The 3 challenges of the United States Grand Prix

The return of Daniel Ricciardo?

It's not quite official yet, but it was the trend at Alpha Tauri. On the sidelines since his hand injury at the Dutch Grand Prix, Daniel Ricciardo should make his comeback behind the wheel of the AT04 in Austin (Texas). The Australian continued the simulator sessions to test his hand, and while he was due to return to Qatar two weeks ago, the thirty-year-old preferred to delay his return to the Austin round.

A Grand Prix that he loves, where he arrived last year like the clown he is on a horse, Texan hat screwed on his head. In his absence, Liam Lawson, the reserve, took over perfectly, notably scoring his first points in F1 in Singapore, thanks to a superb 9th place. The Aussie should therefore be back this weekend, even if nothing has been made official yet, and the stakes for him are quite high. While Czech Pérez is in the eye of the storm at Red Bull, the native of Perth (Australia) has a card to play in view of a return to Red Bull in 2025, or even in 2024. To do this, it will need to beat as often as possible Yuki tsunoda, his strong Japanese teammate.

McLaren, the comeback continues?

Behind the imperturbable Max Verstappen and the dominant Red Bull, McLaren is clearly the team in good shape in recent weeks. The structure from Woking (United Kingdom) remains on three podiums in a row with Lando Norris, and even won the Losail sprint with Oscar piastri the 7 last October.

So much so that if we thought that returning to Aston Martin would simply be impossible three weeks ago, the papayas are already only 11 lengths behind 4th place Aston Martin, a team losing momentum.

So obviously, the question now is whether Ferrari's 3rd place can be attainable by the end of the season. There Team is in fact 79 points ahead of McLaren, but with five Grands Prix and two sprint races remaining, it seems that nothing is impossible for Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri, Zak Brown's two diamonds in the rough.

If the Woking team wants to get 3rd place in the Manufacturers' championship, it will be imperative to continue the crazy series of podiums in Texas.

Sargeant, rescue operation!

Logan sargeant will also be particularly scrutinized in Texas. Firstly because he is American, and he will compete for the second time this season in front of his compatriots, after the Miami Grand Prix last May.

Above all, his seat at Williams is the last one available on the grid for 2024. James Vowles confirmed that Logan had to meet a certain performance specification to keep his wheel, while insisting he wanted to be able to keep it.

The ball is therefore in the court of the child from Boca Raton (Florida). If he manages to be at the level ofAlexander albon very occasionally, its numerous crashes do not speak in its favor. So nothing better than a home race to get yourself going again!

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