Charles Leclerc headed Carlos Sainz in Ferrari one-two finish at 2024 US Grand Prix.
Leclerc pounced upon a reckless late-braking moment between Max Verstappen and Lando Norris to take the lead at the opening corner, and controlled the race thereafter to take victory.
Sainz undercut Verstappen by pitting four laps before the championship leader and ultimately finished second, as Ferrari achieved the first one-two finish in the US GP since 2006.
Verstappen finished fourth on the road after he lost third to Norris on Lap 52 after recklessly punting his title rival off track, only to farcically complain that Norris passed off track which saw Norris hit with a five-second time penalty.
Norris consequently finished fourth behind Verstappen but ahead of his McLaren teammate, Oscar Piastri.
Mercedes’ George Russell finished sixth after a pit-lane start due to overnight work, whilst Sergio Perez and Nico Hulkenberg rounded out the top eight.
Liam Lawson on his return to F1 finished ninth for RB and Williams’ Franco Colapinto completed the top ten.
In the drivers’ standings, Verstappen extended his title lead over Norris to 57 points due to the latter’s harsh time penalty.
McLaren meanwhile leads Red Bull in the constructors’ standings by 40 points with Ferrari a further eight points behind.
At lights out, Norris made a quick start but found himself squeezed off-track by Verstappen who recklessly braked late-braked into the opening corner.
Leclerc duly snuck up the inside to take the lead as Verstappen re-joined the track in second ahead of Sainz, who then almost passed the three-time champion into Turn 12 but Verstappen deliberately ran wide and kept second.
Stewards chose to turn a blind eye but Verstappen couldn’t match Leclerc’s pace until the safety car came out on lap three, after Hamilton spun out at Turn 19 on the previous lap in his first race retirement on American soil.
Racing resumed at the end of lap five but Leclerc sprinted away from Verstappen, whilst Sainz survived a fuel smell scare to keep third from Norris and Piastri.
Sauber’s Guanyu Zhou was the first to pit on lap 14 but Haas’ Kevin Magnussen was the first top-ten runner on lap 18, which allowed him to undercut Gasly who pitted a lap later.
Up front, Sainz made his stop to switch from medium to hard tyres on lap 22 which saw him undercut Verstappen who stayed out until the end of lap 25, with Leclerc following suit a lap later to protect his net lead.
McLaren meanwhile kept Norris and Piastri out until the end of laps 31 and 32 respectively, with the latter left to battle Russell who had started from the pit-lane on hard tyres and hadn’t made his tyre change.
Piastri quickly disposed of Russell’s threat whilst Leclerc kept Sainz at bay at around seven seconds.
McLaren’s extended opening stint paid dividends for Norris as he reeled Verstappen in to within DRS range by lap 44, but met a stern defence from his title rival amidst waves of lock-ups in the following laps.
Norris eventually passed Verstappen on the inside of Turn 13 on Lap 52 after he had been punted off-track by the 27 year-old, who rapidly attempted to put the blame on Norris by complaining on team radio.
Leclerc eventually took a comfortable victory from Sainz as Ferrari became the first team to record an one-two finish at the US GP since 2006, since they achieved that feat with Michael Schumacher and Felipe Massa.
Norris finished third ahead of Verstappen on the road but was slapped with a controversial five-second time penalty, due to Verstappen’s reckless late-braking defence and complaint.
Verstappen in his post-race interview arrogantly refused to elaborate on his battle with Norris and the time penalty for the Brit, as he instead made a point of letting stewards dish out a penalty as appropriate.
“You know I have my opinions but I don’t need to say it here, I’ll let the stewards do their thing. ”
Piastri finished fifth ahead of Russell who executed the alternative strategy to beat Perez to sixth, whilst Hulkenberg, Lawson and Colapinto rounded out the top ten.
F1 now heads to Mexico for the Mexico City GP next weekend from 25-27 October, in the second of this triple-header followed by Sao Paulo GP a week later.
| Position | Driver | Team | Laps | Time |
| 1 | Charles Leclerc | Ferrari | 56 | 1h ..m .. |
| 2 | Carlos Sainz | Ferrari | 56 | + 8.562 |
| 3 | Max Verstappen | Red Bull | 56 | + 19.412 |
| 4 | Lando Norris | McLaren | 56 | + 20.354 |
| 5 | Oscar Piastri | McLaren | 56 | + 21.921 |
| 6 | George Russell | Mercedes | 56 | + 56.295 |
| 7 | Sergio Perez | Red Bull | 56 | + 59.072 |
| 8 | Nico Hulkenberg | Haas | 56 | + 62.957 |
| 9 | Liam Lawson | RB | 56 | + 70.563 |
| 10 | Franco Colapinto | Williams | 56 | + 71.979 |
| 11 | Kevin Magnussen | Haas | 56 | + 79.782 |
| 12 | Pierre Gasly | Alpine | 56 | + 90.558 |
| 13 | Fernando Alonso | Aston Martin | 56 | + 1 Lap |
| 14 | Yuki Tsunoda | RB | 56 | + 1 Lap |
| 15 | Lance Stroll | Aston Martin | 56 | + 1 Lap |
| 16 | Alex Albon | Williams | 56 | + 1 Lap |
| 17 | Valtteri Bottas | Sauber | 56 | + 1 Lap |
| 18 | Esteban Ocon | Alpine | 56 | + 1 Lap |
| 19 | Guanyu Zhou | Sauber | 56 | + 1 Lap |
| RET | Lewis Hamilton | Mercedes | 1 | Spin |
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