After a turn of events held at the United States Grand Prix, all eyes focused on the fight for third place between Max Verstappen and Lando Norris. A titanic duel between them went down to the wire which left Norris being penalised for overtaking off-track. But no one predicted Ferrari would steal the show in Texas. Finishing first and second at the Circuit of the Americas.
This goes to show that with McLaren and Red Bull fighting amongst themselves, Ferrari ignites a three-way fight for the Formula 1 2024 Constructors Championship. Still sitting in third place, but are now only eight points behind the Milton Keynes-based team for second.
While McLaren are forty points ahead with five races left, the pressure begins to mount if McLaren can stay at the top, or will the scarlet red team seek to reclaim championship glory once again.
Ferrari’s Inter-team Battle During The Sprint Race
Embed from Getty ImagesThe Sprint Race depicts Ferrari as the second-best car on the grid while becoming the main highlight of Saturday morning. And lap 2, Turn 15, was the beginning of an inter-team battle between Charles Leclerc and Carlos Sainz. The Spaniard attempts a lunge heading towards Turn 15 but the Monagasque maintains his composure and has the grip to retake fourth position. All of this while hunting for the last podium position.
As the Sprint Race develops, after trading places lap after lap, Carlos relieves his teammate of fourth place and sets after third-place driver George Russell. Eventually, he overtakes the Mercedes by Lap 9 at Turn 15. But that was not the end of the Spaniard’s charge as he set his sights on second-place driver Lando Norris.
But now an inter-team battle turned into a two-on-one attack on the Papaya driver. On lap 19, Norris felt the pressure, locking up into Turn 1, missing the apex and allowing Carlos to overtake easily. But the Ferrari charge would not stop there as Charles set his sights on the McLaren. But Norris was able to keep the Monogasque at bay, defending the inside line of Turn 15 and narrowly avoiding contact as Leclerc had to slam on the brakes to avoid a collision.
Finishing second and fourth, this momentum would continue to see Ferrari challenge McLaren on Sunday’s race. But could the team from Fiorano mount an attack on Red Bull, too?
Qualifying Pictured a Norris Vs. Verstappen Showdown
Embed from Getty ImagesThe fourth round of the Sprint format saw Red Bull’s Max Verstappen as the car to beat by the end of the Sprint Race on Saturday, believing Red Bull’s run of dominance has returned. With the likes of McLaren and Ferrari trailing behind. But Saturday afternoon saw the British driver, Lando Norris, snatch pole position, putting a stop on Verstappen’s run of form throughout the weekend.
However, Max could not improve due to George Russell veering off the circuit at Turn 19 and hitting the wall, bringing the end to Saturday’s Qualifying. So as the session concluded, all eyes were on the first row of the grid. Norris versus Max. While the Ferrari’s occupied the second row of the grid.
Ferrari Take Advantage of First Corner Action
Embed from Getty ImagesLights out, and away we go up to Turn 1. Norris covers off Verstappen, who makes a lunge down the inside, but both come out worse off as the Ferrari of Charles Leclerc storms through to take the lead. After Lewis Hamilton veered off into the gravel trap out of Turn 19, the race resumed on Lap 6 with Leclerc leading the charge, but despite leading the Grand Prix, the expectation was for Max to challenge Charles for the lead. Which never happened.
While the other Ferrari of Carlos Sainz on Lap 9 informs his team that he is suffering from power issues while stating that he can smell fuel. After the team advised Carlos to switch to “Driver Default Delta 16”, the team could see on the data his situation improved by Lap 11.
An “issue with the car this stint”, stated by Max Verstappen’s engineer, saw the drop in pace by the Red Bull driver. By Lap 26, Verstappen had lost out to Leclerc by 11.6 seconds and stopped first for a brand-new set of Hard tyres. However, the issue that Max’s engineer identified was not visible during the pit stop which may have been more internal than the team could see on the car.
One lap later, Charles Leclerc pits and comes out ahead of his teammate, who stopped on Lap 22. Now, all the Ferrari’s could do was wait until the McLaren’s ahead were to stop. Lap 32 and Norris heads into the pits for his only stop. Coming back out onto the track fifth just behind Max Verstappen. As Leclerc did not wait for Oscar Piastri to pit but dispatched the Australian driver a lap prior.
After Norris’ stop, Leclerc retakes the lead, with Carlos claiming second place on Lap 33 as Piastri pits.
The laps counted down, and Ferrari had no challenge from their rivals as the main focus was on the battle between Lando Norris and Max Verstappen. During a nail-biting last ten laps, Verstappen was able to keep the McLaren at bay. That was until Lap 52. With the help of DRS heading down to Turn 12, Norris made the move around the outside as Max covered the inside line. A move that took both drivers off track with Norris benefiting from the battle.
Unfortunately, Norris’ overtake was deemed illegal, and he was handed a five-second time penalty for gaining an advantage for overtaking off track. Promoting Verstappen to third when they both crossed the line.
But this duel between the top two drivers in the championship overshadowed Ferrari’s dominance. That was until Lap 56, when the Scarlet Red team stole the show in the end, achieving a one-two victory with Charles Leclerc winning around the Circuit of the Americas.
Ferrari Ignite A Triple Threat Showdown
Embed from Getty ImagesWith this one-two victory, the team from Fiorano would see themselves take away a staggering 43 points in the Constructors Championship. Closing the gap to second place team, Red Bull, to now just eight points behind.
So for Red Bull and McLaren who thought the constructor’s battle would be one-on-one, has now become a triple threat showdown with the Ferrari adding themselves into the mix.
If you would like to learn more news about the world of Formula 1? Then why not check out “United States Grand Prix: Unparalleled Speed in Austin” or “Will We See Mick Schumacher Join KICK in 2025?”