2024 United States Grand Prix - COTA, Oct 18-20

[Dunlay]

I was very sceptical of McLaren running away this weekend with the kind of pace they demonstrated in last few races, plus their upgrades. I am happy that like other teams have faced, their upgrades could have been a bit of a downgrade. I just don't want any driver or team to run away with this.

Second place is the right place to start at Austin as the poleman usually loses out. So I would like to see George jump Max and drivers behind swarm him and leave him with Lando to have a fight. Good for championship.

[Chuckjr]

It seems between Macca’s loss of the rear wing trick, and what appears to be some positive steps for Red Bull, there may be a bit of a shift back to previous orders. Merc update is clearly working which is great to see. I think Merc look strong for the race. All the hubbub about the Red Bull adjustable bib seems to be pretty empty as far as their speed is concerned. I mean, they are on pole. Will be interesting to see how they do in the race. Max has a lot more riding on this than Lewis or George who don’t have a drivers championship to safeguard. That may keep things more reasonable when/if Max is challenged for position. I’m really curious what Red Bull and Merc race pace is tomorrow, and what their tire deg looks like. Ferrari is strong with no update. Impressive. This all is adding up to a spectacular 2025.

[falonso81]

Leclerc lap was bad. I believe he had a chance at pole, as did Hamilton.

[ME4ME]

Federico Albano's work

https://i.imgur.com/PMgLUHi.jpeg

Thanks for sharing. Excellent comparison of these drivers' laps.
I think its fair to say that only Verstappen did a clean lap, and that all four of these drivers as well as Hamilton could've been on pole.

[search]

Hülkenberg did his SQ3 attempt on 6-lap old softs from FP1, and still only finished 0.35s behind. Everyone else was on new tires

[CjC]

Hülkenberg did his SQ3 attempt on 6-lap old softs from FP1, and still only finished 0.35s behind. Everyone else was on new tires

No way!!?!??

[organic]

Hülkenberg did his SQ3 attempt on 6-lap old softs from FP1, and still only finished 0.35s behind. Everyone else was on new tires

That's bizarre

[Bill]

piatri has been wildly inconsistent but Marko think he should not play no2 i think he is wrong.redbull may get back the constructor lead if it continue like these

[Bill]

Hülkenberg did his SQ3 attempt on 6-lap old softs from FP1, and still only finished 0.35s behind. Everyone else was on new tires

No way!!?!??

they were very quick at Silverstone too. Its the high speedcorners

[pantherxxx]

"Formula Data Analysis
@FDataAnalysis
VER will start the #F1 Sprint in P1, yet he wasn't the quickest in any sector! (But quick everywhere)
The upgraded Haas was mighty!

1)BEST SECTORS
-S1: HAM fastest, by far (+0.13s vs VER)
-S2: RUS fastest, then NOR
-S3: LEC and HUL fastest
VER struggled in S2, NOR in S3

2)GRIP
RUS reached the highest top speed (330km/h) yet he was also stronger than VER and LEC under braking! (Reached 6g of deceleration)
VER had excellent cornering grip, but braking was lacking. LEC produced the lowest maximum lateral acceleration (in fact he struggled in S1)"

I think it's a strong assumption that Verstappen will be very competitive in race pace due to his excellent cornering grip. Cornering grip is a critical factor in maintaining consistent lap times and tire management, especially over longer race stints. His struggle under braking may be less of an issue in race conditions, as braking points are more consistent and less aggressive compared to a single-lap.

[langedweil]

"Formula Data Analysis
@FDataAnalysis
VER will start the #F1 Sprint in P1, yet he wasn't the quickest in any sector! (But quick everywhere)
The upgraded Haas was mighty!

1)BEST SECTORS
-S1: HAM fastest, by far (+0.13s vs VER)
-S2: RUS fastest, then NOR
-S3: LEC and HUL fastest
VER struggled in S2, NOR in S3

2)GRIP
RUS reached the highest top speed (330km/h) yet he was also stronger than VER and LEC under braking! (Reached 6g of deceleration)
VER had excellent cornering grip, but braking was lacking. LEC produced the lowest maximum lateral acceleration (in fact he struggled in S1)"

I think it's a strong assumption that Verstappen will be very competitive in race pace due to his excellent cornering grip. Cornering grip is a critical factor in maintaining consistent lap times and tire management, especially over longer race stints. His struggle under braking may be less of an issue in race conditions, as braking points are more consistent and less aggressive compared to a single-lap.

Considering the mishap in the esses, it's very impressive Lec still got third ..

[chrisc90]

Much warmer today according to F1TV commentators.

[Tiny73]

I’m at COTA this weekend and it’s about 7-10 degrees warmer than yesterday and far less cloud cover. It’s hot.

[chrisc90]

I’m at COTA this weekend and it’s about 7-10 degrees warmer than yesterday and far less cloud cover. It’s hot.

Enjoy the weekend!

[search]

On German Sky, Zak Brown just said that in his opinion, Mercedes looks like the team to beat this weekend.