Verstappen wins the US Sprint as Norris loses out on the final lap.

The sprint race was anything but boring, with action up and down the field. George Russell put in an initial charge to close down the fast-starting Lando Norris who leapfrogged his way from P4 to P2 in the opening corners, but this was to no avail as his tyres began to overheat, causing him to drop back to P5 at the end, just ahead of his teammate Lewis Hamilton.

Carlos Sainz decided there was no love lost between the Ferrari teammates this weekend and was hounding the back of Leclerc’s Ferrari until Lap 6 where an audacious move into turn 15 saw him get the upper hand, giving him the opportunity to hunt down Norris over the remaining laps and eventually pass him into turn 1 on the last lap as a Norris lock up sent him wide.

Elsewhere in the field, Oscar Piastri jumped from P16 to P14 after a disappointing sprint qualifying, where he saw his fastest lap get deleted for track limits and consequently plummeting him back into the drop zone. His race didn’t fair much better as he received a 5 second time penalty for an opportunistic overtake on Gasly and found himself stuck in the wake of Stroll, Colapinto and notably Tsunoda who put up a stout defence against Piastri as well as Perez, who surely will be adding this performance to his CV for the Red Bull team to take notice of him, with a seat in 2025 his ambition.

Haas had a quiet, yet impressive performance in the sprint, finishing P7 and P8 with Magnussen and Hulkenberg respectively, moving them level and ahead of RB in the constructors battle for 6th. Their performances in the sprint qualifying and race will give the team confidence going into the main qualifying later that they stand a chance of reaching Q3 and those all important points on Sunday.

Liam Lawson’s (second) debut in Sprint racing lasted longer than his last time out in Qatar, but unfortunately for him and the RB team, he didn’t fare much better. A slight lack of pace compared to Tsunoda, and an aggressive battle with Alonso – who was displeased with the “alpha-tauri” – resulted in a P16 finish. With his name being tipped for the Red Bull seat as well as Tsunoda and Perez, every performance for each of these three will be crucial, and impressive drives to 12th may just be as important for Lawson’s future as scoring points, to see who will earn the seat for 2025.

As for Alpine and Aston Martin, the season of disappointment continues. Stroll finished 0.7 ahead of Gasly, who was a further 0.9 seconds ahead of his teammate Ocon, but neither team looked like challenging for points. Albon couldn’t climb as high as he would’ve liked after starting from the pit lane, managing P17 with Colapinto finishing in an impressive P12. After qualifying 10th and finishing 12th, he’s becoming a favourite to partner Hulkenberg at Sauber next year, with the likes of Bottas, Zhou and current F2 championship leader Gabriel Bortoleto, all playing second fiddle.

I feel this sprint race sums up the season in 2024 we’ve had so far. A bit chaotic, Ferrari impressive at times, Norris showing pace but making errors and Verstappen being consistent, making the best with the machinery he has. McLaren have had the best overall car for the majority of the races this season, with Red Bull showing a decline since Spain, which is where Max Verstappen’s last race win was, in June. Despite this, Verstappen and Norris are level on points with 203 since Miami.

Does this emphasise the consistency and brilliance of Verstappen, or highlight how Norris and McLaren, although a fast combination, aren’t quite the title challengers they would like to be just yet. Either way, it sets up an exciting qualifying and an interesting Grand Prix on Sunday, with a lot to lose and a lot to gain for both drivers.

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Leclerc dominates the US GP as Norris dealt penalty for clash with Verstappen.