Johnnie’s Judgement: United States Grand Prix talking points

Jonathan Victoria • 21 Oct 2024 Features

Another thrilling chapter to this sensational season…

The Circuit of the Americas is prone to providing a proper race, with twists and turns in the action as fast-paced and electric as the track's first sector.

This year’s edition of the United States Grand Prix was as exciting as the last, especially with the added intensity of it being a Sprint weekend.

Now, with all the action over and the grid moving on to this coming weekend’s Mexican Grand Prix, we must take a look back at three of the biggest talking points from the race as I give my opinion on what went down at the United States Grand Prix.

Lando’s costly late penalty

This season, Lando Norris has been getting a taste of what it’s like to compete against Max Verstappen really for the first time in F1. He got his first proper taste in Austria, he’s had some more little tasters at other points, but this weekend was the second big points-costing incident the pair have had.

I won’t explain it as I’m assuming if you’re reading this, you watched the race or have at least seen the incident, so I’m just going to give my opinion on the decision. 

The first thing I’ll say is the decision of a penalty for overtaking off the track is correct, because of course it is, it always has been so there are no issues there. But how he came to be off the track is where I look at the issue as it wasn’t like he had any other choice.

Verstappen has a certain way of overtaking or defending when he is clearly at risk, as he was in this instance. Norris had fresher tyres and was generally quicker, and while Max was doing a good job of defending, it wasn’t going to last.

Turn 12 should’ve been where he lost his position to Lando, but instead, he employed his little trick which has perfected and rarely gets punished or scrutinised for, keeping the inside of the corner (which he has every right to) and essentially not breaking enough to take the corner properly, causing himself and thus the overtaking car to run wide, going off the track in the process.

He did this countless times in 2021 when facing off against Lewis Hamilton and he’s done it many other times in the past, be it before his first championship and even after when he had a more superior car.

It is a move of desperation that for some reason doesn’t get penalised or even nets him a stern talking to. Max does what Max wants and he gets away with it.

In my opinion, - and this is as someone who thinks either champion this year is a bit of a weak one (I’ll explain why at some point) - I don’t think Norris should have been given a penalty for this.

I think Max did a stellar job of defending and deserves a lot of praise for what he was capable of doing while being considerably down on pace and tyres, but that incident was over the line to me and shouldn’t have cost Norris the position.

Ferrari (and Leclerc) in contention?

It’s funny to me when I think back to that battle between Norris and Verstappen as it’s the sort you’d expect to get when fighting for the race win. But it wasn’t, it was for the final podium spot only, because Ferrari went full Ferrari this weekend and blew everyone out the water.

We seemed to have been overlooking the fact that it is a three-horse race for the championship before this weekend - and call me crazy, but I’m not just talking about the Constructors’ title.

Ferrari came into the weekend as the only outfit from the top four teams without any upgrades on the car. No one expected too much from them outside of potentially fighting for the final podium spot.

Instead, they looked remarkably quick in the Sprint, finishing second and fourth and causing Norris into a mistake to give Carlos Sainz second place, and in the race, capitalised on Max and Lando’s little scrap in Turn 1 to take the lead in Charles Leclerc, who started fourth.

Leclerc had an easy race, only facing a bit of a threat from his teammate at one stage towards the end when it seemed like Sainz was closing to take the lead. But he never did, so the Monegasque ended up winning by 8.5 seconds, with Sainz further 11 seconds ahead of Verstappen in third.

It was a brilliant weekend for the Scuderia and a perfect example of why we can’t count out the team nor Leclerc for either championship.

The Constructors’ title is largely more realistic, I’ll admit. A good 55 points from the weekend brings them to just eight points behind Red Bull in second and 48 behind McLaren in first.

It seems fairly inevitable they will pass Red Bull, what with Sergio Perez only claiming six points from the weekend, but surpassing McLaren who matches the Italian side in having two competent point-scoring drivers will prove tricky. They could definitely benefit from more Verstappen-Norris squabbles, maybe even a DNF for the pair at some point.

And that’s where Leclerc’s Drivers’ title charge could also come from. He showed this weekend he doesn’t care everyone considers it a two-horse race. He can mathematically still win it, and he’s going for it.

He’s currently 22 points behind Norris and 79 behind Verstappen. That sounds like a lot, but then consider this scenario; Norris and Verstappen start on the front row in Mexico, Leclerc on the second. They all race down to the first corner, and the two out in front take each other out.

Both Norris and Verstappen suffer terminal damage and can’t finish the race, while Leclerc races on to take the win plus the extra point for the fastest lap. 

From that result, Leclerc would leapfrog Norris into second place and would then be just 53 points behind Verstappen.

It doesn’t necessarily have to happen at this very next weekend, but do keep that in mind as it looks as though the Ferraris are very racey, and that there is still two Sprint weekends left in the season, presenting more opportunities for extra points.

It’s wishful thinking, but if it is still technically a possibility, you better believe I’m going to keep my faith.

Remarkable rookies shine again

I’m firmly of the belief that seats in Formula 1 should be given to those who deserve it. Of course, that’s pretty much what everyone says, although for some of those people who say it, their version of who deserves it doesn’t mean the same as mine or almost anybody else’s.

To me, a driver deserves it if they are quick enough. If they have proven in recent memory that they are worthy of the seat, then they should be in it. And I mean recent as in during the current era or last two seasons, not two lucky podiums that came way back in 2020 (not to name anyone specifically).

This year, we’ve seen three rookie drivers put on clinics that are worthy of a seat in F1, and thankfully two of them will be given one for next year (technically only one is confirmed but there’s no chance Red Bull doesn’t give Liam Lawson the RB seat this time, right?)

Ollie Bearman is one who unfortunately isn’t on the grid at the moment but has done sensationally in the two races he has competed in already, where he was able to score points in both.

As for the two that are currently racing, I’m going to touch on Lawson first as he seems to be the real deal.

I think he deserved the seat for this year after his stint last season in place of Daniel Ricciardo, but at least he’s got it now. And in his first official race as RB’s newest driver, he was stellar.

The team may have lost sixth in the Constructors’ standings to Haas, but for Lawson, he completely outdrove his teammate plus the likes of two-time world champion Fernando Alonso on the way to a ninth-place finish.

He rightfully deserves a seat for next year and I’m glad he has one, but I feel bad for the other rookie who finished behind him in tenth, Franco Colapinto, as he did the exact same as Lawson.

Colapinto hoped into the Williams after they got rid of Logan Sargeant following the Dutch Grand Prix, and despite many of us (me included) questioning the decision to bring him in over a more experienced figure like Mick Schumacher, the young Argentinian has endeared himself to us all, scoring five points in his four races so far.

Not only that, but he has beaten his Alex Albon in the last two races, with the most recent this past weekend seeing him finish a good six places ahead.

Next season, we’ll see Lawson and Bearman on the grid along with two other rookies in Alpine’s Jack Doohan and Mercedes’ Andrea Kimi Antonelli, both of whom I’m also excited to see. 

But I really hope someone picks up Colapinto. He has shown he is worthy of a seat and that he can do a job for whoever it may be. I’m sure Williams won’t want to let go of him, but he will know he is deserving of a seat, and if the team can’t give him one soon, he should be allowed to get one elsewhere.