Ferrari Puts Red Bull Under Pressure After Impressive 1-2 Finish At United States Grand Prix

Saajan Jogia | 6 Hours Ago

Oct 20, 2024; Austin, Texas, USA; Scuderia Ferrari driver Charles Leclerc of Team Monaco celebrates his win at the Formula 1 Pirelli United States Grand Prix at Circuit of the Americas. Mandatory Credit: Jay Janner-Imagn Images / Jay Janner/USA TODAY Network via Imagn Images

Ferrari driver Charles Leclerc has confirmed that his team is still chasing the Constructors' Championship after a spectacular 1-2 finish at the United States Grand Prix. Leclerc secured the victory, with teammate Carlos Sainz finishing second. With five more races to go before the season concludes, the Red team remains in contention for the championship.

Leclerc seized the lead in the opening lap with a brilliant start from fourth place, swiftly overtaking Lando Norris and Max Verstappen, who were locked in their own battle. After grabbing the top spot, Leclerc soon cleared a significant gap and crossed the finish line 8.5 seconds ahead of Sainz, and a massive 19 seconds ahead of Verstappen.

Leclerc credited the dominant pace of his Ferrari SF-24 for the outstanding victory, acknowledging that Ferrari held a clear advantage throughout the weekend. The Maranello outfit now trails championship leader McLaren by just 48 points, while the gap to Red Bull in second has been reduced to a mere 8 points. Speaking on his successful triumph at the Circuit of the Americas (COTA), Leclerc told the media:

"Very, very happy.

"It hasn't been an easy weekend until now. 

"I've been struggling a bit with the feeling with the car, but I had the confidence that in the race the feeling would be better, and it was the case. We've seen it yesterday in sprint race. 

"We were a bit not scared, but we thought that the others would improve a lot more today, but we still have the upper hand. So really happy with today, one-two for the team, we couldn't have dreamed for better."

Speaking on the possibility of securing the 2024 title, the Monegasque driver added:

"We are still targeting the title, it's a long way to go but it's a good start to this triple-header."

Leclerc then revealed how he aimed for a good race start for the weekend and accomplished his goal, considering the car's "mega pace" during the race weekend. He added:

"It was a good turn one!

"That's exactly what I wanted to do, and we had a really good launch. I knew that it was going to be very tight into Turn 1. 

"Yesterday, I was a little bit the victim of being in the wrong place at the wrong time. Today, I gained from it, and that obviously helped quite a lot our first stint, because we had mega pace. 

"And then in the second stint, it was all about managing behind, but we did a great job. The pace of the car today and this weekend overall, was really, really good, and that's mostly thanks to the engineers. 

"They've been working like crazy in the last few months to bring the upgrades that we've had in Singapore and in the last few races. And it seems to be paying off."