Sprint

Verstappen ended up getting pole position just beater Russell on his last lap.

The sprint race overall was a pretty boring race wish no pressure on Verstappen at front it wasn’t until the last lap when the Ferrari’s were pressuring Norris that it became entertaining. Sainz managed to get 2nd on Norris. Leclerc went for an overtake on the last lap however made an evasive maneuver nullifying his 3rd contention.

Qualifying

Hamilton went out in Q1 which wasn’t a great start for Mercedes. The car wasn’t agreeing with the track in qually.

Norris set his time on his first time out and wasn’t improving on the second run. Verstappen looked as it he was going to beat Norris setting a purpler 1st sector however Russell span out in to the wall bringing qualifying to an end.

Start of the Race

Norris had a great start off the line however his lack of aggression in covering off Verstappen caused him to drop to 4th and the Ferrari of Leclerc to fly though into 1st. The Ferrari’s very opportunistically take position. Sainz was pushing Verstappen however he couldn’t quite get him early on. Verstappen went off the track to keep the position. This should be noted for future events

A few laps later a safety car came out as Hamilton, who had made it from 17th to 12th beached his car. Another bad check in the book for Mercedes in Austin.

Stint 1

The gap out front was extending for the first stint. Leclerc pulled away however this is likely to Verstappen saving his tyres for a later push.

Sainz was complaining about the smell of fuel within the car. This issue seemed to have gone away a few laps later

Verstappen got news that there was something wrong with the car however it could be fixed at the pitstop.

Russell got a 5 second penalty for pushing Bottas off the track. This was baffling as no penalties were given in the sprint for this move and also Verstappen and Sainz made similar moves earlier in the race.

Magnussen first pitted for a set of Hards on lap 17. This started open up the door for other car to pit. the top 5 still wouldn’t pit for a while.

Lap 22 is the first of the front runners pitting with Sainz comes in to attempt an undercut on Verstappen with a new set of Hards.

Leclerc was pulling even further ahead of Verstappen however Norris was pushing towards the end of the 1st stint taking out 2 seconds in 5 laps. Verstappen comes in lap 26 for hards also

Stint 2

Sainz’ undercut pulled off very nicely being 4.5 seconds ahead once Verstappen pitted. Once Verstappen pitted Leclerc left nothing to chance and came straight in lap 27.

The McLarens were left out far longer than the other top 5 however they were matching lap time other those on fresher tyres using the older mediums. They were waiting for that crossover so they would have much fresher tyre in the one stop strategy. on lap 31 the McLarens were losing 1 second per lap. Finally lap 32 Norris came in for new tyres and Piastri Lap 33

 Last 10 Laps

Once the McLarens pitted they were quickly closing the gap on the fresher tyres. The first lap where Norris came into DRS range was lap 47. Norris was pushing however Verstappen did defend very well through a lot of the corners of the battle. He was positioning the car very well at the end of both DRS zones.

Lap 48 Norris had to hold off a bit as he was slightly further away not allowing for a genuine overtake attempt however he did have a sniff on the exit of turn 1. Lap 50 Norris pushed ever closer with a great exit however still couldn’t quite get close enough.

Turn 1 was an area Norris gained a lot of time. Normally closing the gap to about 0.3-04 seconds every lap. Lap 52 Norris was within 0.4 of Verstappen with the DRS assistance and this is where the controversy begins.

Norris was ahead and began to turn in. Fact. At the apex of the corner however Verstappen kept going meaning that at the apex he was ahead (I believe Verstappen calls it divebombing).

What is interesting is he clearly lost control as he went off track. Due to this Norris on the outside had nowhere to go and was run off. Norris therefore rejoined the track as he was pushed off. However as Max was ahead at the apex then it is his position so therefore, technically Norris should’ve given the position back.

I do not agree with this as clearly Max’s driving after the corner wasn’t taken into consideration. The reason I said to remember that image at from the start of the race is because Sainz was ahead at the apex. Max went off the track and rejoined the track in front of Sainz not conceding it for the whole 1st stint. He did not receive a penalty. If this didn’t happen then fair enough that’s how the FIA chose to penalise. That however is not the case. The chose not to penalised Verstappen and penalise Norris for the same thing. Bias, favouritism whatever you want to call it in plain sight.

This isn’t Max’s or Norris’s fault this is the FIA’s inability to be consistent and to constantly make favourable for a driver and cost other drivers championships.

Well done to Leclerc though absolutely dominated from start to finish showing how well Ferrari’s upgrades are coming along. I am sure Hamilton cannot wait to get in that seat. Surprisingly the Austin GP ended up a one stop race which given the level of degradation in the sprint was unexpected. Most opted for a medium compound start however many on the field started on hard compound. McLaren kept the tyre in a good range of degradation matching the times of those on fresh tyre for a few laps

Summary

Excellent race from the Ferrari’s this makes things very interesting for the constructors and if this trajectory continues into 2025. Some very questionable decision from the stewards leading too many down the field being punished however Verstappen not. People are saying his was ahead at the apex however he was only ahead due to losing control and going off track and Norris making an evasive maneuver. This is in the past now the only thing we want is consistency from the FIA. The last time favouritism came into the stewards office it cost Hamilton and championship.

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Standings

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