Ferrari’s Leclerc wins US Grand Prix as Norris, Verstappen clash

Verstappen and Norris are separated by 57 points on the drivers’ championship table after the race, with Leclerc third.

Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc clinched his third Formula One race of the season as he finished ahead of teammate Carlos Sainz to win the United States Grand Prix, while title rivals Lando Norris and Max Verstappen were locked in a controversial finish.

Monaco native Leclerc helped Ferrari finish the race one-two as Spaniard Sainz was placed second, 8.562 seconds behind Leclerc’s winning time of 1:35:09.639 in a memorable race at the Circuit of the Americas in Austin, Texas.

“It wasn’t an easy weekend but I had the confidence in the race,” Leclerc said afterwards.

“We still had the upper hand, we couldn’t have dreamed for better.”

Leclerc had also won the Monaco Grand Prix and Italian Grand Prix this year and sits third in the driver standings behind Max Verstappen and Lando Norris, who tangled late in the race in a sequence that saw Norris receive a substantial penalty.

Norris caught Verstappen and passed him for third, but he left the track to do so. The ensuing five-second penalty he received at the end of the race pushed him behind Verstappen and back to fourth place.

“It’s not an easy decision, it would’ve come sooner,” Norris said. “I tried, he also went off the track. If he goes off the track he goes in too hard and gains an advantage. But I don’t make the rules.”

McLaren’s Lando Norris (right) and Red Bull’s Max Verstappen in action during the closing stages of the race [Kaylee Greenlee Beal/Reuters]

Ferrari ‘just as competitive’

Norris said the race was a “momentum killer” for his title challenge.

Asked by reporters how much of a ‘killer’ it was for the championship, Norris replied: “Quite a bit. It’s a momentum killer.

“But we came in here with our mind open, not expecting to dominate or just win or anything. The fact that Ferrari was so quick today showed they’re just as competitive,” he added.

“Even if I came around turn one in first, I would never have finished first or second and I only could have finished third. But the one guy I need to beat is Max and that’s the guy I didn’t beat today.

“It was a non-successful weekend, all in all. But we gave it a good shot. I tried. It wasn’t good enough and we have work to do and I have work to do myself.”

McLaren continue to lead Red Bull in the constructors’ standings by 40 points, but Ferrari are looming into contention.

Norris needed to beat Verstappen by more than eight points a race weekend on average to have a real chance of becoming champion and the task has only become more difficult with five rounds remaining.

Verstappen – the three-time reigning F1 champion from the Netherlands – remains atop the driver standings, 57 points clear of the UK’s Norris, but his Grand Prix title drought has extended to nine straight races. Verstappen won seven of 10 to start the season.

British F1 icon Lewis Hamilton spun out around Turn 19 and was the only driver not to complete the race.

DRIVER STANDINGS (after 19/24 rounds)

Verstappen’s lead increases to 57 points #F1 #USGP pic.twitter.com/wVXySFRkrX

— Formula 1 (@F1) October 20, 2024