Charles Leclerc led Carlos Sainz home as Ferrari won a thunderous one-two in Sunday’s United States Grand Prix, with Lando Norris relegated to fourth after finishing third on track ahead of title challenger Max Verstappen in third place. McLaren’s Norris was penalized five seconds for obtaining an advantage by leaving the course to pass the series leader and three-time Red Bull champion on lap 53 of the 56-lap race, dropping to fourth. Verstappen now holds a 57-point lead over Norris in the drivers’ championship with five races remaining this season.
Leclerc finished 8.562 seconds ahead of Sainz, with Verstappen third, 19.412 seconds behind, and Norris fourth, ahead of McLaren teammate Oscar Piastri and Mercedes’ George Russell, who finished sixth after starting in the pitlane.
Sergio Perez finished eighth in the second Red Bull, ahead of Nico Hulkenberg of Haas, Liam Lawson of RB, and Franco Colapinto of Williams. It was Leclerc’s first victory in the United States, his third of the season and eighth of his career, while Ferrari scored its first one-two in America since 2006.
“It wasn’t an easy weekend up to now, I have been struggling with the feeling with the car, but I had confidence in the race,” Leclerc told the crowd. “I am really happy about today, a 1-2 for our squad, we could not have dreamed for better.”
Verstappen commented, “It was a challenging race for me. I never had the pace to attack and defending was difficult due to understeer. It was a difficult battle to keep him (Norris) behind, but the outcome was excellent. “I have my opinion with his move, but I’ll put it to the stewards. I don’t need to say anything here.”
Norris made a fine initial start from his sixth pole in three races but left a critical gap on the inside which spurred Verstappen with approach, forcing them each wide and permitting Leclerc to snatch that lead as fourth on the grid as they came through Turn
Norris slid to fourth as Sainz passed him on a dramatic first lap that saw Lewis Hamilton surge from 17th to 12th before colliding at Turn 19 on lap three, necessitating an early safety car intervention. The Mercedes driver had never failed to finish in 11 races in Austin.
The race began on lap five, with Leclerc pushing away to extend his lead to three seconds by lap ten, while Verstappen held off Sainz, who reported suspected fuel issues and a loss of power. Norris remained fourth, ahead of McLaren teammate Piastri.
By lap 20, as pit stops began, Leclerc was 8.3 seconds ahead of Verstappen, with Sainz third, 1.3 seconds behind the Dutchman. Norris was 3.6 points behind in fourth place.
On lap 21, Sainz came in for hards and rejoined sixth. Verstappen remained out until lap 26, when he rejoined in fifth place after Ferrari accomplished their undercut. On lap 27, Leclerc pitted for hards, allowing Norris and Piastri to lead the pace. He placed third.
Piastri held off Leclerc until lap 31, when Norris pitted. He reclaimed fifth place behind Verstappen and ahead of sixth-place Russell, who had not stopped. Piastri pitted a lap later, and order was restored, with the Ferraris, headed by Leclerc, in front of Verstappen and both McLarens.
Russell finally pitted on lap 41, rejoining seventh on mediums for the last stint as Norris moved in on Verstappen as they raced for third place and crucial points in their title race. The couple fought ferociously for a dozen laps, with the champion defending adroitly each time Norris attacked, until lap 53, when, pushed wide and off-track, the Briton eventually made his move hold and finished third.
“He needs to give me it back,” Verstappen complained on team radio as they battled on, and the stewards analyzed the move before issuing Norris a five-second penalty for gaining an advantage.