To everyone's surprise, Scuderia Ferrari dominated the United States Grand Prix, while Lando Norris and Max Verstappen, considered favorites, could only fight for third place.
Charles Leclerc perfectly identified the "small door" offered by Lando Norris and Max Verstappen at the start, and starting from fourth position, he immediately took the lead. His compatriot, Lewis Hamilton, also made a lightning start, moving up from the last row to 12th (!!) place in a few corners, but as fast as he was, his fate caught up with him just as quickly... The Briton slid into the gravel in the same spot as George Russell during yesterday's qualifying session, and was therefore forced to retire from the rest of the race. The safety car came out, but even with the safety car's departure, the main situation did not change: Leclerc, Max Verstappen, and Carlos Sainz were still in the lead. Behind them, the two McLarens, Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri, followed. Then there was a spin from Guanyu Zhou, and some battles at the back of the field, but by then it was sadly already clear that we wouldn't be marking the 2024 United States Grand Prix as one of the races of the decade.
After the pit stops, the leading pack shifted somewhat, and at that point, the two Scuderia Ferrari cars dominated the race, with Verstappen battling behind on the hard tires. We saw many different strategies and tactics, but unfortunately, far fewer motorsport-like moments. We could have expected Norris, who was quickly making his comeback, to light a fire in the Austin desert, as well as Liam Lawson, who performed brilliantly in his comeback race. The intensity of the race was well illustrated by the fact that the broadcast showed, for ten consecutive laps, nothing but Norris chasing Verstappen—for the simple reason that nothing else was happening.
Eventually, Norris managed to swap places, but in an irregular manner, so that US Grand Prix winner Charles Leclerc and second-placed Carlos Sainz saw Max Verstappen eventually finish third.
