Sprint for Verstappen, pole for Norris: back and forth in Austin on Saturday!

(Cover picture: McLaren)

Let's face it: after a 3-week break, how many of us were looking forward to the return of Formula 1? After Saturday in Austin, with a pulse-pounding Sprint and lively qualifying, the engines are roaring once again: and in a truly strange calendar - with three breaks in a 24-race championship - we're entering the final phase, with two triple-headers that will give us the 2024 World Champion...

Sprint Analysis: Verstappen pulls away straight after the start, chaos behind him!

But let's go in chronological order, and start with the Sprint held at 20.00 CET: after Friday night's Sprint Qualifying, which had seen Max Verstappen taking pole, an almost perfect start allowed the Dutchman to keep his position over Lando Norris, George Russell and the two Ferraris.

Andy Hone / Motorsport Images

Right from the start it was clear how the combination of slipstream and DRS at the Circuit of the Americas could allow for close battles, preventing anyone from imposing an unapproachable pace for the rivals: in this context, the World Champion's ability to gain an advantage of more than 1.0 s in the first two laps sheltered him from potential attacks, especially considering that - in retrospect - his direct pursuers were marginally faster than him!

Russell slips back, huge fight between Leclerc and Sainz: some regrets at Ferrari

With Verstappen off the radar (though never more than 2.0 s ahead of the aforementioned pack), the fight was all about getting second place, which - surprisingly - Lando Norris had snatched over Russell after a finally competitive start. But it was George Russell himself, as was clear from the early laps, who had a pace that put him a little "out of context" compared to the McLaren of his fellow Englishman and the two Ferraris: so why did Sainz only overtake him on lap 9 and Leclerc on lap 10, out of a planned 19?

Sam Bloxham / Motorsport Images

The answer lies in a duel from the very first lap between Leclerc and Sainz, with the two of them repeatedly engaging in position swaps as spectacular as disadvantageous to both, because in doing so they missed a valuable opportunity to advance more quickly: it cannot be ruled out that one of the two (more likely Sainz, but we cannot put our finger on it) could even have won this Sprint!

Simon Galloway / Motorsport Images

However, if we want to paint a more accurate picture of why the two Ferraristi's comeback proceeded a little slowly, it has to be said that the SF-24 (whether due to its design or the setup chosen by the engineers of the team from Maranello) didn't perform astonishingly good in the fast corners of the first sector, which is particularly compromising if you consider that those same corners lead onto the longest straight of the Austin track, where are - therefore - the greatest overtaking opportunities. In that same piece of track both McLarens were far more effective - although Piastri, forced to start from P16, only made it to P10 - and Verstappen's Red Bull, literally in a state of grace in the first third of the racetrack.

Norris inaccurate, Sainz benefits: P2 for the Spaniard, and a small gift for Verstappen

Returning to the Sprint report, a trio formed in the final laps, with Norris ahead of Sainz and Leclerc, both of whom were close enough to the driver ahead of them to use the DRS. The pressure from the two Ferraristi ultimately cost Norris just one point, as he braked awkwardly into Turn 1 on the very last lap and locked up, losing his position to the Spaniard...

Sam Bagnall / Motorsport Images

Worse still might have happened if Leclerc had hit him in Turn 15 (once again on the last lap), following a defensive manoeuvre by Lando that was difficult to cope with: we're not talking about "moving under braking" - and in fact the FIA didn't sanction this episode - but an uncertain approach to the crooked braking where, in the previous laps, both Reds had been very effective.

All this talk translate into a two-point increase in the standings for Verstappen over Norris, who now has a +54 point lead over Norris, up from +52: an encouraging result, but above all with one less opportunity for the Englishman to shorten the gap!

Qualifying Analysis: Norris on pole, but without that last attempt...

After a Sprint full of overtaking that made this format a little more enjoyable for many (including who's writing this article), it was then the turn of the proper qualifying, the one valid for the starting grid of the race - which will start this evening at 9pm CET. A less eventful session than usual, but one in which there was no shortage of twists and turns...

Missed opportunity for Verstappen, but everything is possible for him in the race!

In the emotional wake of his victory in the Sprint, the Dutchman on the Red Bull went into qualifying as the favourite, even though - as we have just said - the advantage over his designated rivals was nowhere near as great as the one he enjoyed, let's say, in 2023... But it was Lando Norris who took pole position instead!

Steven Tee / Motorsport Images

The laptime of 1'32"330 that puts him ahead of everyone allowed him to overtake Verstappen by just 0.031 s, a mere trifle on a pretty long circuit: it was a shame that in the final stages of Q3 we didn't get the chance to enjoy a second attempt from everyone, due to George Russell's crash in Turn 19. The Mercedes driver fortunately escaped unhurt, but the yellow flags "froze" the result exactly as said, with the two Ferraris in third and fourth place and the rest of the grid as in the above picture.

The race dynamics of the Sprint, however, have allowed us to observe that in view of the main race starting on pole position will not be as decisive as on other occasions, and - restricting the analysis to the top five - the chances of victory are almost identical for everyone. Fundamental, therefore, will be two factors that couldn't emerge on Saturday: strategies and tyre management.

Gasly "best of the rest", a great qualifying (and great weekend) for Haas

Behind the top 6, with Russell closing this top teams' group, we find the surprising Alpine of Pierre Gasly, who on the Austin track was on it for the entire qualifying session: for a few moments in Q2, he even climbed into first position! It is not clear what technical aspect could have allowed the Frenchman to qualify so high, but as now, with this starting position and by optimising the crucial phases of the race, Pierre could secure a points result that would mean a lot for the Enstone team in the Constructors' Championship fight against Williams (while VCARB and Haas, paired on 34 points, remain a little too far ahead).

Zak Mauger / Motorsport Images

The two Haas cars, with Magnussen in P9 and Hulkenberg in P12 (but with the potential to do even better), also proved as fast as the other midfield teams. Having recovered three points from VCARB - and, as mentioned, equalled it in the Constructors' standings - tonight's home race will be an inviting opportunity for the American team to score some more points, with the aim of potentially having some margin to work with on less favourable tracks for their VF-24.

Sam Bloxham / Motorsport Images

Flying lap "curse" strikes again for Hamilton: eliminated in Q1, he will start in 18th

Finally, we can't conclude our analysis without mentioning the bad performance of Lewis Hamilton, who will start from 18th (thus third last) this evening. Just as in the Sprint Qualifying, it was a mistake in the middle sector of his best lap that penalised the British driver: but whereas on Friday this mistake had come in the final heat, on Saturday a similar mishap means starting from the back of the grid!

Glenn Dunbar / Motorsport Images

To be fair, Lewis himself spoke of some mechanical component that may have broken during the Sprint, and that not being replaced ahead of qualifying compromised his performance. Having no further information on the matter, we're nonetheless compelled to report that through a quick comparison with his team-mate Russell (based on their best lap in Q1), the Stevenage driver's disadvantage was all in the middle sector: if there had been an aerodynamic or mechanical problem on his Mercedes, it would probably have reverberated throughout the lap, while the timesheets show a first and third sector actually equal for the Brackley team duo.

Sam Bloxham / Motorsport Images

For Mercedes, in my opinion, this could be a good opportunity to fit new Power Unit components and accept a penalty, perhaps even changing the setup of Lewis' W15 ahead of what promises to be a very interesting comeback to follow!

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