Leclerc leads dominant Ferrari one-two in Austin as Norris loses third to Verstappen after penalty

Charles Leclerc took a flawless victory in the United States Grand Prix, the Monegasque leading Ferrari team mate 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.

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 team mate 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 into the final podium position.

Oscar Piastri took fifth behind his McLaren team mate, 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 just 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.

AS IT HAPPENED

After a busy day of action on Saturday – featuring a thrilling return for the Sprint, followed by an eventful qualifying session in which Norris clinched pole – the attentions of the paddock switched to race day at the Circuit of The Americas, with everybody readying themselves for the 56-lap United States Grand Prix.

A few alterations had been made to the starting order since qualifying; Mercedes confirmed that Russell would start from the pit lane after changes were made to his W15 under parc ferme conditions following his heavy Q3 crash, while Lawson lined up at the back due to taking on new power unit components and Zhou was 18th after a five-place grid penalty.

The drivers were greeted by warm and sunny conditions as the start neared and, when the tyre blankets came off as the cars assembled on the grid, it was confirmed that most of the pack had opted for medium rubber, with just the Mercedes duo, Stroll, Colapinto and Lawson starting on the hard.

Just a few minutes later, the lights went out and Norris looked to initially have had the better getaway than Verstappen but, after the title contenders went side-by-side into Turn 1, Norris was pushed wide which ultimately allowed Leclerc to slip through into the lead from Verstappen, while Sainz put himself into third ahead of Norris.

Having looked racy during Saturday, Sainz seemed to be in similar mood as the Spaniard looked to find a way past Verstappen into Turn 12. While the Dutchman had a wide moment, he returned to the track still in front of the Ferrari. Further back, Hamilton had worked his way up to P12 while Ocon had dropped to the back following a first-lap tangle with Albon.

That strong start for Hamilton soon came to an end when the seven-time world champion spun off track and beached his car in the gravel on Lap 3, putting him out of the running at a circuit he has previously won at on five occasions. This triggered the yellow flags to be thrown before the Safety Car was then called out.

As Leclerc led the field around the track behind the Safety Car, Norris was informed by his engineer that the team had repeated his Lap 1 incident with Verstappen. “He’s clearly pushed me out,” the Briton responded, going on to suggest that he had to take avoiding action to prevent a crash.

By Lap 5 it was time to go again and Verstappen looked to be on Leclerc’s tail immediately, while Lawson snatched P12 from Stroll and Russell had moved up to P17, with Ocon and Albon scrapping behind him. Stroll then joined this fight after dropping down following a difficult restart for the Aston Martin.

There were concerns for Sainz when the three-time race winner reported that he was experiencing “no power” in the corners on Lap 9, as well as stating that there was a smell of fuel in the car. After initially losing time to Norris behind, Ferrari seemed to find a fix for the issue which enabled Sainz to remain in third, 1.5s back from Verstappen.

Further back, Lawson had worked his way up to P11 after taking the position from Alonso as the New Zealander looked to make an impression on his first weekend back in the RB – but one driver not facing any such battles was Leclerc, the Monegasque now five seconds ahead of Verstappen in the lead.

Verstappen was still in a solid second, but the reigning world champion was informed on Lap 14 that the team had detected a small issue with the RB20. Meanwhile Russell had made further ground by overtaking Colapinto for 13th – moments before the Briton received a five-second penalty for forcing Bottas off the track during an earlier battle.

This prompted team boss Toto Wolff to make a rare appearance on the radio, branding the punishment a “total joke”. There was better news for Red Bull as Perez picked off Tsunoda for seventh, while Gasly remained in an impressive sixth up ahead for Alpine.

Tsunoda, meanwhile, then faced a feisty challenge from Hulkenberg, the RB and Haas going side-by-side before Tsunoda ultimately peeled into the pits. Magnussen also pitted, prompting Gasly to follow – but the Dane had made the undercut work, having emerged back on track in front.

Up front, the leaders were yet to pit, with Leclerc now eight seconds clear of Verstappen while Sainz held third ahead of the McLaren duo of Norris and Piastri in fourth and fifth. But this all changed on Lap 22 when Sainz made his stop for a set of hard tyres, seemingly trying to undercut Verstappen.

There were plenty of overtakes playing out across the field as Colapinto took P10 from Alonso, one of the grid’s newest arrivals battling with the veteran of the field. Meanwhile the strategy questions remained ahead – Norris was told that he had lower degradation than the cars in front, meaning that he could extend his stint, just as Leclerc warned his engineers that he did not want to be left out too long and face pressure.

Verstappen dived into the pit lane on Lap 25, the Red Bull emerging back into P5 on the hard tyres – putting him behind Sainz, the Ferrari having benefitted from the undercut to get ahead. Leclerc soon pitted from the lead and returned to the track in third, while the McLarens – yet to stop – held first and second.

Elsewhere, an exciting scrap was playing out between Stroll, Albon and Gasly over 13th, 14th and 15th. This marked a change in fortunes for Gasly, the Alpine having earlier been running in the top 10 before losing out after making his pit stop.

There was further trouble for the Frenchman when he found himself under investigation for overtaking Albon outside the track limits. Back at the front, Leclerc was closing in on second-placed Piastri before sweeping past on Lap 31. Soon afterwards, the other papaya car of Norris made a pit stop, returning to the track in P5 some 6.3s behind Verstappen.

With Piastri following suit one tour later – via a stop that was slightly slower than his team mate’s – the Australian emerged back out in fifth place, meaning that the post-pit stops order had now shaken out to Leclerc in first ahead of Sainz, Verstappen, Norris and Piastri. Russell, Lawson and Colapinto – all yet to stop – followed in sixth, seventh and eighth respectively.

Further bad news arrived for Gasly in the form of a five-second time penalty due to leaving the track and gaining an advantage on what was proving to be a busy day for the stewards, with a penalty also following for Tsunoda after overtaking Albon off the track.

“These tyres are just no good, I can't brake, I can't attack anything,” an unhappy Verstappen stated over the radio on Lap 36, with Norris having closed the gap to the Dutchman to under three seconds. Meanwhile Lawson had made a stop for the medium tyres to emerge back into P10 – ahead of team mate Tsunoda, leaving the Japanese driver questioning how this happened.

Another driver visiting the pits was Magnussen, the Dane having urgently been ordered to box, before Colapinto and Russell soon made their respective stops. This put the Williams back on track close to the Haas as the two engaged in a close battle for 12th.

The yellow flags were briefly thrown as Tsunoda suffered a spin at Turn 1, dropping the RB down to P14. But, up ahead, all eyes were on a potential Norris vs Verstappen duel for third, the McLaren having now closed to just over a second behind his championship rival by Lap 43.

While Russell had taken P7 from Hulkenberg and Colapinto passed Gasly for P10 – a crucial point in the Williams vs Alpine constructors’ battle – Norris was still trying to find a way past Verstappen. A couple of slight lock-ups for Verstappen seemed to present an opportunity for Norris, but the Dutchman ultimately managed to defend against his opponent.

As Colapinto caught the eye by setting the fastest lap in the Williams, the agonisingly close tussle between Verstappen and Norris was continuing to play out in the final laps of the race, with the gap down to just 0.3s. The Briton looked to make the move in Turn 14, but Verstappen held the line into Turn 15 to maintain position.

On Lap 52 things came to a head into Turn 12, with Norris going off the track and returning back to the track in front after seemingly being forced wide by Verstappen. “Overtook me outside the track,” Verstappen quickly commented over the radio, with the move subsequently being noted by the stewards.

As the race entered into its final lap, it was confirmed that Norris had received a five-second time penalty for leaving the track and gaining an advantage – would the Briton have enough of a gap back to Verstappen by the line to hold onto third?

Up ahead, Leclerc crossed the line to claim his eighth victory in Formula 1, with Sainz following in second much to the joy of the Ferrari team. But behind them McLaren were not enjoying such happy times as Norris took third with a four-second gap to Verstappen – meaning that his penalty would drop him down to fourth and promote the Red Bull man up into the final spot on the podium.

Piastri was a low-key fifth for the Woking outfit, ahead of Russell in sixth following a good recovery drive for the Mercedes driver after starting the race from the pit lane. Behind him, Perez took seventh ahead of Hulkenberg in eighth.

It was a positive day for Lawson on his first race back for RB, the New Zealander scoring points with a P9 finish. Also enjoying a strong Sunday in Austin was Colapinto who took the final point in P10 – and only just missed out on the fastest lap prize, with Alpine’s Ocon taking the accolade by the chequered flag to snatch that point away from their championship rivals Williams.

Magnussen crossed the line in 11th, ahead of Gasly who will perhaps be disappointed by ending what had earlier looked to be a promising day in 12th. Alonso followed in 13th, with Aston Martin failing to score any points in Austin.

Tsunoda ended the race in P14, having seemingly been unable to recover from his spin in the RB, while Stroll took P15. Behind him was Albon in P16, while Bottas, Ocon and Zhou were the final classified runners in P17, P18 and P19 respectively.

Hamilton remained the only driver to retire in Austin, with the Mercedes man unable to get out of the gravel after beaching his W15 in the opening laps of the event.

Key quote

"[I'm] very happy," said Leclerc. "It hasn’t been an easy weekend, until now I have been struggling a bit with the feeling with the car but I had the confidence that in the race the feeling was better, and it was the case. We’ve seen it yesterday in the Sprint race, we were a bit… not scared, but we thought the others would improve a lot more today but we still had the upper hand so really happy with today. A one-two for the team, we couldn’t have dreamed for better." 

What's next

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