United States Grand Prix Preview: Norris vs Verstappen vs Ferrari
F1 NewsSunday, 20 October 2024 at 10:44
The final six Grand Prix weekends are 'Cup Finals' for Lando Norris who needs to outscore Max Verstappen by nine points in those final rounds if he wants to win his first Formula 1 world title and deny the dominant Dutchman his fourth in a row.
The first of six vital GPs lay ahead, and already the first one has Norris trailing -2 after the United States Grand Prix Sprint Race, where Verstappen won with the McLaren driver P3 after his tyres went off the cliff and were almost gobbled up by both Ferrari boys. Only Carlos got through though.
To stay on track in the 2024 F1 title points race, the math dictates that Norris needs to beat Verstappen by 11 points in today's Grand Prix. This means the Briton must win, with the Red Bull driver not making it onto the Circuit of the Americas podium today.
Big asks for Norris. First winning is not a given considering what we saw in the sprint. On the mediums, McLaren was quick, but the tyres went off quicker than their main rivals; hence, Verstappen was able to win with relative ease. while Norris half-fended off a Red Tide on the final lap.
Apart from Max vs Lando, behind them, those Ferrari boys will be lurking and inspired by a car that came to them late in the race. If there is a GP they can win, it's today's one if they can just find some of the 'magia di Monza' from the all-red second row at COTA.
Top three in Qualifying: Norris, Verstappen and Sainz
Oscar Piastri was supposed to line up with Geroge Russell on the third row, but the #44 Mercedes will instead start from the pitlane thanks to the repair work required to make it race fit after his Qulaifyinh prang.
From there, Russell will try to make amends for crashing and giving his Mercedes team a shedload of overnight overtime to put the car back together for the race.
Piastri heads up the third row, two behind his teammate on pole and directly behind Sainz, with all behind Russell moving up a place on the grid.
Amid the trials and turmoils within the magnificent Alpine (aka Renault) team, the strong Qualifying and the grid place gift is reason to smile, as both Pierre Gasly in the A524 with the updates was good for P7, p6 on Sunday, his teammate with the older version will line-up down in P12.
But has he got the race-long firepower to keep at bay brawler Fernando Alonso in P7 for Aston Martin? Or is Kevin Magnussen in the Haas also showing handy pace? Or Sergio Perez, who again is being outshone immensely by teammate Verstappen on all fronts?
Verstappen again flying solo amid a double-pronged McLaren attack
What can the under-pressure Mexican do from P9 on the grid with a car good enough for the front row as well as winning on Saturday) in the right hands? Perez has a mighty job on his hands to make amends as again Max flies solo against the McLaren duo intent on maximum damage in both the Constructors and Drivers' titles.
Beyond those, rookie Franco Colapinto in P16 for Williams was only a hundredth shy of Alex Albon in the sister car; the pair will line up on the eighth row. Returning 'rookie' Liam Lawson had a meaningless Qualy as he was doomed to the back of the grid for engine penalties incurred before his time in the car.
By his own admission, Lewis Hamilton was poor in qualifying on Saturday. The seven-time F1 World Champion and record six-time winner of the USGP at COTA will start from P18 and summed up his effort in one sentence: "That was a tough day."
Prediction-wise, my common sense suggests Verstappen will win this one, somehting he has not done in nine races, since Spain back in June. But my McLaren-beating heart wants Norris to do it by more than 11 points just so that this contest can go down to the wire. And thereafter, may the best man win.
2024 United States Grand Prix Grid:
United States Grand Prix: Formula 1 Facts & Stats by Reuters
- Circuit of the Americas in Austin, Texas.
- 19th round of the 24-race 2024 FIA Formula 1 World Championship
- Lap distance: 5.513km. Total distance: 308.405 km (56 laps)
- 2023 race winner: Max Verstappen (Netherlands) Red Bull
- 2023 pole position: Charles Leclerc (Monaco) Ferrari one minute 34.723 seconds.
- Race lap record: Leclerc, Ferrari, 1:36.169 (2019)
- Start time: 1900 GMT/1400 local
United States Grand Prix
- The Circuit of the Americas is hosting the United States Grand Prix for the 12th time.
- Lewis Hamilton (2012, 2014, 2015, 2016, 2017), Valtteri Bottas (2019) and Verstappen (2021, 2022, 2023) are the only current drivers to have won there.
- Hamilton is the most successful driver in U.S. GP history with six victories (one at Indianapolis).
- Hamilton has started three times on pole position. Verstappen is the only driver to have won after starting off the front row of the grid.
- The 20-turn circuit runs counter-clockwise and is naturally undulating.
- It is quite high downforce and weather can be unpredictable.
2024 F1 World Championship Standings after 18 Rounds
- Before Austin, Red Bull's Max Verstappen leads McLaren's Lando Norris by 52 points after 18 races.
- McLaren are 41 points clear of Red Bull.
Formula 1 Wins
- Seven-times world champion Hamilton has a record 105 career victories from 350 starts, Verstappen has 61 from 203.
- Red Bull, Ferrari, McLaren and Mercedes have all won races this season, the most teams since 2021 when Red Bull, Mercedes, Alpine and McLaren won.
- Seven drivers have triumphed, the most in a single season since 2012 when there were eight.
- Red Bull, who won all but one race last year, have now gone eight without a win.
- Verstappen has won seven times this season. McLaren five, Mercedes and Ferrari three each.
- Sainz won in Melbourne, Norris in Miami, the Netherlands and Singapore, Ferrari's Charles Leclerc in Monaco and Italy, Mercedes's George Russell in Spain, Hamilton in Britain and Belgium and
- McLaren's Oscar Piastri in Hungary and Azerbaijan.
- Ferrari top the all time list with 246 wins, McLaren have 188, Mercedes 128 and Red Bull 120.
Pole Position & Podiums
- Verstappen has had eight poles this year. That includes the first seven, equalling Alain Prost's 1993 record, and eight in a row including the last race of 2023 -- equalling Ayrton Senna's 1988-89 record.
- The Dutch driver was last on pole in Austria in June.
- Charles Leclerc took pole in Monaco, Belgium and Azerbaijan. Russell was fastest in Canada and Britain. Norris took the top spot in Spain, Hungary, the Netherlands, Italy and Singapore.
- Hamilton has a record 104 poles, his most recent in Hungary in July 2023.
- Verstappen has 109 career podiums, Hamilton a record 201.
- Verstappen and Norris have been on the podium 11 times each this season, Leclerc nine, Piastri seven and Sainz five.
Sprint Races
- Verstappen has won all four sprint races so far this season including the Austin Sprint Race on Saturday, with two more to come in Brazil and Qatar.
- Last year he won four out of six.
F1 Milestones
- Tail-enders Sauber, who will become the factory Audi team in 2026, have now gone a full year without scoring a point. They last scored in Qatar on Oct. 8, 2023.
- Austin will be a 100th race start for Williams' Alex Albon.
- Ferrari's Charles Leclerc celebrated his 27th birthday on October 16.
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