Massive STATEMENT everyone missed in F1 US Grand Prix
Massive STATEMENT everyone missed in F1 US Grand Prix
Sit down on the sofa on a Sunday afternoon to watch any sort of sporting contest and you would expect the cameras to be fixed on the battle for victory, right?
Whether on a pitch, court, field, course, canvas or track, the team and/or athlete which is working most impressively to best the competition is surely the centre of attention. This, after all, is the very nature of sport and the foundation of its intense allure.
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But occasionally a sporting victory can be so straightforward, so serenely assured, that focus is shifted elsewhere. Formula 1, with its disparate drivers running at different points on the circuit which cannot be covered in one camera shot, is ripe for narrative flux in broadcasts. And Sunday’s United States Grand Prix was one of the finest examples.
While title rivals Max Verstappen and Lando Norris were tussling over a third-place finish lap after lap on the back straight of the Circuit of the Americas, Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc was sauntering into the distance entirely unnoticed.
Camera shots daubed in Red Bull navy and McLaren papaya were hardly ever flourished with flashes of Ferrari red.
That is because the Scuderia, consistently the third or fourth-fastest car on the grid throughout the season so far, had built up such a commanding and composed lead of the race that following the progress of Leclerc and team-mate Carlos Sainz was entirely redundant.
Instead, Verstappen and Norris’ limit-stretching squabbles took centre stage, leaving what was an enormously impressive statement from Ferrari to go largely unnoticed.
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Why were Ferrari so much better at the US Grand Prix?
Having qualified third and fourth on the grid, Leclerc took advantage of Verstappen and Norris’ jousting off the line to take the lead on the exit of Turn 1, and then never looked back. Sainz, meanwhile, was able to leapfrog Verstappen by undercutting him in the pits and was never troubled from there as he secured a stellar one-two finish for the team.
Afterwards, Leclerc - who took the eighth win of his F1 career - was full of praise for the technical developments the team has made since the summer break.
“The pace of the car today and this weekend overall was really, really good in the race, and that’s mostly thanks to the engineers,” the Monegasque driver said. “They’ve been working like crazy in the last few months to bring the upgrades that we’ve had in Singapore and in the last few races, and it seems to be paying off.”
Those updates have focused on the floor and the front wing. Earlier in the season, especially across the second third of the campaign, Ferrari struggled consistently with bouncing in higher speed corners. The downforce of the car was significantly compromised, and the drivers’ lives were made significantly more difficult.
Impressive recent outings in Monza and Azerbaijan, where Leclerc finished first and second respectively, were positive indicators that the team was finally on top of its issues. But a track like the one in Texas, with its high-speed first sector and range of corner speeds, was always going to be the real test of the recent upgrades.
The revamped car passed with flying colours. In qualifying for both the sprint race and grand prix both Ferraris were in real contention, but then in race trim outclassed the competition.
READ MORE: FIA issue HUGE penalty in dramatic US GP aftermath
What does Ferrari’s improvement mean for the future?
Ferrari have been hampered by two significant issues since F1 entered its latest era of technical regulations in 2022 - weak long run pace compared to one-lap speed, and heavy wear on the tyres. But in Austin they were consistently quicker than their rivals with heavy fuel on board, and were able to make the one-stop tyre strategy work without any issue.
If the most recent developments the team has delivered are already going a long way to countering those hitherto fundamental flaws, then this step forward could be a significant and sustainable one.
In the immediate term, that brings the Scuderia into contention for the constructors’ championship. Just eight points off Red Bull in second and 48 behind leaders McLaren, a few more very strong weekends would bring them into genuine contention. Leclerc for one believes it is possible.
"We've got to target winning the constructors' title," the 27-year-old said. "It's an optimistic goal, but that's what we are here for.
"If we do everything perfect until the end of the season, no matter what McLaren does, if we do better than them, I think we can still clinch that title.
"The whole team is working super well, so [I’m] really, really happy. It’s a long way to go but it’s a good start to this triple header."
But beyond the next five races, the real boon for Ferrari is the foundation they are building themselves for 2025, the last of the current technical era before the upcoming revamp in 2026.
Next season’s cars are likely to be mild evolutions of this season’s machinery, meaning those who finish the campaign in the finest fettle are likely to be in a strong position to challenge for the both the drivers’ and constructors’ titles next time around.
Without a drivers’ title since 2007, and with Lewis Hamilton set to replace Sainz, team principal Frederic Vasseur could be setting his squad up to be in its strongest shape in decades.
If that is the case, the F1 cameras will be focused far more on Ferrari than they were in Texas on Sunday. But for now, swaggering into the southern sunset with the silver in hand while chaos unfurls behind them will do just fine.
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F1 Race Calendar 2024
-
GP USA
3 - 5 May
Lando Norris
-
GP ITALY
17 - 19 May
Max Verstappen
-
GP MONACO
24 - 26 May
Charles Leclerc
-
GP CANADA
7 - 9 Jun
Max Verstappen
-
GP SPAIN
21 - 23 Jun
Max Verstappen
-
GP AUSTRIA
28 - 30 Jun
George Russell
-
GP GREAT BRITAIN
5 - 7 Jul
Lewis Hamilton
-
GP HUNGARY
19 - 21 Jul
Oscar Piastri
-
GP BELGIUM
26 - 28 Jul
Lewis Hamilton
-
GP NETHERLANDS
23 - 25 Aug
Lando Norris
-
GP ITALY
30 Aug - 1 Sep
Charles Leclerc
-
GP AZERBAIJAN
13 - 15 Sep
Oscar Piastri
-
GP SINGAPORE
20 - 22 Sep
Lando Norris
-
GP USA
18 - 20 Oct
Charles Leclerc
- GP MEXICO 25 - 27 Oct
- GP BRAZIL 1 - 3 Nov
- GP USA 22 - 24 Nov
- GP QATAR 29 Nov - 1 Dec
- GP ABU DHABI 6 - 8 Dec
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F1 Standings
Drivers
- Charles Leclerc
- Carlos Sainz
- Lando Norris
- Oscar Piastri
- Pierre Gasly
- Esteban Ocon
- Sergio Pérez
- Max Verstappen
- Alexander Albon
- Franco Alejandro Colapinto
- Logan Sargeant
- Lewis Hamilton
- George Russell
- Oliver Bearman
- Nico Hülkenberg
- Kevin Magnussen
- Fernando Alonso
- Lance Stroll
- Valtteri Bottas
- Zhou Guanyu
- Liam Lawson
- Daniel Ricciardo
- Yuki Tsunoda
Races
- Gulf Air Grand Prix of Bahrain 2024
- Saudi Arabian Grand Prix 2024
- Grand Prix of Australia 2024
- MSC Cruises Grand Prix of Japan 2024
- Grand Prix of China 2024
- Miami Grand Prix 2024
- Gran Premio dell'Emilia Romagna 2024
- Grand Prix of Monaco 2024
- AWS Grand Prix du Canada 2024
- Gran Premio de España 2024
- Grand Prix of Austria 2024
- Grand Prix of Great Britain 2024
- Grand Prix of Hungary 2024
- Grand Prix of Belgium 2024
- Heineken Dutch Grand Prix 2024
- Grand Prix of Italy 2024
- Grand Prix of Azerbaijan 2024
- Grand Prix of Singapore 2024
- Grand Prix of the United States 2024
- Gran Premio de la Ciudad de Mexico 2024
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- Heineken Silver Las Vegas Grand Prix 2024
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