Charles Leclerc secured Ferrari’s first United States Grand Prix victory since 2018 with a dominant performance on Sunday. Meanwhile, Red Bull’s Max Verstappen reinforced his lead in the F1 season championship by finishing third, following a late five-second penalty assessed to McLaren’s Lando Norris.
Norris, who was initially third, received the penalty for leaving the track to overtake Verstappen in the closing laps. This incident occurred after a fierce battle for the final podium position, with Verstappen defending his place aggressively.
Verstappen expressed his dissatisfaction after the race, stating, “It was a tough battle. I tried to do everything I could to keep him behind. To be on the podium is a good result.” He added, “I have my opinion (on the penalty). I’ll let the stewards do their thing.”
As a result of the penalty, Norris’ fourth-place finish may significantly impact his championship chase. Verstappen increased his lead over Norris in the standings from 54 points to 57, with five grand prix and two sprint races remaining.
Leclerc’s victory marked his third win of the season, and Ferrari achieved a 1-2 finish with teammate Carlos Sainz finishing in second place. The last Ferrari victory at the Circuit of the Americas was by Kimi Raikkonen in 2018. Leclerc remarked, “We couldn’t have dreamed for better. It was a bit of a lonely race, but a good kind of lonely.”
The more intense competition was evident in the battles occurring behind Leclerc and Sainz. Verstappen and Norris had an intense confrontation from the race’s outset, continuing to fight over track position in the final laps.
Verstappen has not secured a victory since June, while Norris has steadily reduced his points deficit in the championship. However, Verstappen extended his lead by also winning Saturday’s sprint race.
Norris left Austin aware that he had missed a critical opportunity to gain points, having started the race from pole position. The initial skirmish saw both drivers running wide, allowing Leclerc to capitalize and take the lead.
Norris accused Verstappen of forcing him off the track, which initiated another round of conflict between the two later in the race. Verstappen said he “enjoyed the battle today” and had little sympathy for Norris’s loss of the podium. He recalled a similar incident in 2017 that led to his disqualification from a podium finish in Austin.
Verstappen noted, “I just tried to remain calm and bring the car to the end,” emphasizing his focus during the race. Norris, meanwhile, acknowledged his efforts to maintain pace and distance from Verstappen in order to negate the penalty but ultimately fell short, finishing only 4.1 seconds ahead.
“He defends by going off-track, he overtakes by going off-track. But I’m not going to complain. Max drove well and he defended well; we had a good race together. But the rules are the rules,” Norris said.
McLaren’s team principal, Andre Stella, voiced frustration over the penalty, claiming it disrupted an exciting competition, stating, “Both cars went off track so both cars gained an advantage. It’s a shame because it cost us a podium.”
Lewis Hamilton faced a disappointing race weekend, retiring after just two laps. He had started from 17th due to poor qualifying and managed to climb to 12th before spinning into the gravel. This marked the first occasion where the seven-time champion failed to finish a race in the U.S., having previously been disqualified from a second-place finish in 2023 due to a postrace inspection failure.
While Hamilton’s performance was subpar, teammate George Russell had a strong showing, recovering from a pit lane start due to a qualifying crash to finish sixth. “Thanks to everyone for fixing the car. Drinks on me tonight,” Russell said over the team radio.
The 1-2 finish for Ferrari has narrowed the gap in the team constructors’ championship, reducing their deficit to Red Bull to eight points and trailing McLaren by 48 points. Leclerc commented, “We are still targeting the (team) title. It’s an optimistic goal, but that’s what we’re here for.”
