Charles Leclerc did not win the United States Grand Prix, but his drive to second in Austin gave Ferrari plenty to take into the final five races of the season.
Kimi Antonelli was out of reach at the Circuit of The Americas, winning by more than 13 seconds, but Leclerc spent much of Sunday fighting Max Verstappen and Lando Norris. He eventually beat both to second place and was voted Driver of the Day.
For Ferrari, it continued an encouraging weekend after Leclerc and Lewis Hamilton had between them led all three practice sessions.
Leclerc takes the fight to Verstappen
Leclerc started fourth but immediately went after Verstappen, using his battery deployment to attack around the outside through the opening sector and briefly take second place. Verstappen reclaimed the position before the end of the opening lap as Leclerc ran low on battery. The Ferrari remained in the fight, though, and became particularly quick after the first round of pit stops.
The battle came back together late in the race. Verstappen passed Norris before Leclerc also cleared the McLaren, leaving the pair fighting directly for second. With seven laps remaining, Leclerc passed Verstappen and pulled away to finish 4.407 seconds ahead of the Red Bull. F1 fans subsequently voted him Driver of the Day with 25.7% of the vote.
Leclerc said afterwards that he had enjoyed having a car with which he could race aggressively. He briefly thought victory might still be possible when Antonelli committed to a one-stop, but conceded the Mercedes ultimately had too much pace.
Our United States GP race report has the full finishing order and how the race unfolded.
Leclerc finding something more from Ferrari
There was another reason for Leclerc to leave Austin encouraged. Ferrari brought a revised floor and bodywork package to the United States GP, but Leclerc believes his recent improvement is also coming from changes to his driving and set-up.
He said he has found something over the past two or three races which has left him more comfortable with the SF-26. Ferrari are not planning another major upgrade this season, so extracting more from the existing package now becomes the priority. Austin was encouraging without being conclusive. Ferrari were quick throughout practice, and Leclerc had the pace to pass Verstappen on track, but Antonelli still beat both Ferraris in qualifying and controlled the race.
As we noted in our four things we learned from the United States GP, Hamilton also struggled more with the balance of his car despite finishing fourth. Leclerc, meanwhile, believes Ferrari can challenge for a victory before the season is over. After consecutive second places in Singapore and Austin, that no longer looks an unreasonable target.
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