On another planet. Charles Leclerc easily won the United States Grand Prix on Sunday ahead of his Ferrari teammate Carlos Sainz while the championship leader, Max Verstappen, 3rd in the race, took the opportunity to slightly increase his overall lead over his pursuer Lando Norris, finally 4th.
Leclerc can savor since on the Circuit of the Americas in Austin (Texas), he was imperial during the 19th GP (out of 24) of the season, which he dominated head and shoulders.
When the lights went out, the Monegasque, who started 4th on the grid, took advantage of the battle in front of him between polesitter Lando Norris and Verstappen to take the reins of the race from the exit of the first corner.
The Monegasque has never been 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 ahead of the Red Bull of Verstappen, then 2nd, and 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 at the finish .
Like Leclerc, Sainz also showed himself to be opportunistic by achieving a “ 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 laps later.
Norris penalized
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 regained his 3rd position at the expense of Norris, who finished 4th, ahead of his teammate Oscar Piastri, 5th.
“It was a tough battle,” admitted 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 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.
Among the French Alpine, Esteban Ocon crossed the finish line 18th. His teammate Pierre Gasly, who had a solid chance of scoring points this weekend thanks to his 6th place on the grid, ultimately finished 12th, the fault of a missed pit stop and then a penalty.
Ferrari in the wheels of Red Bull
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 7th after starting 10th. He finished behind the Briton George Russell (Mercedes), 6th.
With two drivers in the top-5, McLaren still had a good Sunday in its fight for the constructors’ title with Red Bull, and maintains a lead of 40 units over the Austrian team.
Red Bull will be able 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.
Stroll termine 15e
Quebecer Lance Stroll started in 13th position and was 12th when the safety car intervened following Hamilton’s exit from the track. He himself missed a turn on the restart, slipping to 19th and last position.
Due to Aston Martin’s obvious lack of pace, the 25-year-old Montrealer was never able to get anywhere near the top-10, finishing 15th. His teammate Fernando Alonso, who started seventh, finished 13th.
US GP standings
1. Charles Leclerc (MON/Ferrari) the 308.405 km in 1 h 35:09.639
2. Carlos Sainz Jr (ESP/Ferrari) at 8,562
3. Max Verstappen (NED/Red Bull) à 19.412
4. Lando Norris (GBR/McLaren-Mercedes) at 20.354*
5. Oscar Piastri (AUS/McLaren-Mercedes) at 21.921
6. George Russell (GBR/Mercedes) at 56,295
7. Sergio Perez (MEX/Red Bull) at 59.072
8. Nico Hülkenberg (GER/Haas-Ferrari) at 1:02.957
9. Liam Lawson (NZL/Racing Bulls-Red Bull) à 1:10.563
10. Franco Colapinto (ARG/Williams-Mercedes) at 1:11.979
11. Kevin Magnussen (DEN/Haas-Ferrari) at 1:19.782
12. Pierre Gasly (FRA/Alpine-Renault) at 1:30.558*
13. Fernando Alonso (ESP/Aston Martin-Mercedes) at 1 lap
14. Yuki Tsunoda (JPN/Racing Bulls-Red Bull) à 1 tour*
15. Lance Stroll (CAN/Aston Martin-Mercedes) at 1 lap
16. Alexander Albon (THA/Williams-Mercedes) at 1 lap
17. Valtteri Bottas (FIN/Sauber-Ferrari) at 1 lap
18. Esteban Ocon (FRA/Alpine-Renault) at 1 lap
19. Zhou Guanyu (CHN/Sauber-Ferrari) at 1 lap
* penalized 5 seconds for leaving the track and gaining an advantage
** penalized 5 seconds for forcing a driver to leave the track
Best lap in the race: Esteban Ocon (FRA/Alpine-Renault) 1:37.330 on lap 54 (average: 222.036 km/h)
Abandon
Lewis Hamilton (GBR/Mercedes): spin 3rd lap
Driver rankings
1. Max Verstappen (NED) 354 pts
2. Lando Norris (GBR) 297
3. Charles Leclerc (MON) 275
4. Oscar Piastri (AUS) 247
5. Carlos Sainz Jr (ESP) 215
6. Lewis Hamilton (GBR) 177
7. George Russell (GBR) 167
8. Sergio Pérez (MEX) 150
9. Fernando Alonso (ESP) 62
10. Nico Hulkenberg (GER) 29
11. Lance Stroll (CAN) 24
12. Yuki Tsunoda (JPN) 22
13. Alexander Albon (THA) 12
14. Daniel Ricciardo (AUS) 12
15. Kevin Magnussen (DEN) 8
16. Pierre Gasly (FRA) 8
17. Oliver Bearman (GBR) 7
18. Franco Colapinto (ARG) 5
19. Esteban Ocon (FRA) 5
20. Liam Lawson (NZL) 2
21. Zhou Guanyu (CHN) 0
22. Logan Sargeant (USA) 0
23. Valtteri Bottas (FIN) 0
