Leclerc takes advantage of Verstappen’s mistake and Hamilton celebrates Mercedes

Ferrari performed really well last year in Austin, but suffered wear and tear in the race.

Lando Norris had a fantastic lap and put McLaren on the front row on Sunday. The car is fastest between turns 13 and 17, and is faster, and this makes up for the loss at the end of the lap, in the slower turns.

But the most excited was Lewis Hamilton, who finished third on the grid. He said that for the first time in the past two seasons, Mercedes’ update took effect immediately. The team brought new ground to Austin with a direction already focused on the changes that will be made to the car in 2024.

Not that the day was entirely positive at Mercedes. Hamilton’s teammate, George Russell, has not been in the car since the only free practice, leaving him in fifth place alongside Verstappen in the third row.

Another team that brought new features to the car for 2024 is Aston Martin, which ended up with the worst rating of the year. Fernando Alonso and Lance Stroll were eliminated in the first part of qualifying and a new problem arose, with overheating of the brakes, meaning Stroll did not do much in free practice.

Another car that did not perform well in Austin was Williams. Or rather, he did not qualify. Logan Sargeant said the car flipped upside down in practice, when they were among the leaders, because of a grid decision, and the team has no explanation for that.