UNITED STATES GRAND PRIX RACE RECAP

Well, well, well. Today's race was quite the showdown. I had a feeling that the US Grand Prix would be interesting, but I didn't expect it to leave me surprised. Putting the numerous distributed penalties aside, here's my recap of the race: 

A FERRARI 1-2 FINISH

Ha! My Tifosi senses were tingling. I called it the other day, and here we are! Charles Leclerc won the United States Grand Prix after taking advantage of a side-to-side moment between Max Verstappen and Lando Norris to rise to the top of the leaderboard from P4. That race opening surprise was electrifying to watch unfold on live television and was well-executed on the Monagesque driver's part. Like Verstappen's pacing at the beginning of the season, Leclerc had a steady pace ahead of everyone. 

Teammate Carlos Sainz came in second after cleverly undercutting Verstappen through a pitstop and speeding ahead on new tires. He remained behind roughly 4 to 5 seconds behind Leclerc for the remainder of the race. The drivers were battling it out throughout the race before finally ceasing. I would guess that the drivers may have planned to hold their positions in advance should a 1-2 opportunity arise, or they may have received the orders in the heat of the race. Nobody, after all, wants to see them crash out. Unlike a certain team with a fruit-named color scheme, the Prancing Horse is not afraid to issue strict orders to guarantee a win. Either way, Ferrari's strategy allowed the drivers to zip through the laps while everyone competed for P3. 

BATTLE FOR THIRD - NORRIS VS. VERSTAPPEN 

Laps 42 through 52 left us with an unforgettable display of hard racing between Verstappen and Norris in a bid for a third-place finish on the podium. After losing the lead to Leclerc, Norris fell to P4 and spent most of the race fighting back to the top three. By Lap 42, Norris began to chase after Verstappen (who fell from P2 to P3 throughout the race), maintaining an average gap of 0.5 but no larger than 1.0. Norris repeatedly attempted to overtake, coming desperately close multiple times just to be blocked off by the Red Bull driver's fierce and swerving defense. By Lap 52, the McLaren driver finally passed and cemented a third-place finish. 

The catch was that Norris went off track limits amid the duel and came out in front, prompting Verstappen's protest on his team radio and a noted incident from FIA Stewards. Whether this was due to being pushed off by Verstappen (and having to go off to avoid an accident) or simply going too wide is up for debate. The FIA stewards, finicky as ever, handled a five-second penalty to Norris in the last lap of the lap of race. So, while the McLaren driver visually finished in third place with 4.1 seconds ahead of the Dutchman, Norris technically finished in fourth with the penalty added, promoting Verstappen into third place. 

I think the penalty was malarkey, as was McLaren's handling of the incident and the aftermath. I'm no race strategist, but here is how I would have handled the off-track incident: 

1. Strongly advise Norris to hand back the position, as this could have curbed the stewards' likelihood of handing a five-second penalty. It's not like the stewards haven't looked the other way in other instances, right? 

2. Urge Norris to close the gap between the cars, overtake again, and ensure he is within the track this time. 

3. Penalty or no penalty handed, shift the priority to creating a significant gap between himself and Verstappen. As the Red Bull car's tires were older and degrading, this would have been a prime opportunity to exploit that and exhaust the car's tires (thus slowing him down) within those few last laps. If Norris' gap from Verstappen was closer to ten seconds or more, a five penalty could have allowed the McLaren driver to keep his podium finish. Prompting Piastri to charge after Verstappen could have baited him to shift back to defense and distract just enough to let Norris take off.

MIXED LUCK FOR MERCEDES

Despite climbing from P17 to P12 within the first lap, Lewis Hamilton was out by Lap 3 after spinning (like his teammate's Qualifying crash) into the gravel, prompting a Yellow Flag that lasted until Lap 6. The seven-time World Champion was the only DNF of the race, but his shocking exit prompted a gasp that lingered for the rest of the race.

I can only imagine how high he could have finished had he not hit the gravel - P8? P5? P4? A girl can only dream. George Russell fared much better despite a pit lane start after yesterday's crash. He finished P6, which is an amazing feat. 

Was this the last bit of bad luck for Mercedes? I want to be optimistic and say yes. 

STANDINGS

McLaren still leads the Constructors' Championship with a new total of 544. Red Bull is 40 points behind in second place, while Ferrari is creeping up with an 8-point difference at just 496 points. If Leclerc and Sainz replicate today's results in Mexico, Ferrari may overtake Red Bull in the rankings. 

Max Verstappen continues to top the Drivers' Championship ranking at 354 points, while Lando Norris remains in second with 297, leaving a 57-point difference between the contenders for the title. Given that his races run smoother, the McLaren driver has a narrow window to capture enough points to seize the title. Charles Leclerc is still in third place with 275 points. 

At this point, Leclerc may have a better chance of overtaking Norris for second place than the latter possibly has to become World Champion. But then again, this season has been riddled with so many plot twists that anything is possible. Let's see what awaits us in Mexico City. 

Come back next week for the Mexican Grand Prix weekend coverage from October 25th to 27th on Vintage & Coupe.