US GP : LeClerc wins. Ferrari 1-2
Charles LeClerc wins the US GP and makes it a Ferrari 1-2 with Sainz. Max and Lando fight hard for the final podium position.
Ferrari dominance : LeClerc shines in US
Charles LeClerc recently celebrated his 27th birthday. When asked what he would like as a birthday gift, he said a win on Sunday would be nice. This is exactly what he got. Ferrari while not having good Quali pace certainly looked better in Race mode. While the entire focus was on Lando and Max, Ferrari quietly built a strong case for themselves. Starting from P4, Charles took the lead on first turn as Lando and Max squabbled in the first row. From then onwards there was no turning back. Driving in fresh air throughout the race LeClerc kept the pace and neither Max in Red Bull or Lando in McLaren could catch up to him. This is certainly one of the unexpected win and he relish his birthday gift a lot.
Not to be outdone even Carlos Sainz had a great weekend. There was hardly much to show in the practice session but Carlos got a P5 in Sprint Quali and finished P3 in the Sprint. Then for the main race he qualified P3 and finished P2, while overtaking Max. He would rue his chances of race win but would be very happy with a Ferrari 1-2. Ferrari are just 8 points behind Red Bull in the Constructors and it would be very embarassing for Red Bull to finish third in Constructors while Max wins the World Championship.
Max and Lando at each other in US
In the Sprint Quali and Race it seemed like the Max of the first half of the season was back. He found his mojo, easily taking Pole for Sprint and then winning the Sprint easily, just like the good old days. However that was not the case to be for the main race. He had to abort the final lap in Q3 but still managed to start from the front row. As the race started he got ahead of Lando but then the Ferrari of LeClerc went past everyone to take the lead. Surprisingly Max did not have the race pace to catch up to LeClerc. In fact he kept losing time to LeClerc and eventually Sainz went ahead with an undercut.
However it was the fight with Lando for the final podium position that got everyone’s attention. Both the drivers went hard at each other but Lando was unable to overtake Max despite having better pace. Eventually did he overtake Max but only after going off the track, when Max went off the track too. Still it was Lando who the 5 seconds penalty and had to settle for the P4 position. The fight between them is very much on, although realistically the gap is too big to be covered in the last 5 races.
Both their teammates had races to forget. Oscar drove average at best and finished P5. Checo even worse with a P7 finish. Lewis also had a weekend to forget as he spun into gravel while starting from the pit lane. His team mate George also started from the back but managed to recover to a good P6 position.
Rookies had their moment of sunshine. Lawson in his first foray for RB this season managed to score points at P9. Colapinto finished in the P10 position while it was another strong performance by Hulkenburg with P8 finish.
US GP Race Classification : LeClerc shines
