Source : @F1
AUSTIN — Formula 1 has officially arrived in Texas, with the sport marking the start of the United States Grand Prix weekend with photographs of Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc and Red Bull’s Isack Hadjar walking into the Circuit of The Americas paddock.
The official Formula 1 X account posted the two images on Thursday (Oct 22) with the caption: “We’ve arrived in Austin”, alongside the hashtags #F1 and #USGP. The first shows Leclerc in a red Ferrari team shirt and light, faded jeans, walking towards the camera in bright sunshine with a lanyard in his hand. The second shows Hadjar in sunglasses, dark jeans and white trainers, wearing a white short-sleeved Red Bull work shirt with blue panels, smiling as he strides past a star painted on the paddock floor.
Hadjar’s shirt is part of Red Bull’s special Austin kit. According to Motorsport.com, the team is wearing a collection of race suits, boots, jackets and shirts inspired by Ford’s Raptor pick-up and the American West, with Hadjar and Max Verstappen racing in white suits this weekend. Ford, Red Bull’s engine partner, is celebrating its home race at the circuit.
Hadjar arrives after what he called a frustrating weekend in Singapore. “It’s one of those weekends where you get a failure in each session,” he told Thursday’s press conference, according to the FIA transcript. “So, you learn from it and we just move on, and I’m happy to be here in Texas. I like the track.” The Frenchman, who finished 10th in Singapore as Verstappen won from pole, insisted Red Bull did not have the fastest car. “I think if you put Max in the Ferrari, he would have won the race with more margin,” he said.
That is encouraging for Leclerc, who finished second in Singapore and is fifth in the standings on 215 points. He has a strong record in Austin, having won the 2024 United States Grand Prix in a Ferrari one-two with Carlos Sainz. Ferrari team-mate Lewis Hamilton, however, was cautious on Thursday, saying the team had only a very small upgrade and that Red Bull had matched Ferrari through the corners while being quicker on the straights.
The weekend’s headline story is the title fight. Mercedes’ Kimi Antonelli leads on 340 points, 102 clear of team-mate George Russell, with Hamilton third on 229 and Verstappen fourth on 221. Antonelli will be crowned in Austin if he wins the race, with Russell ninth or lower and Hamilton fifth or lower. Hadjar, who raced Antonelli in the junior categories, said of the Italian: “I think he’s surprised everyone with the level he’s been driving at.”
Hadjar is eighth in the standings on 97 points in his first season at Red Bull, while Red Bull have won the past two races with Verstappen. The Circuit of The Americas will remain on the Formula 1 calendar until 2034.
The United States Grand Prix runs from Oct 23 to 25, with qualifying at 4pm local time on Saturday and the 56-lap race starting at 3pm on Sunday, which is 4am on Monday (Oct 26) in Malaysia. The original Formula 1 post can be viewed on X: https://x.com/F1/status/2113339855627284970.
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