AUSTIN — Happy smiles in the paddock told the story of Ferrari's week in Austin.
Teams arriving in Texas for the F1 United States Grand Prix were left wondering about their cars and whether Ferrari could turn the duet of McLaren and Red Bull, which leads the constructors' championship, into a jazz trio. I was facing it. But Charles Leclerc wasn't sure this week would be their best. The SF-24 has performed well in recent weeks, but Leclerc wonders whether the recent upgrades will simply yield track-specific benefits (like a win at Monza or a hard-fought P2 in Azerbaijan) or whether they will lead to something bigger. I didn't understand.
“I still expect McLaren to be at the front and I expect Red Bull to be very similar to them as well. And then we and Mercedes, depending on how good the weekend goes.” I will take part there,” Leclerc told the media. SB Nation,Thursday. “But heading into this weekend we are not favorites.”
But as the weekend drew to a close, Ferrari dominated the front row at the Circuit of the Americas, with Leclerc on the top step of the podium, flanked by teammate Carlos Sainz Jr. There was.
“It was a perfect Sunday,” team principal Frédéric Vasseur said after the race.
Has the season changed again?
Leclerc now believes both he and Ferrari can realize their championship dreams.
“So, never say never. As for the constructors, if we do everything perfectly until the end of the season, no matter what McLaren does, if we do better than them, we still win the title. I think we can do it,” Leclerc said at the FIA press conference. Sunday. “In the case of Drivers, I take a slightly different view. Even if you do everything perfectly, I feel that to win that title you still need a little bit of luck in it, and you don't rely on luck too much. So it seems pretty unlikely, but again, I believe until it becomes mathematically impossible. But it's trickier.
The American Grand Prix began with a battle in Turn 1 between McLaren's Lando Norris and Red Bull's Max Verstappen, opening the door for Leclerc's Ferrari to surge to the front.
Will that be the ultimate story once the season ends?
Here are more winners and losers from the American Grand Prix.
Winner: Liam Lawson
Visa Cash App RB F1 Team announced after the Singapore Grand Prix that Liam Lawson would race in Daniel Ricciardo's RB01 for the remainder of the 2024 season, although the decision was expected, team principal Laurent・It was handled in a manner that Mekies described as “less than ideal.” ” at an FIA press conference on Friday.
Beyond how the decision was handled, Lawson walked into a difficult situation in Austin. When the team changed the RB01's engine, they received a grid penalty and fell to the back of the field. He was driving on a circuit he had never raced on before and even had a brief altercation with Fernando Alonso during an F1 sprint race.
However, when the checkered flag flew, Lawson, despite starting from 19th, showed a brilliant recovery drive to move into the points and move up to 9th.
It was a drive that caught the eye of Christian Horner.
“Yeah, even if I had an altercation with Fernando in my first race back and ended up elbowing him, I think he'll be fine. And I think he had a great race today from 19th to ninth,” Horner said. told the media. SB NationSunday evening. “He was fast. He was brave. And I think it was a great comeback for him.”
How VCARB handled Ricciardo's decision may not have been ideal, but Lawson's run on Sunday certainly was.
Loser: Aston Martin
Aston Martin left Austin with nothing to show for its efforts at the Circuit of the Americas. Fernando Alonso finished 13th despite starting 7th. Lance Stroll fell to the back of the pack after the safety car restart, finishing 15th.
Alonso said after the race: “Today was a tough race for us. We were a few places back from our starting position.” “I think we outperformed the car in qualifying where it should have been and we knew it was going to be a tough fight to stay inside the top 10. It was a difficult weekend and we have to analyze it in the coming days to get better for Mexico. There are many things that must be done.”
Team principal Mike Clack called Sunday a “difficult” day for the team.
“It was a very difficult race day. It's really disappointing to end the weekend with no points. It was incredibly tight in the middle and we were on the wrong side of the competition,” said Clack. . “We had no pace all weekend. We have to learn from days like today and redouble our efforts for next weekend in Mexico.”
Winner: Franco Colapinto
Photo credit: Kym Illman/Getty Images
Something special is happening at Williams.
Throughout the week, one of the most popular figures in the paddock was young Franco Colapinto. F1's newest hero is currently attracting the attention of the entire F1 world and is rapidly growing.
Even after Sunday's performance, his star power shows no signs of slowing down.
Colapinto started 15th on Sunday after what he said was a “tough” Saturday for the team. However, De showed remarkable resilience and stormed into the points, finishing 10th. At one point, Colapinto even received a bonus point for fastest lap of the race, and although Alpine and Pierre Gasly took the fastest lap from him in the closing stages, Colapinto's performance never diminished.
“I'm happy,” the young driver told the media. SB NationAfter the race. “Saturday was very tough for us and I think we knew we had the pace in the car to be strong and have a good race. That's why we decided to start hard. [tires]to breathe a little clean air.
“I thought maybe it wasn't ideal, but I knew that if we kept the pace we were at, it would be a better result for us,” Colapinto continued. “And to be honest, first of all, when we were practicing hard, in clean air, we were really strong.
“And when you put in the medium; [on]we were flying.
Colapinto praised the entire team's ability to come back strong after a difficult day Saturday.
“So it was great to see how we do.” [bounced back] How we came back stronger after a very difficult day today and yesterday. And it was a tough Saturday for the team. ”
Now he will head to Mexico City, but the rocket ship that is his F1 career will likely continue to soar.
Loser: Sauber
Sauber's quest to score its first points of the 2024 season continues.
The team brought some new components to Austin in hopes of wringing as much improved performance as possible from the C44.
However, when the checkered flag flew, Guanyu Chou was in 19th place, with Valtteri Bottas just a few spots ahead of him in 17th place.
Both drivers were one lap behind.
including dialogue with the media, SB NationAfter the race, Guanyu Chou said the car's pace on Sunday was “promising”, but outlined that the team still had issues they needed to understand with the C44.
Time is running out for Sauber to score the elusive first points of the 2024 F1 season, so they need to do it quickly.
Winner: Max Verstappen
As it turns out, Norris may have said it best.
After the race, the McLaren driver spoke to the media about Sunday's battle with Verstappen:
“But the one car I have to beat is Max and that's the one car I didn't win today,” Norris told the media. SB Nationafter the American Grand Prix. “So overall it was a failed weekend. But we tried well. I tried. It wasn't enough. We have work to do and I have work to do. there is.”
Norris went on to say that he cannot race Verstappen “halfheartedly”, which speaks to how motivated Verstappen is to win. The battle between Norris and Verstappen was the talk of the entire paddock on Sunday night, sneaking into nearly every media session for drivers and teams alike, and remained the topic of conversation in Austin at the airport on Monday morning. But Sunday's race was another example of what Verstappen is willing to do to win, and what drivers need to do to beat Verstappen.
This week also marks the first time since Spa that Verstappen has managed to widen his lead in the drivers' championship over Norris, a fact that Horner pointed out in the Red Bull hospitality space after the race. “So there's five races left. So, we're seven points ahead. I mean, nothing is ever comfortable or secure, but it was important for us,” Horner told the media. SB NationSunday evening. “So this is the first time, I think since Spa, that I've outscored Lando. “That was important for me to get back on the back foot and get on the front foot.”
Norris is very likely to catch Verstappen in the end, and he now takes on Austin and Austria as a lesson in what it takes to pull it off.
But as Norris said, Verstappen is the only driver he has to beat, and on Sunday Verstappen came out on top.
Loser: Mark Schofield
This has to be said.
I grew up near Boston and learned to drive there. I found driving in Boston to be difficult.
Driving in and around Austin was much more difficult for our protagonist.
Let's put it this way: most of the time I was in the wrong lane. At the exit, in Austin, near the course, pretty much everywhere I went. Even with state-of-the-art navigation software available and a rental car complete with Apple CarPlay and a giant screen, I struggled.
It continued until my last moments behind the wheel here in Texas, when I found myself in the wrong lane three times on the way from my hotel to the airport.
That's why I left early. At least I learned my lesson.
Other than that, this week has been indescribable. The simple fact is that I could land my dream job, but that would not be possible without you reading and sharing my work. I cannot thank you enough.
Other special shout outs. To Alpine's Abigail Tufts, you are an absolute rock star and never forget that. To Elizabeth Blackstock Planet F1 I really enjoyed spending time at the circuit this week. Thank you for your cooperation. You are a legend, keep smashing it.
And to my family, thank you for letting me do this. You mean the world to me. See you soon.
And friends, I need to get on a plane. See you on the other side.
