappen holds off Norris for last podium spot to extend Championship lead

After being flummoxed and frustrated by their lack of pace in Saturday’s Sprint race and Grand Prix Qualifying, Ferrari unlocked what they thought they had all along in Sunday’s United States Grand Prix at the beautiful, flowing Circuit of the Americas. Charles Leclerc came from P4 on the grid to overtake both the pole-sitting McLaren of Lando Norris and the P2 Red Bull of Max Verstappen, as well as his P3 teammate Carlos Sainz, on the exit of the steeply uphill Turn 1. Norris and Verstappen, with the tunnel vision of the two main Drivers’ Championship contenders, took their personal battle out wide there, with Norris taking evasive action into the runoff, allowing Leclerc to scamper through the open space unimpeded and instantly take the lead of this 56-lap contest on the opening lap. Verstappen recovered enough to keep Sainz at bay and maintain P2 but Norris lost enough momentum to relegate him to P4 behind the Spaniard’s Prancing Horse. The frantic action continued until not long after DRS was enabled  when Mercedes’ Lewis Hamilton, starting on the Hard Pirelli tires after a poor qualifying result saw him mired down in P17 on the grid, lost it heading into Turn 18 and beached his Silver Arrow in the gravel trap there. In an abrupt instant, the seven-time champ’s day came to a premature end and a Safety Car was deployed to retrieve the stricken Mercedes.

When racing resumed towards the end of Lap 5, Leclerc was just able to keep Verstappen’s charging Red Bull behind him and then attempt to build a gap from the point utilizing his SF24’s superior performance at this track. The car worked like a charm for the Monegasque and by Lap 20 he had pulled a whopping 8-second lead over the Dutch Master. The Ferrari pit wall then pulled their own successful strategy maneuver by calling in Sainz on Lap 22 for his first pit stop for fresh Pirellis, a swap off the opening-stint Mediums onto the durable Hards. The Scuderia braintrust were hoping the undercut here in Austin would be as powerful as their simulations, with Red Bull waiting until Lap 26 to pull Verstappen in. Indeed, it worked a treat for Sainz when Verstappen’s now Hard-shod car came out behind the Spaniard, Sainz having been able to put in some impressive laps on fresh rubber to build his advantage in the intervening laps. With enough of a cushion and perhaps anticipating that Verstappen might not be their main challenger this day, Leclerc came in a lap later for his own fresh Hards, emerging from the pits in P3, still ahead of his teammate and behind the yet-to-pit McLaren duo of Norris and Oscar Piastri .

McLaren continued to stay out over the next several laps, hoping that track position and running longer than their key rivals would give them the decisive fresh tire advantage in the race’s closing stanza. But when Leclerc made easy work of Piastri for P2 on Lap 31 Team Papaya new that it was time to pull the pin. Continue reading →

2021 F1 Grand Prix of the United States — Results & aftermath

Verstappen victorious over Hamilton in tense Texas showdown; Perez P3 for surging Red Bull

Sunday’s United States Grand Prix proved an exceptionally tense showdown between this year’s top two championship contenders, Red Bull’s sublime Max Verstappen and the seven-time and current World Champ. Mercedes ace Lewis Hamilton. Running a two man race of their own far ahead of the rest of the field, Verstappen prevailed to take the win at the Circuit of the Americas in Austin, Texas in a welcome return to the USA after a year’s absence due to the COVID pandemic. With the grandstands and grounds of this beautiful, purpose built circuit completely packed with ecstatic fans, Verstappen was able to withstand Hamilton’s best efforts in the waning moments of this 56-lap contest, keeping enough life in his older Pirelli tires to hold off the hard charging Englishman. The Dutch phenom not only claimed victory in the Texas heat but also increased his lead in the Drivers’ Championship to twelve points with just five rounds remaining in the 2021 season. If the supremely talented Verstappen should go on to win his first F1 title, his masterfully poised and consistent effort in America could well be looked back on as the crucial turning point.

With Verstappen starting from pole and Hamilton lining up in P2 on the grid, and both on the Medium Pirelli tires they set their fastest lap in Q2 on as per the rules, Hamilton made a lovely and forceful overtaking maneuver on the opening Lap to take the lead. But he could not pull away from Verstappen in the ensuing laps and It quickly became evident that the majority of teams would be running a two-stop strategy and going to th Continue reading →