victory for Leclerc and Ferrari double in the United States, Verstappen secures the podium

All it took was an opening. Charles Leclerc easily won at the wheel of his Ferrari, Sunday October 20, the Formula 1 United States Grand Prix at the Circuit of the Americas in Austin (Texas), after a mischievous start where he took advantage of the duel in front him between the “poleman” Lando Norris (McLaren) and the reigning world champion, Max Verstappen (Red Bull), to sneak into the lead.

The Monegasque then showed himself imperial throughout 19^e Grand Prix (out of 24) of the season, and ended up ahead of his Spanish teammate, Carlos Sainz, in order to offer the Scuderia a second double this year, after that achieved − with a reversal of the drivers’ classification − in Australia in March.

Leader au championnat, Max Verstappen, 3^e of the race, is doing rather well and slightly increases his lead overall over his pursuer Lando Norris, 4^eafter a close and controversial fight at the end of the race.

Leclerc never worried

Already, from the start, when the lights went out, Norris and Verstappen had battled, the Dutchman, second on the grid, crowding his rival a little outside the first hairpin, and leaving the field inside to Leclerc, part 4^e on the grid, which didn’t ask for that much. The Monegasque was never subsequently worried. Not even by the intervention of the safety car on the third lap (of 56), after the Briton Lewis Hamilton lost control of his Mercedes, forcing him to retire. When the race restarted, Leclerc took off again in front of Verstappen’s Red Bull, then 2^eand Sainz.

“The weekend hasn’t been easy so far, I had difficulties with the car, but today in the race the sensations were much better”reacted the winner of the day upon arrival.

Like Leclerc, Sainz also showed himself to be opportunistic by achieving an “undercut” on Verstappen a third of the way through the GP − the Spaniard stopped to change his tires before the Dutchman and then overtook him when the latter stopped a few rounds later.

Norris’ controversial penalty

In front of an audience of stars including Swedish pole vault star Armand Duplantis and English music legend Sting, Verstappen and Norris put on a show at the end of the race to gain third place. The battle between the two strong drivers of the moment finally turned to the advantage of the Briton from McLaren with four laps remaining. The latter, however, received a 5-second penalty at the finish, for having left the track while overtaking Verstappen, thus gaining an advantage according to the commissioners.

The Dutchman therefore recovered his 3^e position at the expense of Norris, who finished 4^eahead of teammate Oscar Piastri, 5^e. “The battle was tough”recognized Verstappen, who did not wish to comment on his championship rival’s penalty. “I did everything I could to keep [Norris] behind me, but in the end, a podium is an excellent result”he also said, the day after his victory in the sprint race.

“The way the stewards interfered with this beautiful motorsport was inappropriate because both cars went off the track, so both cars gained an advantage (…) for us there is no doubt that the maneuver was correct »reacted, for his part in the evening, the manager of McLaren Andrea Stella, interviewed by the Sky Sports channel. “It’s a shame because it cost us a podium, it cost us a race where we remained patient after being pushed on the first lap, at the first corner”he also railed, referring to a similar maneuver by Verstappen on Norris at the start of the race and for which the Dutchman was not sanctioned.

The Red Bull driver is now 57 points ahead of Norris while 146 points still remain to be distributed until the last round of the season, in Abu Dhabi at the beginning of December.

Intense fight for constructors’ title

Among the French Alpine, Esteban Ocon crossed the finish line in 18th position. His teammate Pierre Gasly, who had a solid chance of scoring points this weekend thanks to his 6^e place on the grid, ultimately finished 12^ethe fault of a failed pit stop then a penalty.

For the final marathon of six rounds in eight weeks, the majority of teams arrived in Austin with improvements to their cars, like Red Bull, which has been in difficulty since this summer and is seeking to reduce the gap with McLaren, took the lead in the constructors’ world championship in mid-September.

If the performances of Verstappen, winner of the sprint race on Saturday, seemed to have provided initial reassuring answers to the reigning champion team, on Sunday, the three-time world champion never managed to fight for victory. His teammate Sergio Pérez once again competed in an anonymous race. The Mexican finished 7^e after leaving 10^e. He finished behind the Briton George Russell (Mercedes), 6^e.

With two drivers in the Top 5, McLaren still had a good Sunday in its fight for the constructors’ title with Red Bull, and maintained a lead of 40 units over the Austrian team. Red Bull can hope to catch up next weekend in Mexico, so as not to let McLaren escape definitively and above all not to be overtaken by Ferrari, which is only eight points behind the red bull team.