Charles Leclerc leads a strong Ferrari 1-2 at the United States grand prix, whilst a penalty for Norris causes him to finish behind Verstappen.
The start saw Norris get off the line well, but Verstappen was still putting him under a lot of pressure. Coming into turn 1, Norris left enough of a gap to allow Verstappen get along side, and with the two running wide, it allowed Charles Leclerc to pass both of them, and along with having overtaken Sainz, he gained first place.
Lewis Hamilton spun at the penultimate corner on lap 3, and with his car beached in the gravel, it brought out F1’s first safety car since the Canadian Grand Prix, neutralising the race with Leclerc in first, Verstappen second, Sainz third and Norris fourth.
Once the restart took place, it became quickly evident that Ferrari was the car to beat today, and Verstappen was falling away from Leclerc, whilst Norris was falling away from Sainz.
Carlos Sainz was initially hunting down Verstappen, though he encountered an issue that saw him lose power coming out of corners, and reported that his car smelled a lot like fuel. Whilst such a situation could have potentially been race ending, the team were able to figure out a solution and the Spaniard was able to continue.
The race was rather processional in the early portions of the race, with Circuit of the Americas demanding drivers to be cautious with their tyre management. The race wasn’t without some incidents in the early stages though, such as Zhou spinning at turn 1 on lap 10, whilst George Russell received a penalty on lap 16 for forcing Bottas wide at turn 12 when overtaking him.
Tyres were looking as though they would last longer than was initially expected, and many of the teams towards the front opted to go for a one stop strategy. Sainz would be the first to pit out of those at the front on lap 22, and would ultimately gain enough of an undercut to pass Verstappen when he came in a few laps later, whilst Leclerc, who had a big enough margin to not have to worry about any undercuts, came into the pits on lap 26.
Norris was looking to extend his stint on the medium tyres, and was putting in a good shift on old tyres. When he did eventually pit on lap 32, he had a significant tyre offset to the drivers ahead of him.
Pierre Gasly would be the next driver to receive a penalty in this race, with the stewards having deemed him to have gained an advantage whilst leaving the track after overtaking Alex Albon.
Lando Norris was flying on his new set of tyres, whilst Verstappen was very unhappy with his. The way the race was going, it looked like it was only a matter of time before the McLaren driver overtook his championship rival.
Norris reached the back of Verstappen by lap 44, and as is often the case in F1, overtaking the car ahead proved to be a lot harder than passing them.
Verstappen put in a formidable defence against Norris, and every lap the McLaren struggled to even pull alongside the reigning world champion. Eventually, Norris managed to get a good enough exit out of turn 11, and used the DRS to pull along to the outside of turn 12. However, once the pair reached the corner, they both ran wide, and Norris came out ahead. The stewards deemed him to have not been ahead at the apex, and since Norris didn’t relinquish the position, he was given a 5 second penalty, and would ultimately finish the race behind Verstappen as a result.
Leclerc’s lead never looked in doubt after the first lap, and Ferrari’s 1-2 was their first since this year’s Australian Grand Prix, and their first in the USA since 2006.
The next race is the Mexican Grand Prix, and will take place in one week’s time.
