While the greatest question of the 2024 United States Grand Prix was whether McLaren F1 driver Lando Norris would continue to chip away at Red Bull driver Max Verstappen’s lead in Drivers’ Championship points, Ferrari stole the show.
Norris and Verstappen were focused on beating each other out of Turn 1 at Austin’s Circuit of the America’s race tracks, but Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc undercut both drivers and took the lead position, which he never relinquished. Carlos Sainz, the second Ferrari driver, was also able to get past Norris and Verstand to take second place in the race.
Lando Norris was third over the finish line, with Verstappen fourth. Still, because the FIA imposed a 5-second penalty on Norris for passing Verstappen outside the track limits, Verstappen stood on the winners’ podium for finishing third.
What drivers and teams advanced in the USGP?
The USGP was one of the six races of the 2024 season that included a Sprint Race on Saturday. Sprint races are exciting for race fans, but they also give drivers a chance to win up to 8 Championship points. Verstappen won the USGP Sprint race; so far the Red Bull driver has won four out of four Sprint races this season. He picked up eight points. Sainz was in second place, with seven points, Norris earned six points in third place, and Leclerc scored five points for his fourth-place finish.
The Grand Prix Qualifying event, which determines the starting positions in the actual Grand Prix, resulted in Norris in the pole position, Verstappen in P2, Sainz in P3, and Leclerc in P4. Norris has won and lost the pole position in the first lap several times this season, so that was an early focus point. And, as mentioned above, he did lose it while he and Verstappen were vying for the lead in the first turn.
Verstappen won 8 points for winning the Sprint race and 12 points for his third-place Grand Prix finish, for a total of 20 points for the weekend. Norris took 12 points for his GP fourth-place finish and six points for coming in third in the Sprint, for a total of 18 points. So in the end, instead of Norris chipping away at Verstappen’s, he netted two fewer points, giving the Red Bull driver a 57-point lead.
Alpine driver Esteban driver scored the fastest lap in the USGP, which usually earns the driver 1 Championship point, but it doesn’t count if the driver doesn’t finish the race in the top ten — Ocon came in 18th.
McLaren has a 41-point advantage over Red Bull in the Constructors’ Championship after the USGP.
Drivers’ and Constructors’ Championship standings
Driver Championship:
| Max Verstappen | Red Bull | 354 |
| Lando Norris | McLaren | 297 |
| Charles Leclerc | Ferrari | 275 |
| Oscar Piastri | McLaren | 247 |
| Carlos Sainz | Ferrari | 215 |
| Lewis Hamilton | Mercedes | 177 |
| George Russell | Mercedes | 167 |
| Sergio Perez | Red Bull | 150 |
| Fernando Alonso | Aston Martin | 62 |
| Nico Hulkenberg | Haas | 29 |
| Lance Stroll | Aston Martin | 24 |
| Yuki Tsunoda | RB | 22 |
| Alex Albon | Williams | 12 |
| Daniel Ricciardo | RB | 12 |
| Pierre Gasly | Alpine | 8 |
| Kevin Magnussen | Haas | 8 |
| Oliver Bearman | Hass | 7 |
| Esteban Ocon | Alpine | 5 |
| Franco Colapinto | Williams | 5 |
| Liam Lawson | RB | 5 |
| Guanyu Zhou | Sauber | 0 |
| Logan Sargeant | Williams | 0 |
| Valtteri Bottas | Sauber | 0 |
Constructor Championship Points:
| McClaren Mercedes | 544 |
| Red Bull Racing Honda RBPT | 504 |
| Ferrari | 496 |
| Mercedes | 344 |
| Aston Martin Aramco Mercedes | 86 |
| Haas Ferarri | 38 |
| RB Honda RBPT | 36 |
| Williams Mercedes | 17 |
| Alpine Renault | 13 |
| Kick Sauber Ferrari | 0 |
What’s next: Mexico Grand Prix, October 25-27
The 20th Grand Prix of the F1 2024 season follows the United States Grand Prix. It will be 71 laps around the 2.67-mile Autodromo Hermanos Rodriquez race track.
