Verstappen: 'It's been a while' as woeful six-month run finally ends.
Max Verstappen could afford a smile and a quip that "it's been a while' after landing his first pole position in any format in F1 for the first time in six months.
19 Oct 2024
Ian Parkes
RacingNews365

Verstappen will lead away the field in the sprint for the United States Grand Prix weekend after setting the fastest time around the Circuit of the Americas with a lap of 1:32.833s, beating Mercedes' George Russell by 0.012s.

"We had a good day," said Verstappen, who has won the last three United States Grands Prix, and all three sprints this season. Of course, sprint quali is always very difficult. You do medium, medium and then the soft [in SQ1, SQ2, and then SQ3].”

"You never really know how much you can push. But I'm happy with today. I think the whole day, the car was working quite well. And, of course, very happy to be first. It's been a while. So, yeah, very pleased."

‘Verstappen will lead away the field’;

https://racingnews365.com/verstappen...n-finally-ends


2024 US Grand Prix – Sprint qualifying F1 results (COTA)
18 Oct 2024
Thomas Maher
PlanetF1.com

Results from the Sprint qualifying session at COTA ahead of the United States Grand Prix.

1. 1. Max Verstappen Red Bull 1:32.833
2. 2. George Russell Mercedes +0.012
3. 3. Charles Leclerc Ferrari +0.226
4. 4. Lando Norris McLaren +0.250
5. 5. Carlos Sainz Ferrari +0.256
6. 6. Nico Hulkenberg Haas +0.350
7. 7. Lewis Hamilton Mercedes +0.545
8. 8. Kevin Magnussen Haas +0.565
9. 9. Yuki Tsunoda VCARB +0.969
10. 10. Franco Colapinto Williams +1.573

‘Sprint qualifying F1 results’;

https://www.planetf1.com/news/f1-res...int-qualifying


F1 US GP: Verstappen beats Russell to sprint pole by 0.012s, Norris fourth
A confident lap late in the session marks an end to a 'challenging' session for the Red Bull Racing driver.
Oct 18, 2024
Alex Kalinauckas
Motorsport.com

Red Bull’s Max Verstappen topped sprint qualifying at Formula 1’s 2024 United States Grand Prix ahead of George Russell, Charles Leclerc and his title rival Lando Norris.

On a tricky day for Red Bull given the controversy over its front bib ride height adjuster, Verstappen scored his first pole (sprint or GP) since the Austria round back in June.

But there was disappointment for Red Bull elsewhere, as Sergio Perez was knocked out in SQ2, while it was a similar story for McLaren, as Oscar Piastri failed to make it through the other session where the drivers were obliged to run medium tyres.

‘A confident late lap’;

https://www.motorsport.com/f1/news/s...port/10664110/


Mark Hughes: Why McLaren's suddenly struggling
Oct 19, 2024
Mark Hughes
The Race

From being the Formula 1 car that was fast everywhere, on any day, on any track, the McLaren looked a little ordinary around the Circuit of The Americas on Friday. From being an inconsistent car which Max Verstappen even termed a ‘monster’ (in the bad sense) a few races ago, the Red Bull was good enough for Max to take the sprint pole.

This circuit requires careful management of the soft tyres even on a qualifying lap, and Verstappen seemed to have a great handle on that. He wasn’t the fastest everywhere, but he kept the tyres in shape perfectly, with only a small run-wide at Turn 13 making it a less-than-perfect lap.

“Looking at the lap, there are a few little balance issues to sort out,” said Verstappen, “but to be ahead of the others is really positive. I’m aware that there are a lot of fast cars around me but I’m happy and it’s definitely a positive return. Looking to the rest of the weekend, we just want to make the car a bit more driveable and that we are all good on the tyres in the race.”

‘McLaren looked a little ordinary’;

https://www.the-race.com/formula-1/m...ghes-analysis/


FIA boss declares Red Bull bib row a 'non-story' as Christian Horner calls out 'paranoia'
The build-up to the United States Grand Prix has been dominated by controversy over a device on the Red Bull cars which rivals worry could allow them to circumvent F1's parc ferme rules
18 Oct 2024
Daniel Moxon
The Mirror

The governing body's single seater director Nikolas Tombazis told Sky Sports: "It is a tight championship and people get excited about each others' cars. So we cannot definitively close the previous races or any insinuations there may be between teams in a very competitive environment, but in the present situation we believe it is a non-story, yes."

Tombazis insisted there is no evidence that Red Bull did anything wrong and said the FIA had felt the need to intervene to shut down such suggestions from other teams. He explained: "At the previous race, it was pointed out to us that certain designs could allow a change of the height at the front of the car, which some people call a bib, in parc ferme.

"We did not have any indication or any proof that anybody was doing something like that - that would clearly be illegal under parc ferme regulations. So we said that from this race onwards, there must be no possibility of doing such a thing at all. So if a team had a design that would allow a quick change of that height, it would have to be sealed so they could not have access in parc ferme.”

'Non-story';

https://www.mirror.co.uk/sport/formu...t-fia-33925782


Horner: McLaren 'moaning' to distract from own F1 car legality issues
Oct 18, 2024
Josh Suttill
The Race

Red Bull team boss Christian Horner thinks “moaning” Formula 1 title rival McLaren is “lighting fires” with its criticism of RB20’s front bib adjusting device to distract from its own legality issues. When asked to respond to the criticism, Horner told Sky Sports F1 the device has been there for “over three years” and can only be accessed when the pedals and other panels are removed.

“Because there’s been a bit of moaning from one of our rivals,” Horner said when asked why the FIA was sealing an area it had no issue with. “It’s the FIA’s job to look into these things. It’s on a list of the open source components so it’s been publicly available for the last three years.”

“The FIA is happy with it, just to satisfy some paranoia elsewhere in the paddock. I feel it’s sometimes to distract from perhaps what’s going on in your own house, [so] you try to light a fire somewhere else.” He pointed out there’s been “an awful lot of noise about rear wings” and that McLaren has had to adapt its mini-DRS rear wing trick.

“Lighting fires”;

https://www.the-race.com/formula-1/h...f1-device-bib/


Perez baffled after he ‘took a step back from SQ1 to SQ2’
Oct 18, 2024
Formula One - Official Site (Video)

Sergio Perez was unable to make it through to SQ3 in Austin after finishing P11 in Sprint Qualifying for Red Bull.

‘Step back from SQ1 to SQ2’;

https://www.formula1.com/en/video/pe...91677831241913


Painful moment for McLaren: Piastri fails to escape SQ1
18 Oct 2024
Matt Gretton
GPblog.com

Oscar Piastri failed to escape SQ1 session. The Australian made a mistake on his second run by exceeding a track limit at turn 19. He will start from 16th on the grid. It will make scoring points difficult in the 100km dash.

It's a setback for McLaren, who are looking to fight Red Bull Racing in the Constructors' Championship. They are trying to extend their lead over the Austrian team, but will struggle to add points with Piastri in Saturday's sprint race.

Piastri and McLaren had the car to make it through to the final part of sprint qualifying, but Piastri exceeded track limits, causing his time to be deleted. His team asked him to remain in the car in case any other driver made a similar mistake, but it wasn't to be.

‘Piastri fails to escape SQ1’;

https://www.gpblog.com/en/news/30692...ualifying.html


Hamilton’s lap was “more than enough for pole” before yellow flag
19th October 2024
Keith Collantine

“I just got unlucky with a yellow flag and that’s what it is,” Hamilton said after the sprint race qualifying session. “I was four-tenths up.” He briefly encountered the yellow flag as he reached the braking zone for turn 12. Hamilton backed off early, but the yellow flag quickly turned green as the driver whose spin caused it, Franco Colapinto, pulled away.

“The good thing is the team has made a step with the car,” he said. “The upgrade has clearly worked and I’m really grateful to everyone back at the factory for all the hard work over this period of time, because it’s been a tough slog for everyone to get the upgrades and make sure that they’re working. So it’s not the end. Tomorrow we got another chance.”

“I was four-tenths up”;

https://www.racefans.net/2024/10/19/...e-yellow-flag/