Lando Norris converted pole position into victory today with Max Verstappen coming home in second to limit the damage, albeit 21 seconds behind.
Finlay McSporran
Published: 18:37, 22nd September 2024
Race Report
Starting on pole would be Lando Norris with championship leader Max Verstappen alongside him in second.
A good start from Norris allowed him to finally hold the lead from pole, as Verstappen fended off a fast starting Lewis Hamilton.
Further back, Alex Albon was forced to go wide after being “divebombed” by his teammate Colapinto at turn 1.
Things wouldn’t get much better for the Thai driver, as on lap 16 he came into the pits to retire with a mechanical issue. Meanwhile his teammate was battling Sergio Perez for P9 as the leaders came in to make their stops.
Verstappen came in on lap 30 for the hard tyre, with Norris coming in a lap later. With the race now at the halfway point the gap between Norris and Verstappen was now 22 seconds, as Norris pushed the McLaren to it’s limits, scraping the wall a couple of times but thankfully avoiding any damage.
Further down the order Oscar Piastry, after staying out longer, came in for his stop on lap 39, emerging back out in fifth place but with fresher tyres which he immediately put to good use, passing Hamilton for fourth on lap 40 before dispatching Russel a few laps later to move himself up onto the podium.
The Mercedes were under threat once again on lap 50, as Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc demoted Hamilton to sixth as he hunted down George Russel.
Elsewhere on the grid, Carlos Sainz was fending off Fernando Alonso in the battle for seventh, whilst Sergio Perez struggled to keep up with the Haas of Nico Hulkenberg in 9th.
The other Haas of Kevin Magnussen wasn’t fairing so well however, as he came into the pits with puncture just a few laps from the end.
Another driver in the pits was Daniel Riccardo. The Australian driver bolted on a set of softs at the end to steal the fastest lap of Lando Norris. Doing Redbull one last favour in what could very well be his last F1 race.
That didn’t bother race leader Norris too much however, as he crossed the line to win for the third time this season, a dominant drive to win by 21 seconds in the end, reducing the gap to Verstappen down to 52 points as we head into a 4 week brake before the next race in Austin.
An impressive drive from Verstappen saw him bring his Redbull home in P2 despite it not being anywhere near as fast as it was at the start of the season.
Oscar Piastry came home in 3rd with George Russel holding up Leclerc to take P4. A disappointing evening for Sergio Perez saw him finish down in 10th behind Nico Hulkenberg who takes a crucial two points for Haas in their battle with RB for sixth in the standings.
Race Result (62 laps)
| # | DRIVER | TEAM | TIME |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 |   Lando NORRIS | McLaren | LAP 62 |
| 2 |   Max VERSTAPPEN | Red Bull | +20.945 |
| 3 |   Oscar PIASTRI | McLaren | +41.823 |
| 4 |  George RUSSELL | Mercedes | +61.040 |
| 5 |   Charles LECLERC | Ferrari | +62.430 |
| 6 |  Lewis HAMILTON | Mercedes | +85.248 |
| 7 |   Carlos SAINZ | Ferrari | +96.039 |
| 8 |  Fernando ALONSO | Aston Martin | 1L |
| 9 |   Nico HULKENBERG | Haas | 1L |
| 10 |   Sergio PÉREZ | Red Bull | 1L |
| 11 |   Franco COLAPINTO | Williams | 1L |
| 12 |   Yuki TSUNODA | VCARB | 1L |
| 13 |   Esteban OCON | Alpine | 1L |
| 14 |   Lance STROLL | Aston Martin | 1L |
| 15 |   Guanyu ZHOU | Stake | 1L |
| 16 |   Valtteri BOTTAS | Stake | 1L |
| 17 |  Pierre GASLY | Alpine | 1L |
| 18 |  Daniel RICCIARDO | VCARB | 1L |
| 19 |   Kevin MAGNUSSEN | Haas | DNF |
| 20 |   Alexander ALBON | Williams | DNF |
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