#F1 #USGP: @Max33Verstappen takes comfortable #F1Sprint victory.

Verstappen US GP Sprint Victory – Championship leader Max Verstappen converted the pole into a victory in the US GP Sprint as drama unfolded on the last lap with Ferrari’s Carlos Sainz overtaking McLaren’s Lando Norris into turn one to move up into second after the latter suffered a lock-up.

The victory was Verstappen’s first since June and gave the Dutchman a crucial two points in the World Driver’s Championship standings over Norris to a 54-point gap.

When the 19-lap Sprint race began, polesitter Verstappen made a solid getaway and covers Russell into turn one as McLaren’s Norris made a move on the inside of both Ferrari’s and ran wheel to wheel with Mercedes’ Russell out of the exit of turn two as he overtook the Silver Arrow to grab second place.

Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc made a move on the inside of Russell into turn 12 in the battle for third, then the latter reclaimed the place back ahead of the Monegasque.

At the end of the opening tour, Verstappen held a 0.929 second lead over Norris with Russell third, Leclerc fourth, Sainz fifth as Hamilton rounded out the top six.

With DRS assistance on the back straight Sainz made a move on Leclerc in the battle for fourth but ran deep and the latter managed to cover the Spaniard to hold the position through turns 14-15-16.

Then on the beginning of the third lap, Sainz made a move uphill into turn one on his Ferrari team-mate, but Leclerc took no for an answer, made the switcheroo and kept ahead of the Spaniard.

Verstappen in the fight for the lead managed to keep Norris out of DRS range.

At the beginning of the fifth lap, race leader Verstappen’s lead was up to 1.3 seconds over Norris with Russell third, Leclerc fourth and Sainz completed the top five.

Further back in the battle for fourth, the Ferrari fight intensified as Sainz dived down the inside of Leclerc into turn 15, the two drifted wide and got squirrely on the exit, but the latter is forced wide and Sainz finally made his way through.

Sainz was looking feisty as he had his sights set on Russell ahead.

Race leader Verstappen finally dropped Norris out DRS range, bringing the gap to 1.4 seconds. Third-placed Russell had DRS range onto second-placed Norris down the back-straight, but the latter kept his fellow-British compatriot behind into turn 12.

Verstappen “might be damaging his rears” according to McLaren as the Dutchman tried to increase the gap. Behind the Dutchman, Norris, Russell, Sainz and Leclerc were all looking good on pace.

Sainz forced his way past Russell at turn 15 to jump into the final podium place.

On lap 10, Verstappen’s lead over Norris was down to 1.2 seconds as Sainz held third, Russell fourth as Leclerc completed the top five.

Leclerc in the battle for fourth likewise done the same move on Russell as his team-mate Sainz done to snatch the position from the Mercedes.

Verstappen’s gap on the 11^th lap was sitting at 1.5 seconds, but his tyres were not looking great as Russell says his tyres are “toast” as Leclerc made his way ahead of him at turn 15.

Further back, 11^th-placed McLaren of Oscar Piastri was hit with a five-second timed penalty for forcing another driver off the track.

On the 12^th lap, Norris was told to manage his tyres, with perhaps McLaren watching on what was happening behind with Russell and being wary of losing out to the Ferrari duo.

Fifth-placed Russell fell well behind the back of Leclerc and could have been potentially overtaken by his team-mate Sir Lewis Hamilton by the end.

On the 13^th tour, in the fight for ninth place, Sergio Perez gets passed RB’s Yuki Tsunoda, but the former finally made the move stick. Then the Japanese driver charged back into turn one, but then locks up, runs wide and gave Perez some breathing room. Piastri in 11^th place had DRS on Tsunoda, but of course had that penalty looming on him.

Piastri then made a bold move on Tsunoda but overcooked it and the RB remained ahead in 10^th. The Australian tried again on the outside of turn two. Tsunoda kept in-front.

On the 15^th lap, Verstappen’s lead was at 2.3 seconds over Norris and was on course for his fourth Sprint victory, as Sainz was third, Leclerc fourth and Russell rounding out the top five.

Behind them Tsunoda was told to give Piastri the position knowing Piastri had a penalty on his shoulders. Tsunoda argued his case to his RB team, as Race Control noted it.

Then the race stewards deemed no further investigation on the Japanese driver after he relinquished the position to Piastri.

In the fight for sixth, Russell had his Mercedes team-mate Hamilton in DRS range behind him on lap 17, and the latter was told “be care to not run into your team-mate.”

On the 18^th tour, Sainz got into DRS range on second-placed Norris and so did Leclerc in fourth as further behind, Hamilton was chasing down Russell.

On the final tour in the battle for second, drama followed Norris suffered a lock-up into the opening corner as Sainz made his way on the inside of the McLaren to take the place.

Outside of turn two, Norris managed to cover Leclerc to keep third place.

Later in the lap, Leclerc attempted to make the move on Norris into turn 14, but the latter moved to cover the Ferrari as the former drifted to turn 15 to avoid making contact with the McLaren. Norris held the SF-24 entry at bay.

Verstappen crossed the line by 3.882 seconds over Sainz as Norris managed to keep the final podium spot over Leclerc as Russell completed the top five.

Hamilton settled for sixth and ahead of MoneyGram Haas F1 Team pairing Kevin Magnussen and Nico Hulkenberg who rounded out the final points places.

Red Bull’s Perez crossed the line ninth and in-front of Piastri who took tenth and RB’s Tsunoda who was 11^th.

Williams’ Franco Colapinto reached the chequered flag 12^th and ahead of Aston Martin’s Lance Stroll who placed 13^th and Alpine pairing Pierre Gasly and Esteban Ocon who followed in 14^th and 15^th respectively.

The returning Liam Lawson finished his first Sprint race back in 16^th for RB and in-front of the second Williams FW46 of Alexander Albon who ended the race a low-17^th.

The other AMR24 entry of Fernando Alonso finished 18^th as Sauber pairing Zhou Guanyu and Valtteri Bottas brought up the rear.

2024 US GP F1 Sprint – The Top Three

2024 US GP F1 Sprint Winner – Max Verstappen, #1, Oracle Red Bull Racing, Honda-RBPT – 8 Points:

“It was not too bad, feels a bit like old times! I’m very happy with today. Finally we were racing again, normally we were looking back behind us but now we can do our own race. It’s always a hectic weekend to get the car in the right window, so there is more pressure on delivering.”

2^nd Place – Carlos Sainz, #55, Scuderia Ferrari, SF-24 – 7 Points:

“Honestly, those were fun battles. A good Sprint, we had a lot going on and towards the end I was starting to struggle with the tyres, but I saw Lando struggling, and I thought if I could get into DRS, I could get P2. Our pace was decent, which is encouraging for tomorrow.”

3^rd Place – Lando Norris, #4, McLaren Formula 1 Team-Mercedes, MCL38 – 6 Points:

“It was a good race, I’m pretty happy with how things ended up. I thought I could hang on to second, but my front tyres were completely finished. Disappointing end but happy with the race result and a good amount of points.”

You can see the full Formula 1 Pirelli United States Grand Prix 2024 F1 Sprint Results Classification at the link: https://www.formula1.com/en/results/2024/races/1247/united-states/sprint-results

Click here for the 2024 Formula 1 World Driver’s (Top 10) and Constructors Championship Standings

#F1 #USGP Sprint Qualifying: @Max33Verstappen pips @GeorgeRussell63 to #F1Sprint pole by 0.012s.

#F1 #USGP FP1: @Carlossainz55 heads @ScuderiaFerrari one-two by 0.021s. #UnitedStatesGP

#F1 @Pirelli #UnitedStatesGP 2024 Preview. #Formula1 #USGP