Charles Leclerc, Ferrari SF-24
Photo by: Glenn Dunbar / Motorsport Images
Charles Leclerc claimed his third victory of the season with a commanding drive at the United States Grand Prix, leading Carlos Sainz home for a Ferrari 1-2 finish.
The Monegasque gathered a swift start and pounced on the battling front-row duo of Max Verstappen and Lando Norris, cutting back down the inside of Turn 1 and escaping through the sweeping corners with the lead.
He immediately gained a 1.6-second lead at the end of the first lap to ward off the threat of Verstappen with DRS, as the Dutchman had benefitted from a conservative approach from Norris into the first corner to pick up second.
Leclerc then had to defend from Verstappen after a safety car brought out midway through the third lap, caused by Lewis Hamilton spinning off at Turn 18 and beaching his Mercedes in the gravel to cap off a torrid weekend.
Although Verstappen stuck with Leclerc on the restart, the Ferrari driver covered off the Red Bull through the Turn 2-8 complex of corners to ensure there was no threat from behind.
Having gone long into the race on a one-stop, which proved to be the most popular strategy, Leclerc emerged from the pits after his lap 26 stop behind the long-running McLarens as Norris and Oscar Piastri sought to gather a tyre offset into the final stages of the race.
Leclerc resumed the lead once the McLarens stopped, but this was now over team-mate Carlos Sainz; the Spaniard had successfully batted away an earlier power issue to stay with Verstappen and then undercut the Red Bull with a stop four laps sooner.
Sainz occasionally ate into Leclerc's lead, cutting a seven-second advantage down to under six seconds, but Leclerc had the legs over Sainz in the final laps and cemented his victory from fourth on the grid.
More to follow...
Source: Autosport