Charles Leclerc won against all odds at the United States Grand Prix and scored his third victory in the Formula 1 World Championship. The Monegasque was not the protagonist of the event, but rather the battling drivers for the title: Max Verstappen and Lando Norris. On this occasion it was the McLaren driver who won the match, but was unable to reach the podium due to the penalty from the FIA, which punished his overtaking on the 52nd lap for throwing the Dutchman out of the track, who ultimately finished third. The second step was occupied by the great Carlos Sainz, who once again acted as a strategist to take part of the spoils.
Start of pure adrenaline with Leclerc as the undisputed winner, going from fourth to first position and quickly escaping thanks to the confrontation between his teammate, Sainz, and Verstappen, whom he overtook, but gave it back even when leaving wide. Special mention for Norris, who once again lost pole from the first acceleration, even if he criticized the Dutchman for having thrown him out after the first corner, which left the way clear for the smartest in the category: Leclerc.
Carlos continued to insist, turn after turn, which Hamilton, the king of the Circuit of the Americas, abandoned due to a solo spin. The safety car came out on lap three and Verstappen was like lightning when the yellow flag ended on sixth. Alonso, who had lost three places at the start, remained tenth at the restart, but the objective of obtaining at least one point quickly disappeared with the overtaking of Hülkenberg.
The cameras were focused on Sainz, who at times had Verstappen within DRS range, but a power outage on corner exits that he reported on the radio prevented him from attacking the Red Bull driver with arguments. The Spaniard said he smelled “pretty much gasoline” inside his car. I wish I had that problem, Alonso thought, seeing how he was also overtaken by this World Cup debutant with whom he had a difficult time in qualifying, Lawson. On lap 12, the Asturian was already twelfth and Russell was behind him… With a five-second penalty, of course.
Sainz and Ferrari had a plan in mind: to try the undermine with Verstappen and gain the opportunity to overtake him afterwards. That’s why he stopped on the 22nd lap and put on a hard gear to ride in the slipstream of the Dutchman, who didn’t stop until the 26th lap. Leclerc, increasingly distant from both of them, became nervous and asked to stop as quickly as possible. possible so as not to have pressure in the final straight. Alonso continued to bleed at the rear after being passed by Colapinto.
The move worked out perfectly for Sainz, who started in front when Verstappen stopped and knew that as soon as the McLarens stopped he would be second just behind his teammate. Leclerc did not wait and devoured Piastri on the 31st lap before the double substitution of the orange drivers. It was now Verstappen who had to protect himself from Norris, who was gradually getting closer to the Dutchman and the podium with new tires at the rate of fast laps.
Sainz, a maverick, was seven seconds behind the leader, but he had before him a world of 20 laps in which the objective was to make cuts and offer an alternative to Ferrari. He lost six seconds with a fast lap on lap 41, Leclerc’s pace began to improve and made Spain dream of victory.
But the battle moved back two positions, where Verstappen and Norris competed for the last step of the podium. The Briton’s effort was honorable for so little reward, because with the total calculation of the sprint weekend, he would only deduct one point from his opponent for the title if he overtook him. The Dutchman resisted and the McLaren driver did not know how to manage to overtake him once and for all with a much higher pace.
It was on the 52nd lap that Verstappen could no longer defend himself and Norris gave him the chance to finish on the podium, but the FIA took it back from him at the last minute. The three-time world champion was unhappy because according to him, and according to many, the McLaren driver had thrown him off the track to overtake him and a five-second penalty prevented the Briton from winning the duel against his rival. Sainz also failed to take the lead and Leclerc was proclaimed winner for the first time in his career in Austin (Texas).
