The Monegasque was in strong form on Sunday and won at the Circuit of The Americas in Austin ahead of his Ferrari stablemate Carlos Sainz and sprint winner Max Verstappen. McLaren driver Lando Norris received a late five-second penalty for overtaking Verstappen and finished fourth. For Leclerc it was the third victory this year after Monaco and Monza, and the fourth for Ferrari.
The start of the race was turbulent. Leclerc took first place with a brilliant start from fourth position, while polesitter Norris unsuccessfully defended himself against Verstappen. Norris even fell back to fourth place because Leclerc’s teammate Sainz also overtook him. He then attacked Verstappen, but stayed behind the Dutchman for the time being. On the 3rd lap there was a brief safety car deployment after Lewis Hamilton’s departure, which meant he had a weekend to forget.
Thrilling duel between Verstappen and Norris
Leclerc then dictated the pace and the leading positions were cemented until the pit stops from lap 20 onwards. Sainz was the first driver in the leading group to switch from medium to hard rollers and managed the undercut against Verstappen, who then complained about the tire quality. Perez, meanwhile, was trying to keep up with the top five, as was George Russell in the second Mercedes after starting from the pit lane. The Briton’s Mercedes had to be worked on overnight after he had an accident in the final seconds of qualifying on Saturday.
Norris got closer and closer to Verstappen in the final phase and was able to use the DRS overtaking aid in the last ten laps. Several overtaking attempts failed, but at the beginning of the 52nd lap the Brit overtook him – although he (like Verstappen) was outside the track. He was given a five-second penalty in the final seconds of the race. Leclerc, meanwhile, secured his eighth Grand Prix success.
