United States Grand Prix: The Highs and Lows chosen by the editorial team

Liam Lawson, winning comeback

He had amazed everyone last year by stepping in for Daniel Ricciardo at short notice after the Australian’s injury at Zandvoort. Liam Lawson, who wasn’t expected to do much at the time, had revealed himself to the world to such an extent that the question of his appointment for 2024 had been raised for a while.

A year later, here he is back, this time with high expectations around him. The New Zealander is playing his career over six races and has started the first one in the best possible way. Sentenced to start from the back of the grid due to the penalty of changing engine parts accumulated by Daniel Ricciardo as a farewell gift, number 30 completed the perfect race.

Fired up like a bullet, he finished 9th and offered two valuable points to his team. Especially since his teammate Yuki Tsunoda, who started in 10th position, only managed a modest 14th place. Liam Lawson also showed some character against Fernando Alonso, with whom tensions ran high all weekend. Seeing him stand up to the Spaniard is likely to please Helmut Marko!

Ten places gained 📈
Vital points scored for the team 💪@LiamLawson30‘s debut as a full-time F1 driver couldn’t have gone much better 🤩#F1 #USGP pic.twitter.com/xrSlmFmKr2

— Formula 1 (@F1) October 20, 2024

George Russell, from zero to hero

If this article had been written after the qualifications, George Russell would clearly have been included in our flops. Author of a gross mistake on a flying lap, he was forced to start from the pit lane after changing parts under Parc Fermé conditions. Sentenced to a crazy comeback, the Briton complied by staying on hard tires for a long time (40 laps).

Metronome in managing his tires, the former Williams driver crossed the finish line after 56 laps of racing in a fine 6th place. A superb performance that is a little more than what could have been hoped for him before the start. He managed to finish ahead of Sergio Perez’s Red Bull, which is both a nice move for him and a slight to the Mexican.

Pit lane start to P6 finish. Gave it my all out there today. A huge thank you to everyone who spent the night fixing the car. You earned those points today 🙏 pic.twitter.com/Z3hWd1Vjjr

— George Russell (@GeorgeRussell63) October 20, 2024

Franco Colapinto, the summer hit continues into the fall.

In four races, Franco Colapinto already has five points. That’s five times more than Logan Sargeant in 36 starts. The arrival of the Argentine is a blessing for Williams, in search of the slightest unit to stay ahead of Alpine in the constructors’ championship. Franco Colapinto had a brilliant weekend: he made it to Q3, started 10th in the sprint race, before starting 15th in the Grand Prix.

Thanks to excellent pace and good race intelligence, the driver who started in F2 just a few months ago was able to finish ahead of Gasly, Magnussen and Alonso, who all started in the top 10. By snatching the point for 10th place, he shows that the impressive performances seen when he arrived were not just a stroke of luck. To think that he might end up without a seat next year, unless Audi…

These fans 🤩

VAMOSSS 🇦🇷 pic.twitter.com/Pz8kXPv68i

— Williams Racing (@WilliamsRacing) October 20, 2024

Flops:

We are starting to lose count of the number of times Lando Norris starts in the lead and loses it at the first corner. Austin remains a special case, where the pole sitter is often attacked at the first corner hairpin, favoring the second. The latter has taken the lead 6 times at the first corner in the last 7 Grand Prix races held in Texas.

There lies not so much the problem, but Lando Norris, lacking rhythm at the beginning of the race, once again missed the opportunity to overtake Max Verstappen, his rival for the title. Catching up rapidly with the Red Bull towards the end of the race, the McLaren driver settled for following it for a long time, unable to get close enough due to the dirty air.

Finally, his only attack was – once again – too messy and too soft. Against the most difficult driver to overtake on the grid, any hesitation is not allowed. By probably braking a bit too early, Norris gave Verstappen the opportunity to push him off the track. If the three-time world champion should have been penalized, his championship runner-up could have let him pass to try his luck again.

Too soft and ultimately penalized, Lando Norris concedes three points to his rival and sees his title dreams diminish even more. Unless he raises the aggression level, Max Verstappen will be able to sleep soundly. Especially if he avoids penalties…

A tough US GP, but more points on the board for the team and a determined effort shown out on track, despite missing out on a podium.

Five races to go. 👊#UnitedStatesGP 🇺🇸 pic.twitter.com/gLVqJ4Oibd

— McLaren (@McLarenF1) October 20, 2024

Alpine, lost illusions

Esteban Ocon set the fastest lap of a Grand Prix for the first time in his career. It is also the first time in Alpine’s history. A small event that shows that statistics do not tell the whole story of a Grand Prix. Alpine simply delivered another disappointing performance. In their Indiana Jones-colored livery, the French team did not shine. However, Pierre Gasly, starting 6th on the grid, had a great opportunity to score points and there was hope after the first few laps where the orange Alpine was keeping up with the two McLarens ahead of it. Then came the pit stop: over 6 seconds, a mistake, Tsunoda passed him, and Gasly started to lose positions. The Norman’s race then became completely anonymous, like that of his teammate, who finished 18th and only managed to snatch the fastest lap from Franco Colapinto to prevent the Alpine letter A from falling further behind Williams in the constructors’ championship. Just a side note, like Alpine’s season.

Pierre Gasly termine 12e après une course marquée par un long arrêt aux stands et une pénalité 😕#USGP #F1 pic.twitter.com/IGU7b8IyfV

— CANAL+ F1® (@CanalplusF1) October 20, 2024

Lewis Hamilton, from zero … to zero

How long had Lewis Hamilton not had such a bad weekend? His qualifying – race sequence reminded us of the finest moments of Nikita Mazepin, Nicholas Latifi, or Pastor Maldonado, certainly not what we know of the seven-time world champion.

His qualifications (eliminated in Q1 with the 19th time) were disastrous. His complaints about the change in his car’s behavior since the sprint race may have explained his underperformance a bit, but the fact remains that his weekend was already heavily compromised. After crossing paths with his teammate George Russell at the back of the grid, penalized after going off track in qualifying, the elder of the Mercedes drivers made a perfect start to be in 12th place on the second lap. A stellar start that ultimately turned out to be a damp squib. At the end of the second lap, Lewis Hamilton lost control of his Mercedes at the same spot as Russell the day before and ended up in the gravel trap. An early end to the weekend for the seven-time world champion, who had the merit of awakening Bernd Maylander, who had not deployed his safety car during a Grand Prix for 9 races (at the Canadian GP).

ABANDON DE LEWIS HAMILTON 🤯

Après avoir gagné 5 places au départ, la monoplace du Britannique décroche dans le virage 19 💥#USGP #F1 pic.twitter.com/5iGLPBJp7C

— CANAL+ F1® (@CanalplusF1) October 20, 2024

Sergio Perez regrets Daniel Ricciardo

As at every moment since his arrival at Red Bull, Sergio Perez is under pressure. The indescribable refrain has been ringing in the ears of the Mexican for four years: he is on the hot seat if he does not perform well. Last year already, he managed to keep his seat for lack of a convincing replacement. Daniel Ricciardo, his designated successor, did not meet expectations and Perez was retained and even extended for two more seasons. But now a new challenger is emerging: Liam Lawson is in fine form and has succeeded in his return (see above), while Max Verstappen’s teammate had another anonymous race. Without being completely off the pace, he still finished 7th, ranked lower than the drivers of the top four teams (excluding Hamilton, who retired), notably behind George Russell, who started from the pit lane.

Red Bull no longer seems able to win the constructors’ title and Sergio Perez will be mainly responsible for it, while Max Verstappen is still firmly leading the drivers’ standings. The Mexican, who will be competing in his home race next weekend, has every interest in raising his level in order not to be replaced next year by Liam Lawson, who already seems more suited to handle the pressure.

Not the weekend we expected. Now let’s move into Mexico and put everything together, thanks to all the fans that once again made me feel like at home.
Nos vemos en unos días 💪👍 🇲🇽

No fue el fin de semana que esperábamos. Ahora vamos a México y a juntar todas las piezas,… pic.twitter.com/yvUGeg2Fvz

— Sergio Pérez (@SChecoPerez) October 21, 2024