Christian Horner: "Firstly congratulations to Ferrari, they drove a great race from the get go and it was a well deserved win for them. For us, we lost pace compared to yesterday, so we need to take a look at and understand that. We got front limited rather than rear limited. It changed round and whether that was temperature or a set up change we made after the Sprint, I am unsure. We will, as I say, need to look into it. Max drove brilliantly today I thought, he defended well. There was obviously the issue at the end of the race but the rules are very clear about that situation and the stewards acted quickly, as all teams have been asking of them. All in all there are a lot of positives to take from today, the Team did a good job at turning things around from Singapore but we still have a long way to go. But to out score our main rival in the Drivers Championship by five points over the weekend, that's okay! Now we look to Mexico; Checo's home race, where we hope to build on what we have achieved here and continue to push in the right direction."
George Russell finished sixth whilst Lewis Hamilton retired from Sunday's United States Grand Prix. Lewis lined up P17 on the grid with George starting from the pit lane, after the team had to work through the night to repair his car following Saturday's Qualifying crash.
Lewis made a strong start and gained five positions into turn one. Unfortunately, his race came to an early end as a gust of wind at turn 19 caught him out and left him beached in the gravel. George meanwhile showed strong pace on the Hard tyre and cycled through the field as he extended his first stint to lap 40.
After boxing for the Medium compound and serving a five-second time penalty for forcing another driver off track, he used his fresher rubber to close on Sergio Perez for P6. On the penultimate lap, he passed the Red Bull into turn 12 to cap a solid recovery drive.
Toto Wolff, Team Principal & CEO: It has been a tough weekend overall here in Austin. We see that there is pace in the car, as was shown on Friday and with George in the race today, but we are still dealing with its inconsistency. That is not something unique to us though. Different teams have come into and out of form throughout the season, but it is something we will be working hard to improve over the final five races of the season.
The positive from today was that George was quick throughout and produced a good fightback from his pit lane start. The team in the garage worked hard last night to get the car ready for the race, with a large workload to get through as we had to revert on specification. George drove a strong race and was particularly quick on the Hard compound. That enabled us to extend his first stint and ultimately claim P6 in the final few laps. Unfortunately, it was a disappointing day for Lewis. He wasn't pushing at all but a gust of wind, combined with the dirty air from the car ahead, and he lost the car. We need to look at that, and what happened with George yesterday, to understand why the car reacted like that. Lewis Hamilton is not a driver that loses a car like that on lap two of a race, so there is something there that we need to understand.
Andrew Shovlin, Trackside Engineering Director: Given that we had one car starting at the back and one in the pit lane, we had realistic expectations as to what could be achieved today. Lewis made a good start and was quickly up to P12. Unfortunately, that didn't last long as he lost the rear in turn 19. We're still investigating what caused that, but in any case, his race was over.
George was making steady progress through the field in his first stint, but it still took him until the halfway point to get any clear air to judge pace. Encouragingly, the car was hanging on to its tyres well and that was allowing us to extend. P6 was the best he could have achieved today, and he drove a good race to get there.
As a team we have underachieved across the weekend and are under no illusions that we need to do better. The update kit has shown some promise, but we've not had a single clean session, and we'll leave here not knowing what we could have done if we'd started near the front with a car in our latest aero specification. We will look to answer that question next weekend in Mexico.
A majestic performance from start to finish would be a good way to sum up Scuderia Ferrari HP's United States Grand Prix. Charles Leclerc took command of the race from the start and controlled it to the end, while Carlos Sainz did not have too much of a struggle to move up to second place, running an aggressive strategy, combined with the SF-24s excellent tyre management properties. An impeccable job from the drivers, mechanics, engineers and strategists and the team back in Maranello delivered the Scuderia's 87th one-two finish, the second this season after Australia and the third with this driver pairing. Between today's race and the Sprint, the team picked up 55 points, a record for the team. It means that Scuderia Ferrari HP is still in with a chance of fighting for the Constructors' title, currently 54 points behind McLaren and only 8 behind Red Bull. It is Ferrari's 247th Formula 1 win, Leclerc's eighth, which keeps him third in the Drivers' standings, with Carlos still fifth after securing his sixth podium finish of the season.
The result of qualifying meant the team was reasonably optimistic and fully focussed as it studied all the data during last night's briefing, which included paying particular attention to the starts from previous years' races and that delivered the perfect result. At the start, Charles gambled on Lando Norris and Max Verstappen tripping over one another, going wide at turn 1 and he made the most of it to grab the lead. Carlos, from the outside of the track in third place, tried to do the same but was stuck behind two cars and had to tuck in behind Verstappen in third place. In free air, Leclerc was quickly able to build up enough of a lead to be able to control the race. The crew on the pit wall had the good sense to change Sainz's strategy when it was clear he could not pass Verstappen on track. The Spaniard came in on lap 21, coming out ahead of Sergio Perez with a clear track ahead of him which meant he could push harder than anyone on the Hard tyre, thanks to his management skills and the fact the car is kind on tyres. This resulted in the perfect undercut on the reigning champion. Charles pitted for the Hards on lap 26, rejoining third, before passing Oscar Piastri for second and retaking the lead when Norris pitted. By lap 31, it was the perfect scenario with Charles and Carlos heading the field, with no more changes, to secure Scuderia Ferrari HP's first one-two finish in the United States since 2006, when Michael Schumacher and Felipe Massa did it at Indianapolis.
The team was keen to race in Austin to see how the updates introduced as from Monza would work on a really demanding track and the results were positive, thanks to the hard work from all the team at the track and back in Maranello. Now it's a case of tackling the rest of the season race by race, staying focussed and maximising the potential of the package, starting with the Mexico City Grand Prix next weekend, at a height above sea level of 2000 metres. That race will be the only item on the agenda as from tomorrow, but tonight it's time to party in Austin.
Fred Vasseur: It was the perfect Sunday. We have done a very good job this weekend, scoring a lot of points but we have to stay focussed and not think we are champions just because of today's result. Our pace was always under control as was the strategy with both drivers and when you have the slight advantage we had today, it is much easier to do a good job. The car has improved a lot in terms of its driveability compared to where we were a few races ago and that has contributed to the result.
Charles had a perfect start and managed the tyres well, while with Carlos we had to pit him earlier than planned in order to undercut Max (Verstappen). Once he was in free air he was able to set his pace and he was able to secure second place.
Next week in Mexico will be a completely different story with the altitude making it a one-off race, adding to the challenge, where you have to focus a lot on cooling. Just because you are quick in Austin, it doesn't mean you will be quick in Mexico. This one-two is great motivation for next week. As for the championship, we are taking it one race at a time, but there are still plenty of points available, including those from the Sprints so everything is still possible. Now we are completely focussed on Mexico where we hope to continue this positive trend.
Andrea Stella, Team Principal: "A very tight race in Austin, as we anticipated with three different teams in condition to win.
"It's a shame that Lando's race was affected initially by Max pushing him off in Turn 1, and then, once the hard job of recovering the position on Max was done, thanks to good pace and strategy, he lost the podium because of a penalty we don't understand nor agree with. We feel this was an inappropriate way to change the result of a race.
"On Oscar's side, a very well-executed race by him and the team, leading to an important haul of points. Now we reset, turn the page and focus on the next race."
Mike Krack, Team Principal: "A very difficult race day. It is really disappointing to come away from the weekend without any points. The midfield is incredibly tight and we were on the wrong side of the competition. We just didn't have any pace all weekend. We have to learn from days like today, redouble our efforts and put actions in place ahead of next weekend in Mexico."
Oliver Oakes, Team Principal: "We can come away from this weekend in Austin with some positives, particularly with how our upgrade performed and converting that into the team's best starting position of the season, lining up sixth on the grid. It's a shame we could not capitalise on our good starting position, we struggled in the second stint and need to analyse that. The team has been working incredibly hard on pit stops this season with lots of noticeable improvements in recent races. These things happen in racing, and we win and lose as a team. We're looking forward to going again in Mexico City in a week's time."
Sven Smeets, Sporting Director: The track temperatures were higher today than the rest of the week, so tyre management was always going to be important. We decided to split the cars on to different start tyres to increase our chances to get into the points in the race.
Alex started on the Medium but was unfortunately hit in Turn 1 from behind and could not avoid hitting Ocon. We were able to pit him under the Safety Car to change the front wing, but permanent floor damage meant his race was over before it had really started.
Franco started on the Hard tyre and lost some positions after the start. When the first two-stoppers pitted and with how the race unravelled, we decided to try and make the one stop work. A great first long stint kept him in the running for points and when Magnussen stopped for a second time, we decided to pit Franco for his one and only stop. He just came out in front and from then onwards he showed great pace till the end securing P10 and a valuable point.
We still need to understand our poor performance from yesterday but with the good race pace today, we are looking forward to next week's race in Mexico.
Jody Egginton - Technical Director: "We took a clear step forward with the cars in yesterday's qualifying and the race pace shown today has validated that these set up changes have also delivered a much better race car relative to the sprint race, with a notable improvement in pace and tyre consumption in today's race. With Liam starting at the back due to the PU penalty it was always the plan to target a long first stint on the hard tyre. However the pace he has been able to run at for the entire stint was very strong, allowing him pass a few cars on track and overcut some more. He has been rewarded with points in his first race back with us, which is a credit to him and a reward for the team for all the hard work put in here in Austin and also in Faenza and Bicester over the last period. Yuki's race was more conventional, starting on the medium tyre like the majority. Early on he was running solidly towards the front of the midfield, however with his pace starting to drop away a little, and some pressure coming from behind, we were forced to stop potentially a bit earlier than we would have liked. This combined with the early management on the Hard tyre meant he lost a bit of ground in the middle part of the race. Whilst pushing on later in the race he was unfortunately given a 5sec penalty for a pass on Alex (Albon) and also spun trying to pass Pierre (Gasly), hence he was not in the fight for the last point scoring position at the end of the race. Looking at the weekend as a whole, it's good to have extracted the expected performance from the new floor here and it's good to be scoring points. However, Haas are also delivering strong performances, but there are five more races to go so we need to be focused on extracting the maximum from the remaining car updates and also delivering good weekends to meet our objectives for the season."
Laurent Mekies - Team Principal: "We can be pleased with our team performance here in Austin, with an excellent ninth place finish from Liam on his return, thanks to a very well executed race from last on the grid. He has done a great job all weekend, especially when one considers he has not raced since October last year. He was well prepared, having spent all season with us, working with the team at the factory and at the Grands Prix, so that for this weekend he was pretty much ready from the get-go. Yuki's pace was also strong all weekend, starting the Sprint from ninth and today from tenth. In the race after a good first stint on the Medium, he did not have much free air in the second stint on the Hards and had to settle behind Gasly before a spin put him further back. Austin marked the start of an intense six race battle to decide the championship positions, not just at the front of the field. With one Haas finishing ahead of us today, they have now overtaken us for sixth place, but we have seen the hierarchy change very often this season. Like most teams, we brought updates here and we're pleased with how they performed. We think there is still room for improvement with them, and we need to get everything out of our package in the remaining five races. Everyone in Faenza and in Bicester is focused on that, and we are looking forward to a super fight all the way to the end."
Stake F1 Team KICK Sauber had a fighting afternoon in Austin as Valtteri Bottas and Zhou Guanyu battled hard in the United States Grand Prix, with the team's duo coming home in P17 and P19 respectively. Despite some encouraging signs early on in the race, the event proved frustrating for the team, which can nevertheless look at some improvements in race pace.
With two more races in the Americas as part of this triple-header, the team will aim to come back fighting in Mexico City next week.
Alessandro Alunni Bravi, Team Representative: "Today's race followed a similar pattern to the entire weekend, and we were unable to recover any places compared to our start positions. While Valtteri finished in P17 on a one-stop strategy, similar to the top 10 drivers, Zhou's spin at Turn One on Lap 10 led us to stay on a two-stop strategy for him to benefit for the tyre compound delta. In hindsight, we could have opted for a one-stop strategy immediately after Zhou's incident and pitted Valtteri a bit later than Lap 16. However, our strategic decisions were ultimately influenced by the team's race pace, as we observed more degradation than our direct competitors during the stints, especially towards the end. The race outcome is disappointing, and no one on the team is happy with the results; but we need to keep our motivation high and work hard to find a way back into the mix. We acknowledge the need to continue analysing the causes of our lack of performance and fight hard to go forward."
MoneyGram Haas F1 Team finished with Nico Hulkenberg eighth and Kevin Magnussen 11th, at the United States Grand Prix, Round 19 of the 2024 FIA Formula 1 World Championship, held Sunday at the Circuit of The Americas.
Hulkenberg took the start from 11th on the grid on Pirelli P Zero Yellow medium tires - gaining one spot from qualifying due to a penalty for George Russell. The German racer then passed Aston Martin's Fernando Alonso and came into the pits on lap 27, taking on a set of White hard tires at the stop. Hulkenberg ran a strong second stint to finish in eighth place, leading the midfield battle and adding four more points to MoneyGram Haas F1 Team's tally, marking the fifth successive race, including Saturday's Sprint, inside the top 10.
Magnussen started the 56-lap charge from eighth place, also on medium tires and with an added grid slot thanks to Russell's pit-lane start, before moving up a spot on the opening lap to hold seventh. The Dane ran a two-stop strategy, coming in on lap 17 for hard tires, then pitting again on lap 38 for a set of medium rubber. Unfortunately for Magnussen the two-stop strategy failed to pay dividends and he finished just outside of the points, in 11th overall, having been overhauled by one-stop rivals.
MoneyGram Haas F1 Team holds sixth position in the Constructors' Championship on 38 points - taking a two-point advantage over RB after Sunday's race - having initially trailed the Italian squad by three points heading into the weekend.
Ayao Komatsu, Team Principal: "It was bit of a mixed result, but it was good to get P8 with Nico. He executed a very good one-stop strategy, and considering the situation he managed the tires very well and communicated well. On Kevin's side, it was almost the opposite as our baseline was a two-stop strategy and then there was some messy communication towards the end of the race. I feel that we should've scored points with both cars today, although Kevin may have struggled to hang on top P10, at least he would've had a chance. If we had come away from here with P8 and P10, that would've been the best result, but unfortunately only Nico scored today. We got seven points out of the weekend, and two ahead of RB so that's the positive. We're now P6 in the Constructors' Championship with five events to go, and we're competitive, so we'll go for more."
The United States Grand Prix ended with Ferraris first and second, Charles Leclerc taking his eighth Formula 1 win, his third this season. The Monegasque crossed the line ahead of team-mate Carlos Sainz, to give the Scuderia its 87th one-two finish. The team also becomes the most successful in terms of wins in Formula 1 races held in the USA with 14.
Joining them on the podium was Max Verstappen, who thus extends his Drivers' championship lead to 57 points ahead of Lando Norris, who finished fourth today. The fight in the Constructors' championship is much closer with three teams all covered by 48 points: McLaren leads on 544, followed by Red Bull on 504 and Ferrari on 496.
Fifteen drivers opted to start on the Medium tyre, with the Sauber drivers, Bottas and Zhou going with a used set. Five others, Hamilton and Russell in the Mercedes, Stroll (Aston Martin), Colapinto (Williams) and Lawson (Racing Bulls) lined up on Hard tyres. As expected, the Soft was not considered, although Ocon (Alpine) fitted them right at the very end with the aim of depriving Colapinto in the Williams of picking up the point for the race fastest lap, a mission successfully accomplished by the Alpine driver.
The one-stop was the preferred strategy for the vast majority of drivers. Apart from the previously mentioned Ocon, only Zhou and Magnussen (Haas) made two planned stops, while Albon (Williams) had to stop in the early stages to take on a second set of Mediums.
Russell and Bottas both drove the longest stints of all, driving 40 laps on the Hard, the Englishman on his first stint, the Finn on his second. The longest run on the Medium tyre was completed by Piastri who drove 32 laps in the McLaren.
Mario Isola: "First and foremost, congratulations to Ferrari for a wonderful one-two finish in a country which has always been very important for the Prancing Horse. On the tyre front, it was a very interesting Sunday, because of the technical insights it provided. Based on previous data and from what we learned in yesterday's Sprint, when the Medium demonstrated a very high wear rate, combined with what we knew from this race last year, a one-stop did not seem viable. And yet it proved to be not only the winning strategy, but also almost the only one adopted by the field. As for the behaviour of the Medium, the Safety Car following Hamilton going off the track in the early stages, meant that those who had started on this compound could extend their stint, while it also meant the tyres were put under less stress during the crucial early stages, when the cars are running with a heavy fuel load. There were two other elements to consider: the significant evolution of the track condition, with much of it resurfaced leading to a major reduction in graining compared to what we saw in the Sprint and then the changes the teams were able to make to their set-up, based on what they learned yesterday."
