Round 19 of the 2024 Formula One season takes place in Austin, Texas this weekend after a four week break. As a Sprint weekend, the teams only had one practice session on Friday, accompanied by the Sprint Shootout. On Saturday morning, there was the 19-lap Sprint race and Qualifying. Based on the performances of the weekend so far, the winner of the race will be Max Verstappen from Red Bull Racing, followed by McLaren’s Lando Norris and Scuderia Ferrari’s Carlos Sainz rounding up the podium.
Norris took pole position during Qualifying and will be starting at the front of the grid on Sunday, with the defending world champion Verstappen starting P2 behind him. This is the sixth pole position of Norris’ career and the fifth this season as he fights to catch up to Verstappen in the championship lead.
Qualifying was interrupted near the end by Mercedes’ George Russell crashing, interrupting the final lap attempts of various drivers who were improving their lap times and could have potentially beaten Norris for pole, including Verstappen.
Sunday should be a return to the top of the podium for Verstappen, who has not won the past eight races and has reported numerous problems with his car, the RB20. Red Bull brought upgrades to Austin and they have proved successful, with Verstappen winning the Sprint Race, and Sainz in P2 and Norris in P3. Sainz will be lining up P3 on Sunday for the race.
McLaren also brought upgrades to improve on what has been the fastest car on the grid for the past few races. However, with Red Bull giving Verstappen a competitive car once again, it will not be an easy victory for Norris. In all but one race that he has started on pole, he has bottled the start and failed to lead the race after the first lap. As long as he and Verstappen have vehicles with similar capabilities, the superior skills of the triple world champion will win out.
As long as Norris manages to keep Sainz behind him, which he failed to do in the Sprint, he should have no problem finishing P2. Sainz will be battling for position with his teammate Charles Leclerc, as he did in the Sprint. Ideally, they will keep their fight clean and avoid crashing into each other. If their performance on Sunday is as it was on Saturday, Sainz will win out and earn a podium finish alongside Norris and Verstappen, two ex-teammates of his.
The race will be held on Sunday at 2 p.m. at the Circuit of the Americas in Austin.
