Introduction
Charles Leclerc took a flawless victory in the 2024 Formula 1 United States Grand Prix, the Monegasque leading Ferrari teammate Carlos Sainz in a one-two after storming through into the lead on the opening lap, while a tense late-race battle between Lando Norris and Max Verstappen saw Norris receive a penalty and drop to fourth behind his title rival.
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Pole-sitter Norris initially looked to have held the lead off the line when the lights went out for the 56-lap encounter, but the McLaren went side-by-side with Verstappen into the first corner, which led to the Briton being pushed wide, allowing Leclerc to sneak through and snatch P1.
From there, the Monegasque enjoyed an unchallenged drive to victory, while teammate Sainz benefitted from an undercut to put himself into second place ahead of Verstappen following his pit stop, the Spaniard putting in a solid drive to cross the line 8.5s back from Leclerc.
As the race entered into its final stages, Norris overtook Verstappen for P3 following a fiercely close duel between the championship rivals – but the nature of the move prompted discussion over the radio, with Verstappen and Red Bull claiming that Norris had overtaken outside of the track limits.
This ultimately saw Norris receive a five-second time penalty for leaving the track and gaining an advantage, dropping him down from third to fourth and promoting Verstappen to the final podium position.
[bsa_pro_ad_space id=41]Oscar Piastri took fifth behind his McLaren teammate, while George Russell worked his way up to sixth in the Mercedes after starting from the pit lane. Sergio Perez added to Red Bull’s points tally in seventh, ahead of Haas’s Nico Hulkenberg in eighth.
Liam Lawson scored two points by finishing P9 on his first weekend back on the grid for RB, while Franco Colapinto was an impressive P10 for Williams. Kevin Magnussen missed out in P11 for Haas, with Alpine’s Pierre Gasly behind in P12 from Fernando Alonso in P13 for Aston Martin.
Yuki Tsunoda slotted into 14th for RB, having dropped backwards following a spin, while Aston Martin’s Lance Stroll was 15th in front of Alex Albon in 16th, a disappointing result for the Williams driver on his 100th race start.
The Kick Saubers of Valtteri Bottas and Zhou Guanyu again missed out on breaking their points duck down in P17 and P19, with the Alpine of Esteban Ocon – who claimed the fastest lap late on to take a point away from previous holder Colapinto – sandwiched between them in P18.
Lewis Hamilton, meanwhile, was the sole retiree after spinning off track early in the race and beaching his Mercedes in the gravel.
Mario Isola, Motorsport Director, Pirelli:
First, congratulations to Ferrari for an excellent one-two finish in a country that has always been very important for the Prancing Horse. On the tyre front, it was an exciting Sunday because of the technical insights it provided. Based on previous data and from what we learned in yesterday’s Sprint, when the Medium demonstrated a very high wear rate, combined with what we knew from this race last year, a one-stop did not seem viable. Yet, it proved to be the winning strategy and almost the only one adopted by the field. As for the behaviour of the Medium, the Safety Car following Hamilton going off the track in the early stages meant that those who had started on this compound could extend their stint, while it also meant the tyres were put under less stress during the crucial early stages when the cars are running with a heavy fuel load.
There were two other elements to consider: the significant evolution of the track condition, with much of it resurfaced leading to a major reduction in graining compared to what we saw in the Sprint and then the changes the teams were able to make to their set-up, based on what they learned yesterday.
The day on the track:
Fifteen drivers opted to start on the Medium tyre, with the Sauber drivers, Bottas and Zhou, going with a used set. Five others, Hamilton and Russell in the Mercedes, Stroll (Aston Martin), Colapinto (Williams) and Lawson (Racing Bulls) lined up on Hard tyres. As expected, the Soft was not considered, although Ocon (Alpine) fitted them right at the very end to deprive Colapinto in the Williams of picking up the point for the race’s fastest lap, a mission successfully accomplished by the Alpine driver.
The one-stop was the preferred strategy for the vast majority of drivers. Apart from the previously mentioned Ocon, only Zhou and Magnussen (Haas) made two planned stops, while Albon (Williams) had to stop in the early stages to take on a second set of Mediums.
Russell and Bottas both drove the longest stints of all, driving 40 laps on the Hard, the Englishman on his first stint, the Finn on his second. Piastri, who went 32 laps in the McLaren, completed the longest run on the Medium Tyre.
2024 Formula 1 United States Grand Prix Race Results
| Pos | No | Driver | Country | Team | Time | Points | Overall |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1. | 16 | Charles Leclerc | Monaco | Scuderia Ferrari | 1:35:09.639 | 25 | 275 |
| 2. | 55 | Carlos Sainz | Spain | Scuderia Ferrari | +8.562s | 18 | 215 |
| 3. | 1 | Max Verstappen | Netherlands | Red Bull Racing | +19.412s | 15 | 354 |
| 4. | 4 | Lando Norris | Great Britain | Mclaren Racing | +20.354s | 12 | 297 |
| 5. | 81 | Oscar Piastri | Australia | McLaren Racing | +21.921s | 10 | 247 |
| 6. | 63 | George Russell | Great Britain | Mercedes-AMG Petronas | +56.295s | 8 | 167 |
| 7. | 11 | Sergio Perez | Mexico | Red Bull Racing | +59.072s | 6 | 150 |
| 8. | 27 | Nico Hulkenberg | Germany | Haas F1 Team | +62.957s | 4 | 29 |
| 9. | 30 | Liam Lawson | New Zealand | Visa Cash App F1 Team | +70.563s | 2 | 2 |
| 10. | 43 | Franco Colapinto | Argentina | Williams Racing | +71.979s | 1 | 5 |
| 11. | 20 | Kevin Magnussen | Denmark | Haas F1 Team | +71.979s | 0 | 8 |
| 12. | 10 | Pierre Gasly | France | Alpine F1 Team | +90.558s | 0 | 8 |
| 13. | 14 | Fernando Alonso | Spain | Aston Martin F1 Team | +1 lap | 0 | 62 |
| 14. | 22 | Yuki Tsunoda | Japan | Visa Cash App F1 Team | +1 lap | 0 | 22 |
| 15. | 18 | Lance Stroll | Canada | Aston Martin F1 Team | +1 lap | 0 | 24 |
| 16. | 23 | Alexander Albon | Thailand | Williams Racing | DNF | 0 | 12 |
| 17. | 77 | Valtteri Bottas | Finland | Kick Sauber F1 Team | +1 lap | 0 | 0 |
| 18. | 31 | Esteban Ocon | France | Alpine F1 Team | +1 lap | 0 | 5 |
| 19. | 24 | Zhou Guanyu | China | Kick Sauber F1 Team | +1 lap | 0 | 0 |
| 20. | 44 | Lewis Hamilton | Great Britain | Mercedes-AMG Petronas | DNF | 0 | 177 |
2024 Constructor Standings
| Pos | Team | Points |
|---|---|---|
| 1. | McLaren Racing | 666 |
| 2. | Scuderia Ferrari | 652 |
| 3. | Red Bull Racing | 589 |
| 4. | Mercedes-AMG Petronas | 468 |
| 5. | Aston Martin F1 Team | 94 |
| 6. | Alpine F1 Team | 65 |
| 7. | Haas F1 Team | 58 |
| 8. | Visa Cash App F1 Team | 46 |
| 9. | Williams Racing | 17 |
| 10. | Kick Sauber F1 Team | 4 |
Here are the team-by-team highlights:
McLaren Racing
Hear from McLaren Formula 1 drivers Lando Norris, Oscar Piastri, and Team Principal Andrea Stella after the 2024 Formula 1 United States Grand Prix.
[bsa_pro_ad_space id=41]Lando drops back to P4 after the first corner of Lap 1, while Oscar retains his position in P5. On Lap 3, a Safety Car is deployed following Hamilton going off into the gravel. Both Lando and Oscar get away cleanly after the Safety Car comes in. Lando pits on Lap 31 for a set of Hard tyres and emerges behind Verstappen. One lap later, Oscar also boxes for the Hard compound. The pit stops shake out with Lando in P4 and Oscar in P5. Steadily, Lando closes the gap to Verstappen, so by Lap 43, he is within a second. The battle for P3 is on, and at Turn 12 on Lap 52, Lando overtakes Verstappen. Before the Chequered Flag falls, Lando is handed a 5-second penalty, meaning he finishes in P4. Oscar crosses the line a few seconds later in P5.
Lando Norris
A frustrating afternoon. Of course, starting first and finishing fourth is not what we hoped, but it was a challenging field with the Ferraris looking strong all weekend. I was confident in a podium finish today, but unfortunately, we lost it because of a decision out of our hands. So, it is a tough weekend, and we have work to do. We’ll debrief as a team and return to Mexico next weekend to secure stronger points in our championship push.
Oscar Piastri
It was a bit of a lonely afternoon, to be honest, starting and finishing in P5. On the positive side, we scored some decent points, which is vital in the Constructors’ Championship fight. We just didn’t quite have the Ferrari pace today. The field is still extremely tight, and this weekend showed that. We’ll be aiming to come back stronger in Mexico.
Andrea Stella
As we anticipated, it was a very tight race in Austin, with three different teams in condition to win.
It’s a shame that Lando’s race was affected initially by Max pushing him off in Turn 1, and then, once the hard job of recovering the position on Max was done, thanks to good pace and strategy, he lost the podium because of a penalty we don’t understand nor agree with. We feel this was an inappropriate way to change the result of a race.
On Oscar’s side, a very well-executed race by him and the team, leading to an important haul of points. Now we reset, turn the page and focus on the next race.
Red Bull Racing
Max Verstappen earned a podium place at the 2024 Formula 1 United States Grand Prix around the Circuit of The Americas in Austin to extend his 2024 FIA Formula One World Championship lead from McLaren’s Lando Norris.
[bsa_pro_ad_space id=41]The Oracle Red Bull Racing driver drove superbly to get everything out of his car, and he now leads Norris by 57 points, with five races left, and teammate Sergio Pérez finished seventh place.
Max Verstappen, Driver, Red Bull Racing
Today wasn’t the best for us, but the most important thing is that we gained a lead in the championship, which means a lot for the team. I tried everything I could, but we didn’t have the pace we had had over the last few days and, unfortunately, couldn’t fight the Ferraris on track. We had some balance issues; it was difficult to turn and break, and I couldn’t attack the corners because of the tyres. The battle with Lando at the end was fantastic as we were racing hard, but it was a lot of fun. You cannot overtake outside the white line, and I have lost a podium here before overtaking outside the track, so that is unfortunate, but it is the rules. We need to analyse a bit more why we didn’t have the same pace as yesterday, as we expected to be more competitive, which is a shame. However, this weekend, we have made some positive steps and have had flashes where it looked like we were returning to the front, so we are going in the right direction. It is still insufficient, but we will keep improving the car where we can. As we said, ultimately, the fact that we have extended the gap is the biggest thing for us.
Sergio Pérez, Driver, Red Bull Racing:
I lost quite a bit of time getting stuck behind the midfield pack at the beginning and the people who were on the hard seemed to have the best strategy, therefore I lost position to George in the end. It was pretty strange towards the end of the first stint. My pace was better, but I suffered severely from front pitching, and the ride was quite bad. Generally, it then got a bit worse, and I thought it was maybe that tyre, but then I fitted the hard, and it was the same issue and pace. I was struggling with a bit of car balance today, and it was awkward to drive. The upgrade seems to help us quite a bit in the high speed, and I did not have the complete upgrade this weekend, so that’s part of it, and the rest is car balance. I am unsure how much the total package would have put us back into contention. We lacked pace the whole weekend; it has not been straightforward, and we have plenty of work to do.
I am looking forward to next week, but we need to make sure we learn from Austin to make sure Mexico is more successful.
CHRISTIAN HORNER, CEO and Team Principal
Firstly, congratulations to Ferrari; they drove a great race from the get-go, which was a well-deserved win for them. We lost pace compared to yesterday, so we need to take a look at it and understand it. We got front-limited rather than rear-limited. It changed around, and I am unsure whether that was temperature or a set-up change we made after the Sprint. We will, as I say, need to look into it. Max drove brilliantly today I thought, he defended well. There was obviously an issue at the end of the race, but the rules are very clear about that situation, and the stewards acted quickly, as all teams have been asking of them.
All in all there are a lot of positives to take from today, the Team did a good job at turning things around from Singapore but we still have a long way to go. But to outscore our main rival in the Drivers Championship by five points over the weekend, that’s okay! Now we look to Mexico, Checo’s home race, where we hope to build on what we have achieved here and continue to push in the right direction.
Scuderia Ferrari
A majestic performance from start to finish would be an excellent way to sum up Scuderia Ferrari HP’s 2024 Formula 1 United States Grand Prix. Charles Leclerc took command of the race from the start and controlled it to the end, while Carlos Sainz did not have too much of a struggle to move up to second place, running an aggressive strategy, combined with the SF-24s excellent tyre management properties.
[bsa_pro_ad_space id=41]An impeccable job from the drivers, mechanics, engineers and strategists and the team back in Maranello delivered the Scuderia’s 87th one-two finish, the second this season after Australia and the third with this driver pairing. Between today’s race and the Sprint, the team picked up 55 points, a record for the team. This means that Scuderia Ferrari HP still can fight for the constructors’ title, currently 54 points behind McLaren and only eight behind Red Bull. It is Ferrari’s 247th Formula 1 win, Leclerc’s eighth, which keeps him third in the Drivers’ standings, with Carlos still fifth after securing his sixth podium finish of the season.
Carlos Sainz #55
This was the perfect weekend for the team, so mega congrats to everyone here and at home. My race was compromised at the start as I got blocked by Lando (Norris) and Max (Verstappen) fighting in front of me, which meant I did the first stint in Max’s dirty air. We had an issue, and for some laps, I was concerned, but we managed to address it and used our pace to undercut Max and finish in P2.
It’s great to be able to go on the attack with this car, and we want to fight until the last race for the Constructors’ Championship. We must continue working like this for the remaining races, starting in Mexico City next week.
Charles Leclerc #16
Bringing home a victory at the start of this triple-header feels good. The whole team did a fantastic job to make this happen, and a 1-2 score brings us a good amount of points in the fight for the constructors’ title. It’s an optimistic target, but we will never stop dreaming until it is done.
I had a good start, leveraging that Max (Verstappen) pushed hard into turn 1, and Lando (Norris) defended from him. I lined up my exit and overtook both of them. After that, I knew it would be a matter of taking good care of my tyres and just bringing it home.
Our pace was strong from the first lap onwards, and I felt I could pull away from Max quite comfortably. We’ve made a perfect step in terms of our race trim, and hopefully, we will keep it up in the next few races. We will do everything to maximise our results, and at the end of the year, we will do the maths and see where we stand.
Frédéric Vasseur – Team Principal
It was the perfect Sunday. We did a very good job this weekend, scoring many points, but we must stay focused and not think we are champions just because of today’s result. Our pace was always under control, as was the strategy with both drivers and when you have the slight advantage we had today, it is much easier to do a good job. The car has improved a lot in terms of driveability compared to where we were a few races ago, which has contributed to the result.
Charles had a perfect start and managed the tyres well, while with Carlos, we had to pit him earlier than planned in order to undercut Max (Verstappen). Once he was in free air, he was able to set his pace, and he was able to secure second place.
Next week in Mexico will be a completely different story with the altitude making it a one-off race, adding to the challenge, where you must focus a lot on cooling. Just because you are quick in Austin doesn’t mean you will be fast in Mexico. This one-two is excellent motivation for next week. As for the championship, we are taking it one race at a time, but plenty of points are still available, including those from the Sprints, so everything is still possible. Now we are entirely focussed on Mexico, hoping to continue this positive trend.
Mercedes-AMG Petronas F1 Team
George Russell finished sixth, whilst Lewis Hamilton retired from the 2024 Formula 1 United States Grand Prix. Lewis lined up P17 on the grid with George starting from the pit lane after the team had to work through the night to repair his car following Saturday’s Qualifying crash. Lewis made a strong start and gained five positions into turn one. Unfortunately, his race ended early as a gust of wind at turn 19 caught him out and left him beached in the gravel.
[bsa_pro_ad_space id=41]Meanwhile, George showed a strong pace on the hard tyre, cycled through the field, and extended his first stint to lap 40. After boxing for the Medium compound and serving a five-second time penalty for forcing another driver off track, he used his fresher rubber to close on Sergio Perez for P6. He passed the Red Bull into turn 12 on the penultimate lap to cap a solid recovery drive.
George Russell
I was pleased with how today went from my side. We didn’t know what the race would bring in terms of opportunities, but going from the pit lane to P6 and finishing ahead of Red Bull meant that we made the best of a difficult situation. We had a good pace throughout, particularly on the Hard compound tyre. We were able to extend that first stint and give ourselves fresher rubber with which to attack in the closing laps.
We will work hard in the coming days to analyse the weekend as a whole. The car can still be tricky at times; Lewis doesn’t end races in the gravel as we saw today. When we find its sweet spot, it is capable of solid performances, but it is difficult to deliver consistently. I think the car had the potential to fight for the podium this weekend, but we need to widen its operating window. We will, therefore, be looking to bounce back next weekend in Mexico.
Lewis Hamilton
I had a great start and thought we were in for a positive race. I was just bringing the tyres in when I had the accident, which was a really strange moment. I wasn’t pushing too hard, but the car bounced a little into turn 19; I lost the back end, and that was that. As I turned in, we measured a large gust of wind, up to 40 kph, which likely didn’t help. George had a similar spin to me yesterday, so we will work hard to analyse both incidents and see what we can learn from them.
I am sorry to the whole team who have worked so hard to bring these updates, but onwards and upwards from here. Hopefully, we can get the car in a better place next week in Mexico. We will all be working incredibly hard to do so.
Toto Wolff, Team Principal & CEO
It has been a tough weekend overall here in Austin. We see that there is pace in the car, as was shown on Friday and with George in the race today, but we are still dealing with its inconsistency. That is not something unique to us, though. Different teams have come into and out of form throughout the season, but it is something we will be working hard to improve over the final five races of the season.
The positive from today was that George was quick throughout and produced a good fightback from his pit lane start. The team in the garage worked hard last night to get the car ready for the race, but we had a large workload to get through as we had to revert to specification. George drove a strong race and was particularly quick on the Hard compound. That enabled us to extend his first stint and ultimately claim P6 in the final few laps. Unfortunately, it was a disappointing day for Lewis. He wasn’t pushing, but a gust of wind, combined with the dirty air from the car ahead, and he lost the car. We need to look at that and what happened with George yesterday to understand why the car reacted like that. Lewis Hamilton is not a driver who loses a car like that on lap two of a race, so there is something there that we need to understand.
Aston Martin F1 Team
Under the Texan sunshine, Fernando classified P13, and Lance finished P15 in the 2024 Formula 1 United States Grand Prix.
[bsa_pro_ad_space id=41]Fernando began the Grand Prix from P7 on Mediums, with Lance opting for Hards for his P13 start. On Lap 3, a Safety Car came out for the first time since the Canadian Grand Prix back in June. The drivers pitted only once each. Fernando came in at the end of Lap 26 for Hards, followed by Lance pitting a lap later for Mediums.
Fernando Alonso
It was a tough race for us today, and we dropped back a few places from our starting position. We outperformed the car’s natural position in Qualifying and knew it would be an uphill battle to stay in the top ten. It’s been a difficult weekend, and we have much to analyse over the next few days to improve for Mexico.
Lance Stroll
We lacked pace compared to the other cars today. I had a bit of a messy restart with a snap at Turn 10, but I think that, even without that snap, the result would have been the same. The car didn’t have the performance for us to fight for positions. We still have work ahead of us to improve this car, and we’ll be pushing hard to make that happen.
Mike Krack, Team Principal:
A very difficult race day. It is really disappointing to come away from the weekend without any points. The midfield is incredibly tight and we were on the wrong side of the competition. We just didn’t have any pace all weekend. We have to learn from days like today, redouble our efforts and put actions in place ahead of next weekend in Mexico.
Visa Cash App F1 Team
Visa Cash App RB’s Liam Lawson banked an impressive ninth in his first 2024 race, while Japanese teammate Yuki Tsunoda ended the day in 14th.
[bsa_pro_ad_space id=41]Liam Lawson
It was a good race; I didn’t expect that to be honest. We had a great first lap, I just went for every little gap and made up some positions. We made a really good step up with the car yesterday, which we hoped would replicate in the race today and thankfully it did. The car was really strong and it did exactly what we hoped it would do. The Hard [tyre] works well for us, and we had good pace too. When I boxed and we got some clean air we were able to keep extending longer than we’d planned and I think for me, doing yesterday’s sprint, I took notes from what others were doing, which really helped. The whole team have put a lot of effort into preparing me for this, a lot of extra hours knowing it was my first weekend back in the car so a big thanks to everyone in the team for making this happen. Mexico is a very different track so we’ll see what we can do there next week.
Yuki Tsunoda
It was a tough and frustrating race today. I started on mediums on a one-stop race, while other drivers had different strategies starting on the hard tyres to keep the first stint longer before pitting for new mediums. We’ll have a look at it to understand if something could have been done better, as well as to get some learnings for the future. Unfortunately, I made a mistake in the second part of the race, where I lost control and spun in Turn 1 and that certainly didn’t help our race. It was a very strange moment and I’m not sure what happened there, so it’s something we’ll definitely need to review. Mexico is close, I’ll come back stronger.
Laurent Mekies – Team Principal
We can be pleased with our team performance here in Austin, with an excellent ninth place finish from Liam on his return, thanks to a very well executed race from last on the grid. He has done a great job all weekend, especially when one considers he has not raced since October last year. He was well prepared, having spent all season with us, working with the team at the factory and at the Grands Prix, so that for this weekend he was pretty much ready from the get-go. Yuki’s pace was also strong all weekend, starting the Sprint from ninth and today from tenth. In the race after a good first stint on the Medium, he did not have much free air in the second stint on the Hards and had to settle behind Gasly before a spin put him further back. Austin marked the start of an intense six race battle to decide the championship positions, not just at the front of the field. With one Haas finishing ahead of us today, they have now overtaken us for sixth place, but we have seen the hierarchy change very often this season. Like most teams, we brought updates here and we’re pleased with how they performed. We think there is still room for improvement with them, and we need to get everything out of our package in the remaining five races. Everyone in Faenza and in Bicester is focused on that, and we are looking forward to a super fight all the way to the end.
Haas F1 Team
MoneyGram Haas F1 Team finished with Nico Hulkenberg eighth and Kevin Magnussen 11th at the 2024 Formula 1 United States Grand Prix, Round 19 of the 2024 World Championship, held Sunday at the Circuit of The Americas.
Hulkenberg took the start from 11th on the grid on Pirelli P Zero Yellow medium tyres – gaining one spot from qualifying due to a penalty for George Russell. The German racer passed Aston Martin’s Fernando Alonso and entered the pits on lap 27, taking on a set of hard white tyres at the stop. Hulkenberg ran a solid second stint to finish in eighth place, leading the midfield battle and adding four more points to MoneyGram Haas F1 Team’s tally, marking the fifth successive race, including Saturday’s Sprint, inside the top 10.
Magnussen started the 56-lap charge from eighth place, also on medium tyres and with an added grid position due to a penalty for Russell, before moving up a spot on the opening lap to hold seventh. The Dane ran a two-stop strategy, coming in on lap 17 for hard tyres, then pitting again on lap 38 for a set of medium rubber. Unfortunately for Magnussen, the two-stop strategy failed to pay dividends, and he finished just outside of the points, in 11th overall, having been overhauled by one-stop rivals.
Kevin Magnussen
Ayao Komatsu, Team Principal
It was a bit of a mixed result, but it was good to get P8 with Nico. He executed a perfect one-stop strategy, and considering the situation, he managed the tyres very well and communicated well. On Kevin’s side, it was almost the opposite as our baseline was a two-stop strategy, and then there was some messy communication towards the end of the race. I feel that we should’ve scored points with both cars today. Although Kevin may have struggled to hang on top of P10, at least he would’ve had a chance. If we had come away from here with P8 and P10, that would’ve been the best result, but unfortunately, only Nico scored today. We got seven points out of the weekend and two ahead of RB, so that’s the positive. We’re now P6 in the Constructors’ Championship with five events to go, and we’re competitive, so we’ll go for more.
Williams Racing
A P10 finish from Franco Colapinto gave the team another point to add to our tally after an excellent drive at the 2024 Formula 1 United States Grand Prix.
[bsa_pro_ad_space id=41]It was yet another mightily impressive drive from the young Argentinian, and hopes are high for that form to be maintained as we journey south of the border for the Mexican Grand Prix next weekend.
Alex Albon
It’s been a tough weekend. I feel like I got slightly pinched on Turn 1, and once I had damage, that was it. It was a race in that I thought we would retire the car, but we were trying to play the long game and likely help Franco with his race. The car was okay, but I feel like I’ve been struggling all weekend, and we just haven’t found the right spot with the Soft tyres. It’s a disappointing result, but it’s only the beginning of the triple header, so hopefully, we can make some changes and come back stronger in Mexico.
Franco Colapinto
Sven Smeets, Sporting Director:
The track temperatures were higher today than the rest of the week, so tyre management would consistently be critical. We decided to split the cars onto different start tyres to increase our chances of getting into the points in the race. Alex started on the Medium but was unfortunately hit in Turn 1 from behind and could not avoid hitting Ocon. We could pit him under the Safety Car to change the front wing, but permanent floor damage meant his race was over before it had started.
Franco started on the Hard tyre and lost some positions after the start. When the first two stoppers pitted and with how the race unravelled, we decided to try and make the one-stop work. A great first long stint kept him in the running for points, and when Magnussen stopped for a second time, we decided to pit Franco for his one and only stop. He just came out in front, and from then onwards, he showed great pace till the end, securing P10 and a valuable point.
We still need to understand our poor performance from yesterday, but with the pace of the race today, we are looking forward to next week’s race in Mexico.
Alpine Racing
Esteban started from P12 on New Mediums and finished P18 with the Fastest Lap of the Grand Prix: Pit Stops on Lap 31 for New Hards and Lap 51 for New Softs. Fastest Lap: 1min 37.330secs.
[bsa_pro_ad_space id=41]Pierre started from P6 on New Mediums and finished P12: Pit Stop on Lap 18 for New Hards. Fastest Lap: 1min 38.311secs.
Esteban Ocon
Unfortunately, today, my race was compromised by Turn 1 after being hit from behind, which caused me to spin, and I fell to the back of the field. I managed to recover a few positions throughout the race. However, we were not in contention for much else after that. At the end of the race, we decided to pit and attempt the Fastest Lap on Softs, which we achieved. We have positives to take from this weekend. The upgrades have shown to be working, especially in Qualifying yesterday, so I look forward to the team continuing to work in this direction and improve the car. Next up is Mexico City; hopefully, we can be in a better position to be in contention for points.
Pierre Gasly
It’s been a frustrating afternoon where we did not fully extract the maximum potential. We had too many sub-optimal situations throughout the race, which is a pity as we started in a perfect position and had much higher ambitions than finishing outside the points. Things slipped away, and we could have managed our race better, which is something we will review for next time. We covered the early pit stop of Magnussen and then had a slow stop, but, generally, we lacked pace on the hard tyre to be in a stronger position. It looks like our rivals are just a bit quicker now, and we must keep understanding our package and extracting everything from it. We have Mexico City next week – a unique track where we have another opportunity to learn and progress.
Oliver Oakes – Team Principal
We can come away from this weekend in Austin with some positives, particularly with how our upgrade performed and converting that into the team’s best-starting position of the season, lining up sixth on the grid. It’s a shame we could not capitalise on our excellent starting position; we struggled in the second stint and need to analyse that. The team has been working incredibly hard on pit stops this season, and there have been many noticeable improvements in recent races. These things happen in racing; we win and lose as a team.
We’re looking forward to returning to Mexico City in a week.
Kick Sauber F1 Team
Stake F1 Team KICK Sauber had a fighting afternoon in Austin as Valtteri Bottas and Zhou Guanyu battled hard in the 2024 Formula 1 United States Grand Prix, with the team’s duo coming home in P17 and P19, respectively. Despite some encouraging signs early on in the race, the event proved frustrating for the team, which can nevertheless look at some improvements in race pace.
[bsa_pro_ad_space id=41]With two more races in the Americas as part of this triple-header, the team will aim to come back fighting in Mexico City next week.
Valtteri Bottas
As a team, we tried everything we could today, converting to a one-stop strategy based on the tyre performance and our competitors’ races. It was right to try, as you never know what may happen later in the race, but it didn’t work out as we had to extend our second stint a bit too long. While we could go the pace of our direct competition very early in the race, which is definitely a positive we can build on, we still lacked pace towards the end of the stints. We’ve stepped forward in race pace but must continue developing the car to address this deficit and improve our future performances.
Zhou Guanyu
Today, I had a really good start and made up quite a few places. The first stint went well, and I gave everything at the safety car restart, knowing the others were on the hard compound. Unfortunately – and I apologise to the team here – I carried too much speed into Turn One, hit a bump at the wrong angle and lost the rear when I tried to attack the cars ahead. After that, the pace was tricky in the second stint, and I experienced some drop-off where we needed to understand what happened – but the first ten laps felt quite promising considering where we’ve been in recent races. Ultimately, it wasn’t enough today, but we’ll keep pushing and returning stronger for the next race.
Alessandro Alunni Bravi, Team Representative
Today‘s race followed a similar pattern to the weekend, and we could not recover any places compared to our start positions. While Valtteri finished in P17 on a one-stop strategy, similar to the top 10 drivers, Zhou’s spin at Turn One on Lap 10 led us to stay on a two-stop strategy for him to benefit from the tyre compound delta. In hindsight, we could have opted for a one-stop strategy immediately after Zhou’s incident and pitted Valtteri a bit later than Lap 16. However, our strategic decisions were ultimately influenced by the team’s race pace, as we observed more degradation than our direct competitors during the stints, especially towards the end. The race outcome is disappointing, and no one on the team is happy with the results; however, we need to keep our motivation high and work hard to find a way back into the mix. We acknowledge the need to continue analysing the causes of our lack of performance and fight hard to go forward.