Five Formula 1 Winners & Losers: United States Grand Prix

Photo from Formula 1

Still not fully sure why the Formula 1 season took yet another whole month off, but it returned Sunday with the United States Grand Prix, which is another example of how Formula 1 is better when they race on actual race tracks.

Strange!

Here are the winners and losers from the U.S. Grand Prix.

Losers

5. Esteban Ocon

Ocon’s race was ruined on the opening lap after he was hit from behind, and he never had the pace to keep up.

It happens in this sport, unfortunately.

4. Visa Cash App RB

It was by no means a bad weekend for RB, as we’ll discuss in the winners section, but they unfortunately were beaten by Haas this weekend, and have now fallen two points behind 6th in the constructors standings.

We’re near the end of the season.

Every single point matters.

3. Alexander Albon

Nobody who is sane will think that Albon is worse than Franco Colapinto, but Albon sure as hell was slower than Colapinto this weekend.

It was a weekend to forget for the Thai driver.

2. Lewis Hamilton

Hamilton was having a good race, but his mistake that sent him into the gravel trap made him the only DNF of the weekend.

Lewis has had lots of excellent moments with Mercedes in Austin, so this had to be a tough way for his last ever US Grand Prix with Mercedes to end.

1. Lando Norris

Another weekend where Lando Norris loses ground on Max Verstappen in the championship despite being in a faster car.

This time, due to another horrible start that saw Norris go from pole position to 4th on the opening lap.

What you are seeing is a driver who has won 3 straight championships and is cool as ice, and a driver who is pushing for his first, but feeling the pressure.

Lando (and Oscar Piastri for that matter) better get it figured out quickly, because Ferrari is starting to push towards the lead in the constructors standings.

Winners

5. Max Verstappen

Verstappen has no business extending his championship lead considering how his Red Bull is likely the third fastest car right now.

But he is.

It shows how he truly is the best driver in the sport right now.

4. Haas

A huge weekend for Haas at their home grand prix, as they brought home 7 points to move to 6th in the constructors standings.

They’ve been far better this season than expected.

3. Franco Colapinto

I was skeptical about Franco Colapinto joining Williams.

It felt like he was a stop gap driver for the team.

Someone who they could just make sure doesn’t crash the car and cost the team money.

He has been so much better than that, as his 10th place finish shows.

He likely won’t have a seat next year, but he’s made such an impact that he’ll be on shortlists going forward.

2. Liam Lawson

The way Daniel Ricciardo left VCARB rubbed people the wrong way, mainly just because of how it all went down without anybody really knowing.

But after Lawson’s excellent return to the sport, I don’t think people will be talking about it much anymore, as Lawson drove a great race to finish 9th and get two crucial points for VCARB.

They’re still behind Haas now, but like I said earlier, every point matters.

1. Ferrari

Ferrari has, very quietly, been one of the fastest teams in the sport recently, and now sit just 48 points behind McLaren for the lead in the constructors standings.

The 1-2 for Charles Leclerc and Carlos Sainz helped a lot with that, and we still have 5 race weekends left.

Ferrari are very, very much so in this title hunt.