Briton Lando Norris, currently second in the Formula 1 world championship, will start the United States Grand Prix on Sunday ahead of overall leader Max Verstappen, who ended a drought of almost four months without a victory on Saturday. postponing the sprint race.
On the Circuit of the Americas, scene of the 19th round (out of 24) of the season, Norris won the 7th pole position of his career, after having signed “probably the best tour of (his) career” during qualifying on Saturday evening.
The McLaren driver, however, benefited from a boost: while his rival Verstappen seemed well on his way to winning pole at the very end of the session, the Dutchman was cut off in his momentum, the fault of the Briton George leaving the track. Russell (Mercedes), which forced him to slow down.
“We were behind all weekend, we didn’t have the pace of Ferrari and Red Bull (…), maybe I was lucky, but I’ll take it”savored the poleman who will therefore start in front of Verstappen.
The three-time reigning world champion can, however, console himself on Saturday evening with his victory in the sprint acquired earlier in the day.
Dutchman Max Verstappen during qualifying for the United States F1 GP, October 19, 2024 in Austin / ANGELA WEISS / AFP
At the end of this race of only 19 laps (compared to 56 for the GP) which brings points overall, the Red Bull driver returned to the path to success by securing his first victory since the sprint race of the Austrian GP end of June. He won ahead of Spaniard Carlos Sainz (Ferrari), 2nd and Norris, 3rd.
Thanks to this victory, Verstappen, who has already won the first three sprints of 2024 (in China, Miami and Austria), scored eight additional points in the championship and is now 54 ahead of Norris, who collected six points.
Hamilton far from the mark
Sunday, behind the two strong drivers of the moment, the second row of the GP will be 100% Ferrari with Sainz, 3rd, ahead of his Monegasque teammate Charles Leclerc.
The Ferrari of Spaniard Carlos Sainz Jr. during qualifying for the United States F1 GP, October 19, 2024 in Austin / ANGELA WEISS / AFP
The third row will go to the Australian Oscar Piastri (McLaren), 5th and Russell, who still ranks 6th despite his accident.
Frenchman Pierre Gasly will start 7th, while his Alpine teammate Esteban Ocon will start 13th.
If Verstappen seems to have regained color, his teammate Sergio Pérez did not do better than 10th at the end of qualifying, after having seen his time canceled for having exceeded the limits of the track.
Another poor performance was that of seven-time British champion Lewis Hamilton, only 19th and having visibly suffered a problem with his Mercedes. The Briton will, however, be 18th on the grid due to the penalty from New Zealander Liam Lawson.
On the occasion of his first GP of the season, replacing the very popular Australian Daniel Ricciardo at Racing Bulls, the 22-year-old driver, initially 15th in qualifying, will start last due to various engine changes beyond the authorized quotas.
For the final marathon of six rounds in eight weeks, the majority of teams arrived in Austin with improvements on their cars, like Red Bull, in difficulty since this summer and which seeks to reduce the gap with McLaren, took the lead in the constructors’ world championship in mid-September.
Thanks to Verstappen’s victory on Saturday, the red bull team gained two points from its English rival, who now has a lead of 39 points.
If Verstappen’s performances seem to provide initial reassuring answers to the reigning champion constructors’ team, these will remain to be confirmed from 2:00 p.m. (7:00 p.m. GMT), during the traditional Sunday meeting.
