There's a new sheriff in town: a dominant Leclerc in Austin!

(Cover picture: Charles Leclerc)

What a domination by Leclerc in Austin! The Monegasque of Ferrari wins a race in complete solitude as he hasn't done since the 2022 Australian GP in Melbourne... A victory conquered at the start thanks to the duel in Turn 1 between Verstappen and Norris, but certified by a race pace that no one has been able to match: let's find out how the triumph in this United States GP came about!

A key start to the race: Charles cleverly took advantage of Max's attack on Lando

As mentioned earlier, the highlight of the Grand Prix was at the start, when Norris from pole and Verstappen from second got off to an almost identical start. But as Verstappen approached Turn 1, there was little doubt that he would make an aggressive move against his rival: that's exactly what happened, with the two ending up beyond the track limits coming out of corners, allowing Charles Leclerc to overtake both, and Carlos Sainz to get the better of Norris.

Steve Etherington / Motorsport Images

The World Champion's braking manouvre on the McLaren Englishman was certainly aggressive and equally certainly out of proportion, having driven his own RB20 over the kerb, but it's well known that on the first lap the race stewards are less strict, this being a stage of the race where contacts are almost inevitable. 

Verstappen's ability, as we have observed over the years, lies in moving on the edge of the regulations: this is why it must be noted that Lando could have moved even further inside the corner and "close the door", to avoid leaving a car's width on his left!

Andy Hone / Motorsport Images

Also on the first lap, arriving in Turn 12 it was Sainz who tried to overtake Verstappen, with a braking move that - again - took them both over the edge of the track. On this occasion, however, the Spaniard was very clever in letting his rival's Red Bull get past, knowing that an overtaking move in such circumstances could have resulted in a penalty (as in fact we saw many of them later in the race...).

Zak Mauger / Motorsport Images

After a couple of laps another twist: Lewis Hamilton's run off the track in Turn 19, with a spin that left his Mercedes W15 in the gravel trap and caused the Safety Car to come out. An unusual mistake for the Englishman, which - even as admitted by Toto Wolff in the post-race interviews - may not have been caused 100% by a driving mistake. In any case, we're sure that Hamilton won't remember this edition of the United States Grand Prix with pleasure, since the whole weekend saw him struggling with troubles of a different nature and magnitude, right up to the retirement that put an end to his race.

Attacking in the first stint, managing in the second: nothing to do against this Ferrari...

Returning to the race at the front, by the time the Safety Car came back into the pits and the race was green flagged, despite an excellent restart Max Verstappen had no chance of taking the lead, instead watching Charles Leclerc - lap after lap - building a safety margin in first position. Throughout the opening stint on Medium tyres, in fact, the pace held by the Ferrari driver was unbeatable, with the gap near the pit stop phase (on lap 26) close to 10 seconds.

Sam Bloxham / Motorsport Images

Behind the top three, the McLaren drivers, on the other hand, were penalised by a once again questionable tactical choice by the pit wall, which imposed a very slow pace in the first 15 laps, with the idea of making one less pit stop than their rivals, who were expected to make two stops. When it became clear that no one was going to set the 56-lap race on two stops, the Woking team's plan went up in smoke, leaving Norris and Piastri with only the technical advantage of a consistent "tyre delta" with which to at least try to salvage a podium position...

Sam Bloxham / Motorsport Images

At that point for Charles the number one threat, if you can call it that, became the twin car of Carlos Sainz, who thanks to a successful undercut on Verstappen had managed to overtake the latter, laying the foundations for a Ferrari one-two that hadn't been clinched since the Australian GP at the start of the season. But, you know, with the same car and a safe gap (6.5 s, as the two drivers found themselves without any more stops to serve) it's difficult to think of changing the result of a race, especially as Leclerc didn't push almost at all on the Hards, only sporadically allowing himself a few attempts at a fastest lap, unfortunately without success...

The comeback of the two McLarens, Norris again beaten by Verstappen!

Coming then to the last 20 laps of the race, the scenario that materialised was Norris' recovery (P4) on Verstappen's third position. And it was here that the Dutchman, in a technically inferior condition, kept his World Title rival at bay, managing tyre wear and the state of charge of his Power Unit battery pack to perfection as he waited for the rejoining and subsequent battle.

When, on lap 51 out of 56, Norris tried his first lunge into Turn 12 after the long DRS straight, Max made it clear immediately that he was not going to have it easy, and delivered a masterclass of car positioning and grip maximisation in the traction zones that allowed him to stay ahead of the McLaren MCL38 in "Chrome" livery.

Sam Bagnall / Motorsport Images

On lap 52 the situation got even hotter, and once again in Turn 12 the two of them both went wide, prompting an investigation of the incident by the FIA: this time the stewards decided (correctly, in this writer's opinion) that it was Norris, who was behind Verstappen at the apex, who benefitted most from the infringement. In other words, having overtaken his rival only by leaving the track, the Englishman was given a five-second penalty, which effectively meant the loss of third position and - more importantly - a loss of three points from Max where he could have gained as many on him!

From pit lane to sixth place: a comeback race for Russell

While the fight for victory (if one can speak of a fight, having outlined the clear dominance of Leclerc) was taking place between the top 5, behind this group we witnessed two comeback races, by George Russell (P6) and Sergio Perez (P7) respectively. Needless to say, the Mercedes driver's recovery can be seen as much more valuable than that of his Red Bull colleague, given that the former started from the pit lane, while the latter from tenth on the grid.

Simon Galloway / Motorsport Images

With a sixth place finish over Checo, George Russell salvages what can be saved in a weekend that - as mentioned speaking of Hamilton - has been disastrous for the Brackley-based team. Judging by the performance in the very last few races, it seems impossible to think of the W15 as the car that won two important races like Silverstone and Spa (along with the success in the Austrian Grand Prix, which, however, came about in very lucky conditions...).

Simon Galloway / Motorsport Images

Speaking of the two aforementioned drivers, it's worth thinking in terms of the Constructors' Championship: the current situation sees Mercedes in fourth position and “condemned” to stay there, as the three teams in the lead are a long way off, but so is Aston Martin in fifth...

Right in the leading trio, however, we find Perez's Red Bull: the English-Austrian team may be second, but they are in decline and could soon lose ground to Ferrari.... It's difficult not to attribute responsibility to the Mexican driver under these circumstances, but as early as next week Checo will have a chance to be more useful to his team's cause in his home Grand Prix, the one in Mexico City.

Lawson and Colapinto, a memorable performance for the two rookies

Finally, let's close our analysis of this race by mentioning two rookies - or almost rookies, given that Lawson raced a few races last year - who were the authors of two absolutely over-the-top performances. Whereas the New Zealander, starting from the back of the grid, took ninth place behind an excellent Hulkenberg, Williams' Argentine driver Colapinto (P10) also closed in the points zone, making the difference compared to Alex Albon, who in this end of the season is failing to impose his superiority on a very tough rookie.

Glenn Dunbar / Motorsport Images

It's no mean feat to watch races like the one run by Franco Colapinto, and by now - both among fans and insiders - there is very little doubt that the driver of the number 43 car deserves to stay in Formula 1 next year. The chances are slim at the moment, but let's hope that some teams will have the courage to bet on a young man from nowhere who is responding with results to the perplexity of those who thought his call to the top series to replace Sergeant was premature...

To conclude this analysis, let us look forward to seeing you on these pages next weekend at the Mexican Grand Prix!

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