Winners and Losers of Formula 1’s 2024 US Grand Prix

It was a weekend of ups and downs for some drivers in the paddock as Formula 1 returned after an autumn break for the United States Grand Prix.

Feature image credit: Red Bull Content Pool

The sport returned last weekend after a four-week break between the Singapore Grand Prix and the US Grand Prix, at the Circuit of the Americas, for round 19 of the championship.

So who are our winners and losers of the US Grand Prix?

Winner: Charles Leclerc 

Leclerc dominated the US Grand Prix after the Monegasque capitalised on the fight between McLaren’s Lando Norris and Red Bull’s Max Verstappen. From there, the Monegasque controlled the race from start to finish only losing the lead through the pit stop sequence. 

This followed a decent sprint race where the Monegasque finished fourth behind Norris, despite an inter-team tussle with Carlos Sainz. The Monegasque now edges closer to McLaren’s championship contender, 22 points behind Norris. 

Loser: Lando Norris

Norris needed to continue his form from the Singapore Grand Prix, to close in on Verstappen in the driver’s championship title. 

However, a mistake late on in the sprint cost him two points on Verstappen and a time penalty put the Briton behind Verstappen after a controversial stewarding decision. As a result, Norris has lost ground slightly in the championship fight.

WHAT A DRIVE BY OUR BOYS!!! 1-2 FINISH AT COTA 🔥#USGP 🇺🇸 #F1 pic.twitter.com/6W4NUsOsK6

— Scuderia Ferrari HP (@ScuderiaFerrari) October 20, 2024

Winner: Max Verstappen 

Verstappen returned to his winning ways this weekend, even if he lost out on the grand prix victory, which bolsters his championship hopes against Norris. 

For the first time since June, Verstappen found himself winning a race again with victory in the sprint in combination with a sprint pole position. He also looked as if he was on course to take pole for the COTA race but missed out due to George Russell’s late crash in qualifying. 

It was certainly a winning weekend for the Dutchman. 

Loser: Lewis Hamilton

The seven-time world champion had a mixed weekend. He had a good sprint but the main grand prix was less to be desired. Having qualified 19th overall in qualifying, promoted to 17th due to penalties and pit lane starts. 

The Mercedes driver had a storming start moving up to 12th on the opening lap and the US race came crashing down on Hamilton as he crashed out on the second lap, beached in the gravel, bringing the Safety Car out for the first time since Canada earlier this year.

Winner: Liam Lawson

If Red Bull needs a replacement for Sergio Perez next season, they may have their man in Liam Lawson. 

On the first time of asking, the New Zealander brought home points in his first race back with the team which was something the other two drivers, Yuki Tsunoda and Daniel Ricciardo struggled to do consistently. 

Despite being described as a ‘veteran’ performance by Red Bull’s Christain Horner, this is a small sample of the Kiwi’s return but it’s a perfect restart to his F1 career.

P19 > P9. On his first race of the season.
How about that 😮‍💨#F1 #VCARB #USGP 🇺🇸 pic.twitter.com/dDab9n6uQl

— Visa Cash App RB F1 Team (@visacashapprb) October 20, 2024

Loser: Sergio Perez

It wasn’t the weekend Sergio Perez would’ve wanted ahead of his home race, which is the next race in Mexico. It has been a fairly dismal weekend for the Mexican driver, in both the sprint and the grand prix. 

Perez finished the sprint outside the points in ninth, three seconds behind Haas’ Nico Hulkenberg, and this was followed up by a seventh-place finish in the race with both Hulkenberg and Lawson close behind. 

The Mexican will be hoping for better fortunes at his home race, next weekend.

Winner: Ferrari

It was a strong weekend for Ferrari as the team secured their first 1-2 finish since Australia, then led by Carlos Sainz ahead of Leclerc, at the US Grand Prix. 

The team certainly had a winning weekend after a second and fourth-place finish in the sprint, alongside the 1-2 finish in the main event. 

As a result, the former world champions have edged closer to Red Bull in the constructors championship sitting only eight points behind the defending world champions, and 48 points behind McLaren. 

Loser: Mercedes

The sprint was probably the only highlight of Mercedes’ weekend after qualifying well for the 19-lap sprint. However, this turned on its head in qualifying for the Grand Prix. 

Russell crashed out in qualifying and forced the team to start him in the pit lane after repairing his car and reverting to a previous specification. Hamilton’s early crash in the race, following a bad qualifying session, really stamped home a poor weekend for the team. 

In one single weekend, and only having a chance mathematically, both Hamilton and Russell have been eliminated from championship contention. Mercedes are still within a chance, mathematically, for the constructors title but this remains very unlikely. 

Read more Formula 1 here:

• Leclerc leads Ferrari 1-2 at US Grand Prix as Verstappen extends championship lead
• Russell to start US Grand Prix from pit lane after qualifying crash
• Norris takes US Grand Prix pole after Russell crashes in F1 qualifying
• Verstappen returns to winning ways in US Grand Prix sprint
• Verstappen takes US Grand Prix sprint pole by pipping Russell
• Carlos Sainz fastest in US Grand Prix sole practice ahead of Leclerc
• Alexander Albon to bring celebratory 100th race helmet to United States GP

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