Charles Leclerc and Ferrari Surprise in Dominance at COTA in 2024 United States Grand Prix

Race winner Charles Leclerc of Monaco and Ferrari, Second placed Carlos Sainz of Spain and Ferrari and Max Verstappen of the Netherlands and Oracle Red Bull Racing celebrate on the podium after the F1 Grand Prix of United States at Circuit of The Americas on October 20, 2024 in Austin, Texas. (Photo by Mark Sutton/Getty Images)

DEL VALLE, Texas – Lando Norris’ dominant cruise to victory on the streets of Singapore for McLaren gained him some ground in the title fight against the Red Bull of Max Verstappen. Still, with a return to permanent road courses on the schedule (outside of Las Vegas), a return to the Circuit of the Americas could make it a three-way fight between the McLaren duo of Norris and Oscar Piastri against Verstappen and the Ferrari of Charles Leclerc and Carlos Sainz to end the season.

The 3.427-mile-long circuit just outside of Austin city limits has been the permanent course home for Formula 1 in the United States since it joined the calendar in 2012. It has been mired in troublesome times with figurative and literal bumpy roads but has entered some renaissance following the COVID-19 pandemic. Even with the addition of the Miami and Las Vegas Grand Prix events, it has been working to be the centerpiece of F1’s American market.

The 2024 USGP weekend marks the return of the Sprint Weekend Schedule, which means only one practice followed by Sprint Qualifying on Friday, then the Sprint Race and Grand Prix Qualifying follow on Saturday. Red Bull’s upgrades proved beneficial during Sprint Qualifying, which saw Verstappen return to the top of the qualifying leaderboard to grab pole position for the Sprint Race, which he then dominated the next day ahead of Sainz and Norris. In qualifying, it was set up to be a thrilling battle for the top time between Norris and Verstappen before the Mercedes of George Russell crashed in Turn 19, negating the final timed runs and giving Norris pole position with Verstappen lining up alongside.

Norris and Verstappen are at the top of the field in qualifying, with Sainz and Leclerc’s Ferraris behind. Russell’s crash in qualifying had his Mercedes team working on his car the night, breaking parc ferme, resulting in him starting from pit lane. Meanwhile, Liam Lawson, taking over for Daniel Ricciardo at Visa Cash App RB, took a 60-place grid penalty after his team changed components on the engine. At the same time, Kick Sauber’s Zhou Guanyu received a 5-place grid penalty.

A warm race day greeted teams and drivers as the field gridded for pre-race festivities, making tire strategy a choice between a one or two-stop race with Pirelli expecting two pit stops. When tire covers were removed, it revealed a majority of the grid would be starting on the Medium compound tires while the Mercedes duo of Russell and Lewis Hamilton starting at the back of the grid would be joined with the Aston Martin of Lance Stroll, Williams of Franco Colapinto and the RB of Lawson starting on the Hard compound tires.

Norris led the field for the formation lap and lined back on the grid, waiting for the race to start. The lights went out, and the field set off, first making the 134-foot climb to Turn 1. Norris got a better start. However, Verstappen had his Red Bull alongside the McLaren going into Turn 1. The championship leader went deep into the first corner, pushing both onto the run-off, allowing Leclerc to sneak past in his Ferrari. At the same time, Norris fell behind both Verstappen and the other Ferrari of Sainz.

Charles Leclerc of Monaco driving the (16) Ferrari SF-24 leads Max Verstappen of the Netherlands driving the (1) Oracle Red Bull Racing RB20 on track during the F1 Grand Prix of United States at Circuit of The Americas on October 20, 2024 in Austin, Texas. (Photo by Rudy Carezzevoli/Getty Images)

Behind the leaders in the congestion of the tight first corner, the Alpine of Esteban Ocon and Williams of Alex Albon tangled but got back rolling again as traffic cleared. Up front, Sainz was on the tail of Verstappen, trying to bring his Ferrari into second while Leclerc started to scamper off into the distance.

Hamilton, who had started in the back of the field following an uncharacteristic qualifying session, improved to 12th. Still, his day was soon over on the third lap as he spun off track in the same corner as his teammate did the day before in Turn 19, beaching his car and ending his day early. The Safety Car was called out to the track, marking the first time since the Canadian Grand Prix the field has been neutralized as Leclerc led Verstappen, Sainz, Norris and Piastri.

Once the stricken Mercedes was cleared, the race resumed with Leclerc leading, but Verstappen was right on his tail, ready to pounce. However, as the lap went on, Leclerc started to pull out his advantage over the field and began to drive away. Behind the leaders, Lawson had been making incredible progress as he took 12th from Stroll while Russell was beginning to make up places from starting on pit lane.

Hints of trouble began to arise when Sainz radioed his Ferrari pit wall, wondering why he was smelling fuel in his car and losing power while falling back behind Verstappen and into the clutches of Norris behind. But with the issue seemingly fixed, Sainz was able to get back going, thanks to his Ferrari pit wall. 

While many battles were starting to form all along the track, Leclerc was having an almost casual Sunday drive as the Red Bull started to get smaller and smaller in his mirrors. However, Verstappen may have been facing some issues, as on lap 14, Red Bull radioed him detecting a minor issue. Russell, meanwhile, had been making grounds, having made it past Colapinto for 13th, but received a five-second penalty after forcing the Kick Sauber off-track during a battle, prompting a rare message from Mercedes team principal Toto Wolff exclaiming it was a “total joke” for the penalty.

The pit stop window for those who started on the Medium tires opened as Yuki Tsunoda’s Visa Cash App RB and Kevin Magnussen’s Haas dived down the pits, hoping to work an undercut on Pierre Gasly’s Alpine. Alpine pitted their driver a lap later, and the Haas appeared ahead. The leaders soon followed into the pits as Ferrari called Sainz to pit first on Lap 22, hoping to undercut Verstappen while Norris and Leclerc were radioing their respective pit walls for how they would like to proceed.

On the 25th circuit, Red Bull called Verstappen in; they lost second due to the undercut’s power and Ferrari’s strategy call to pit Sainz early. Leclerc followed into the pits while McLaren ran Norris and Piastri long, again taking control of the race. Further back, a battle was brewing between Stroll, Albon, and Gasly, who had lost out during his pit cycle, and there were close battles. However, Gasly went outside the track limits to pass Albon during that battle and was swiftly granted a five-second penalty for that move.

Oscar Piastri (81) in his McLaren Racing MCL38 mid-race during the 2024 United States Grand Prix at the Circuit of the Americas (John Arndt)

As the race clicked on, McLaren brought both Norris and Piastri into the pits on subsequent laps, giving Norris an ample opportunity to give chase to his title rival Verstappen for a podium spot. At the same time, Russell, Lawson and Colapinto had all yet to pit but were bound to pit shortly, hoping for a good points day. Meanwhile, the hard tires started to fall off for Verstappen as Norris began to close in for the podium spot.

Battles were forming across the board as Tsunoda went from wondering how his teammate made it back on track ahead of him to a spin-out in Turn 1 while Russell and Colapinto had been showing strength on their fresh tires, with the Williams striving for the fastest lap.

However, all eyes turned to the two title rivals as Norris was closing in closer and closer to Verstappen. A mighty fight was put on as Verstappen was tasked with defending the podium with older tires while the faster McLaren was hoping to make inroads in the championship battle. Norris was getting tantalizing closer and closer to his rival but never could get a good enough opening to complete the pass.

Charles Leclerc (16) leading the 2024 United States Grand Prix in his Scuderia Ferrari SF-24 at the Circuit of the Americas (John Arndt)

However, it all came to a head as Norris finally got alongside on lap 52 in Turn 12; however, both went off-track, and Norris took position while off-track. According to the rules, Norris was put under investigation and soon was handed a five-second penalty on the last lap for the move.

But up ahead, the perfect day for Ferrari turned into a 1-2 victory for the Scuderia as Charles Leclerc took the checkered flag ahead of Carlos Sainz, marking their first 1-2 in the United States since 2006. Max Verstappen made it back to the podium thanks to the penalty from Norris, who finished ahead of Piastri to close out the top five. Russell made an almost-driver-of-the-day worthy drive, placing sixth ahead of Sergio Perez’s Red Bull and the Haas of Nico Hulkenberg. 

Spectator cheers on Max Verstappen (1) driving past during the latter stages of the 2024 United States Grand Prix at the Circuit of the Americas (John Arndt)

Rounding out the Top 10 were a pair of impressive drives from the two young rookies, Lawson and Colapinto. Both took advantage of tire strategy late in the race, while the Williams came tantalizingly close to the Fastest Lap Point before the Alpine of Esteban Ocon snatched it on the final lap.

Magnussen and Gasly finished outside the points, both losing out after the day started promising for both, ahead of Fernando Alonso’s Aston Martin. Tsunoda led Stroll, Albon, Bottas, Ocon, and Zhou as those running at the finish, while Hamilton was the only driver to retire and not finish the race.

The championship battle now heads to Mexico City at the Autódromo Hermanos Rodríguez for the Mexico City Grand Prix. The battle is closing in as a resurgent Ferrari team looks to bring Charles Leclerc closer to Lando Norris and Max Verstappen in what could be a bring the title down to the wire as the season comes closer and closer to a close.