Charles Leclerc dominated the US Grand Prix after he took the lead in turn 1. Carlos Sainz completed a Ferrari 1-2, with Lando Norris third, ahead of his rival Max Verstappen.
Lando Norris lost the lead of the race right after the start, as he defended from Max Verstappen and let Charles Leclerc and Carlos Sainz as well as the Dutchman get past him, ending up in P4.
Meanwhile, Sainz was trying to attack Verstappen, but the action on track was frozen by the safety car, as Lewis Hamilton was stuck in the gravel at the penultimate corner after losing the rear in the corner entry.
As the race resumed, Leclerc kept the lead ahead of Verstappen and Sainz. The rest of the field followed without issues. The Spaniard Ferrari driver complained to his engineer that he didn’t have power on the corner exit, something which was costing him time. Despite that, he continued his race.
Lance Stroll went wide and picked up some gravel but managed to continue, and Guanyu Zhou spun in turn 1 but was able to resume his race without causing damage to his or others’ cars.
Leclerc was opening up a comfortable gap to Verstappen, as by lap 14 he was 6 seconds ahead. Meanwhile, George Russell received a 5-second penalty for forcing another driver off the track.
The first of the top drivers to pit was Sainz, who fitted the hard tires, trying to undercut Verstappen. A few laps later, the Red Bull driver also pitted, and he came out behind the Ferrari.
Just one lap later, Leclerc also dived into the pits and came out behind the two McLarens, but they still had to stop. It didn’t take long for the Monégasque to catch up to Piastri, and he immediately overtook him. As he did so, Norris also pitted after a positive first stint.
The standings after the first pit stops saw Leclerc still in the lead, with Sainz second, completing a Ferrari 1-2. Verstappen was third, with Norris behind.
Norris’s pace was excellent, and he was chasing Verstappen, who was struggling with the tires. If Liam Lawson was having a great race so far, it wasn’t the same for Yuki Tsunoda as he spun in turn 1 and lost time.
The two Ferraris were keeping a solid lead, while Norris closed the gap to Verstappen to 1 second. The Britton was right on the Dutchman’s tail, but overtaking him proved to be difficult. Meanwhile, an incredible Franco Colapinto set the fastest lap of the race.
Norris managed to overtake Verstappen after an impressive fight. However, the FIA was investigating the overtake as he gained the position by going off the track.
In the end, Leclerc won the race by dominating. Sainz completed an incredible 1-2 for Ferrari, while Norris and Verstappen ended up in P3 and P4. However, even though Norris overtook the Dutchman, the former received a 5-second penalty, thus promoting the Red Bull driver back to P3.
Piastri was fifth, Russell sixth as he overtook Perez on the last lap. Nico Hülkenberg, Lawson, and Colapinto finished in the points after an incredible race.