UNITED STATES GRAND PRIX: SPRINT AND QUALIFYING RECAP

Oct 19, 2024

4 min read

F1 is back! We are at Lone Star State at the Circuit of The Americas (COTA) for the US Grand Prix this weekend, and the format looks different than what I’ve covered so far - there was only one Free Practice Session on Friday, followed by a Sprint Qualifying. Today oversees the Sprint Race and the Qualifying session for tomorrow’s Grand Prix race.

THE SPRINT

In Formula One, Sprints are shorter races within 100km and take about 30 minutes, more or less. At COTA, the race translates into 19 laps. The first eight place finishes will earn points, so a driver who finishes P9 and P10 will walk away empty-handed. Unlike the Sunday races, these are not meant to be strategic battles for team points. It's straight-up, good old-fashioned, hard racing.

Max Verstappen of Red Bull, who took the Sprint Pole, kept his position through the race. Carlos Sainz of Ferrari finished in P2 (his best Sprint result) in a swift and strategic session. Lando Norris of McLaren, who spent most of the race 1.5 to 3 seconds behind Verstappen, finished P3 after locking up during a face-off against Sainz in Lap 19.

I could not keep my eyes off Sainz, who lived up to his Smooth Operator moniker and spent the first five laps unapologetically racing against Ferrari teammate Charles Leclerc before finally passing him in Lap 6 to chase after Mercedes’ George Russell. Four laps later, he seized P3 and steadily held his position to outmaneuver Norris for P2.

Sainz, by the way, qualified P5 for this Sprint. Climbing up to P2 while facing off equally competent drivers within 19 minutes is an impressive feat. I’m confident that he might have had a large window of opportunity to climb up to P1 had he been able to overtake Leclerc around Lap 4 or 5. My fingers were crossed in the hopes he could carry that momentum into the Qualifying session. Vamos!

QUALIFYING

Q1

Hamilton? P19? I didn’t see that coming. He seemed fine during the Sprint, where he finished P6. The car, whatever was adjusted before the qualifying session, messed with his ability to lap satisfactorily. While I don’t doubt Hamilton’s ability to recover from a horrific bout of luck, his path to points tomorrow will be a tough ladder to climb when we consider the drivers qualifying ahead of him. It’ll make his results, should he secure points, all the more satisfying to watch. Hamilton, after all, is the GOAT.

16. Alex Albon (Williams)

17. Franco Colapinto (Williams)

18. Valteri Bottas (Kick Sauber)

19. Lewis Hamilton (Mercedes)

20. Zhou Guanyu (Kick Sauber)

Q2

Damn, not Hulkenberg. He’d been doing so well in recent qualifying sessions, though his result primarily stemmed from a lockup during a turn that cost him 0.40 seconds. I’m not too fearful, though. Hulkenberg might just be able to squiggle his way through the top ten. He’ll be fine.

Side Note: Reading Liam Lawson’s name instead of Daniel Ricciardo’s is surreal. This isn’t shade against Lawson, but that will take some time to get accustomed to.

11. Yuki Tsunoda (VCARB)

12. Nico Hulkenberg (Haas)

13. Esteban Ocon (Alpine)

14. Lance Stroll (Aston Martin)

15. Liam Lawson (VCARB)

Q3

Just when Max Verstappen was about to snatch up Provisional Pole away from Lando Norris, George Russell hit a barrier, prompting a yellow flag and cutting Q1 short. The Dutch driver was thus locked in P2, and Sainz joined them at the top in P3. So basically, a jumbled-up version of the drivers’ Sprint results.

A race car driver exits a crashed car. — George Russell exited his car after crashing into the barrier during Q3. Photo Credit: F1 TV via formula1.com

Here are the top ten drivers starting:

1. Lando Norris (McLaren)

2. Max Verstappen (Red Bull)

3. Carlos Sainz (Ferrari)

4. Charles Leclerc (Ferrari)

5. Oscar Piastri (McLaren)

6. George Russell (Mercedes)

7. Pierre Gasly (Alpine)

8. Fernando Alonso (Aston Martin)

9. Kevin Magnussen (Haas)

10. Sergio Perez (Red Bull)

MY PREDICTIONS

Two McLarens, two Ferraris, and two Red Bulls? Oh, this is going to be a fight-fight tomorrow. That being said, I envision three scenarios that we could see play out:

Norris and Verstappen are going to be fighting tooth and nail for P1. As long as the McLaren driver can hold his position within the first laps in a manner similar to his winning strategy in Singapore, he might be able to establish just enough of a gap (10 seconds or more) between himself and Verstappen to force the latter to focus on defending against the other drivers (namely Sainz, Leclerc, and Piastri) behind him.

Seeing that this is a prime opportunity for a 1-2 finish for Ferrari, we may see Sainz or Leclerc winning. As long as the racing gods don’t flip a coin on the Prancing Horse tomorrow, the drivers’ odds of finishing P1 and P2 are pretty high.