F1 US GP Live Commentary and Updates - Race
Minute-by-minute updates for the 2024 Formula 1 United States Grand Prix
Formula 1 returns from its mini-break with a trip to the Circuit of the Americas, kick-starting the next triple-header.
With off-track headlines again dominating ahead of the weekend, it was Max Verstappen who took victory in the Sprint as Carlos Sainz edged out Lando Norris for second on the last lap.
But Norris set a sublime lap to take an unexpected pole for the main event, albeit with the assistance of a crash for George Russell which brought an early end to qualifying.
Who will win? The United States Grand Prix gets under way at 8pm BST.
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Sainz is still reeling in Leclerc too, as the Spaniard sets a fastest lap of 1m37.763s to close the gap to the leader to 5.5s.
Tsunoda's race is going from bad to worse. A penalty, bemusement at seeing Lawson emerge from the pits ahead and now a really clumsy spin at Turn 1.
That puts the Japanese driver down the order again.
I’ve asked Haas what that urgent pit call was to Magnussen - it says it was a strategy call, no reliability drama for the Dane.
Norris moves to within two seconds of Verstappen and there are 15 laps to go. This one is building up nicely.
Colapinto finally stops, getting back out ahead of Magnussen and putting the two fiesty drivers into direct battle.
Lawson made a move on Gasly into T12 whilst the Haas drama was unfolding, putting the RB into the top 10.
What's happened to Magnussen? He's told to box in an urgent radio call.
That drops him out of the points and down to 13th.
Sainz is indeed chipping into Leclerc's lead, which dips to 6.5s, until Leclerc posts a new fastest lap of 1m37.834s to put a couple of tenths back into his advantage.
In what could be Lawson's seat next year, Perez finally gets past Colapinto.
That took far too long on fresh tyres for the Mexican to get to through on the Williams.
Lawson makes his stop with a switch to mediums in the offing.
He comes out ahead of Tsunoda in 12th, he could be very, very racy towards the end here.
The focus is rightly on Norris’s storming pace, but Leclerc isn’t dropping Sainz on this compound - if anything the second Ferrari is edging back towards the leader, albeit just by a couple of tenths a lap.
"These tyres just aren't good. I can't brake, I can't attack anything," Verstappen says over team radio. He is not enjoying his hard rubber.
Tsunoda gets five-seconds added to his race time for forcing Albon off the track.
All that tyre life and time gap counting isn't really a concern for leader Leclerc who looks comfortable out front for Ferrari.
More stewarding action for those that celebrate - Tsunoda and Albon are being investigated for forcing another driver off-track.
Norris has a tyre life advantage of six laps over Verstappen and 10 laps over Sainz. Can he use that fresher rubber to chase them down? He posts a 1m38.043s to take a whole second out of Verstappen on that last tour.
So, all the frontrunners have pitted and Leclerc leads Sainz by 7.1s, then comes Verstappen 3.9s back, then Norris 6.4s back and Piastri another 6.4s back.
Gasly has been given a five-second penalty for overtaking Albon off-track.
Russell, Lawson and Colapinto are all waiting for a safety car surely, sitting in sixth, seventh and eighth.
A lap later Piastri is called in for his first service of the afternoon. Fresh hard tyres applied, the Australian comes out in fifth, 6.1s behind Norris.
Whatever it meant, Leclerc passes Piastri using his massive tyre advantage and then gets given the lead back as Norris pits at the end of lap 31. Norris returns to the track on hards down in fifth.
Norris is told "this is the Germany situation" which has got our brains scrambling for what happened to Norris and McLaren in Germany. Norris has contested just one German GP for McLaren - 2019 when he retired on lap 25. Or the 2020 Eifel GP, in Germany, which Norris also retired from.
The McLarens doing 1m39.0s is interesting - Leclerc was well into the high 1m39s when he stopped, but he had a clear pace advantage over the rest earlier. Verstappen did get back to that bracket before stopping, but only erratically.
Leclerc rather puts us in our place by posting a 1m38.662s fastest lap - a whole second faster than Piastri ahead of him.
Gasly gets past Albon as he tries to secure much-needed points for Alpine but he had all four wheels across the white line at T15.
The argument could be made that he was forced wide, but that should be given straight back.
We've reached the halfway stage with a McLaren 1-2, but both drivers are still to pit. However, they are both flying in clean air - quicker than those who pitted for fresh hards.
Magnussen is scything past those on older ribber quite nicely. He now has three cars between himself and Gasly - some six seconds worth of gap - and should be nicely into the points when the pit window cycles through.
A lap later Leclerc pits in response to Verstappen. A steady stop for hards sees Leclerc come out in third, comfortably in front of Sainz and Verstappen.
Red Bull calls in Verstappen at the end of lap 26, who takes on fresh hards for a 2.7s pitstop, and comes out behind Sainz by about 4.5s. It didn't appear any work went on to the Dutch driver's car to refer back to the earlier issue.
"Left-hand side tyres are really bad now," Verstappen reports, as Norris closes to within three seconds behind him.
No further investigation for Albon, I imagine because Magnussen eventually got past.
A lack of consistency though? That won't appease Russell.
Leclerc has pulled his lead into double digits at 10.9s over Verstappen and is telling Ferrari to focus on Plan C.
Sainz sends out a warning as he posts a new fastest lap of anyone of 1m38.731s - over 1.5s quicker than Verstappen on that last lap.
Albon has been noted for pushing Magnussen off-track before the Dane made his way through at T15.
Meanwhile, Colapinto has put a move on Alonso for what is P10, for now.
Red Bull does not respond by bringing in Verstappen a lap later to cover off Sainz. Meanwhile McLaren reports pace is good and tyre degradation isn't as bad as expected, so it could be targeting a one-stopper with Norris and Piastri.
Ferrari does pit Sainz at the end of lap 21, taking on fresh hard tyres, and he comes out in sixth just ahead of Perez. Undercut activated. Alex Kalinauckas - Grand Prix editor and Ferrari strategy advisor it seems.
Russell is into the top 10 with those pitstops cycling through, but he makes another move towards points at the end of the race with a move on Lawson into T12.
If I were Ferrari - and thankfully for them I am not - I would undercut Verstappen with Sainz. The McLarens don’t have the pace and that would secure Leclerc’s lead and potentially get second too. Especially if Verstappen needs repairs.
Leclerc is still the fastest driver on the track, as his lead grows to 8.5s at the start of lap 21. Still nobody from the front group has pitted, despite the undercut being powerful at this track.
Great racing from Hulkenberg and Tsunoda before the RB reacts to Magnussen. Gasly has also done the same.
The Haas has jumped the Alpine. How will the frontrunners react to this info?
By: Autosport Staff
