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F1 United States Grand Prix preview: teams test the last major upgrades of 2024

The US Grand Prix in Austin may decide the season's outcomes

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Circuit of the Americas race track in Austin, Texas.
Courtesy of Formula 1

The four-week break since the Singapore Grand Prix has allowed the teams to make the last significant race car upgrades for the 2024 F1 racing season. With potential changes in the driver and team competitions, the last six of the 24 races this year could be exciting. The October 12-21 United States F1 Grand Prix 2024 in Auston, Texas kicks off the last part of the season with unexpected opportunities for teams that aren’t Red Bull Racing. 

Since four of the six races are in the Americas, the race time zones also make it more convenient for U.S. fans who livestream the races.

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Why the US Grand Prix matters

It’s officially the Formula 1 Pirelli United States Grand Prix 2024, and this race is a big deal for the F1 teams and fans. Teams will see if the upgrades they made during the four-week break, the last break of the season, pay off with better performance.

Fans watching in Austin or live streaming the events will see a Sprint race, about which the teams have mixed feelings. On the one hand, the Grand Prix event schedule changes from normal during the season’s six Sprint races, which limits the teams to just one practice session.

On the other hand, winning or placing high in the Sprint race means extra Championship points, eight for the Sprint winner. Winning those points this year could make a big difference for Red Bull or McLaren.

What to look for during the US Grand Prix

This season, the most significant source of drama is whether McLaren driver Norris can catch up in points to Red Bull’s Max Verstappen, who won the Driver Championship for the past three seasons.

Norris is also competing with himself. Too many times, he started a Grand Prix in the pole position and almost immediately gave up the lead. Singapore was the exception. Norris was in the pole position, pulled away cleanly, and led the entire race to the finish line. Exceptionally, if Norris starts the race in P1, it will be interesting to see if he can keep the lead.

McLaren and Red Bull are both bringing race car upgrades to Austin. Both Red Bull drivers have complained about the handling of race cars during the season. This could be Red Bull’s last chance in 2024 to rectify the problem. Even though Verstatten is leading in Driver points, McLaren is ahead in Constructor points, primarily because Checo Perez, the second Red Bull driver, is adding enough points to the tally, or he’s not contributing to the team total as much as McLaren driver Oscar Piastri.

There are many stories about other F1 teams and their advancement victories and struggles, but the most logical line of focus is the Mercedes and Ferrari teams. Mercedes is realistically out of the battle for first place in the Constructor Championship, but Ferrari is not too far behind Red Bull. If Red Bull doesn’t score significant points in Austin and the two Ferrari drivers do well, Ferrari could replace Red Bull in the second spot in the standings.

2024 F1 Drivers’ and Constructors’ Championship standings

With the Driver and Constructor Championships still in contention when the season is three-quarters finished, the rest of F1 2024 can play out in many ways. The following are the current point totals.

Driver Championship:

Max Verstappen Red Bull 331
Lando Norris McLaren 279
Charles Leclerc Ferrari 245
Oscar Piastri McLaren 237
Carlos Sainz Ferrari 190
Lewis Hamilton Mercedes 174
George Russell Mercedes 155
Sergio Perez Red Bull 144
Fernando Alonso Aston Martin 62
Lance Stroll Aston Martin 24
Nico Hulkenberg Haas 24
Yuki Tsunoda RB 22
Alex Albon Williams 12
Daniel Ricciardo RB 12
Pierre Gasly Alpine 8
Oliver Bearman Ferrari 7
Kevin Magnussen Hass 6
Esteban Ocon Alpine 5
Franco Colapinto Williams 4
Guanyu Zhou Sauber 0
Logan Sargeant Williams 0
Valtteri Bottas Sauber 0

Constructor Championship Points:

McClaren Mercedes 516
Red Bull Racing Honda RBPT 475
Ferrari 441
Mercedes 329
Aston Martin Aramco Mercedes 86
RB Honda RBPT 34
Haas Ferrari 28
Williams Mercedes 16
Alpine Renault 13
Kick Sauber Ferrari 0
Bruce Brown
Bruce Brown
Former Contributing Editor
Bruce Brown Contributing Editor   As a Contributing Editor to the Auto teams at Digital Trends and TheManual.com, Bruce… Read Full Bio
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