NEED TO KNOW: The most important facts, stats and trivia ahead of the 2024 United States Grand Prix

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After two years of Max Verstappen and Red Bull wrapping up the drivers’ and constructors’ championships early, the race for both world titles is very much on as a remarkable 2024 season reaches its climax.

McLaren have impressively turned the tables on Red Bull to lead the way by 41 points in their push for a first teams’ title since 1998, while Lando Norris is doing his best to catch Verstappen and now sits 52 points back.

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Many in the paddock view McLaren as the benchmark heading into the final six rounds, with the Woking outfit winning four of the last six races and finishing on the podium at every Grand Prix since Japan back in April.

While the MCL38 – via its effective updates – has looked comfortable at most tracks, the same cannot be said for Red Bull’s RB20, which took a turn for the worse via mid-season developments and is on a win-less run stretching back to June’s Spanish Grand Prix.

Some reactive changes appear to have helped, and more developments are due on the Red Bull in Austin this weekend, but will it be enough to fight back against McLaren and end the year as they started it with the fastest package?

McLaren and Red Bull are not the only teams in the title mix, though, with an up and down Ferrari now only 34 points behind the reigning world champions and Charles Leclerc sitting the same margin behind Norris in the drivers’ battle.

Mercedes are another squad to have won races this season and will bring upgrades of their own to the Circuit of The Americas, with the aim of returning to a summer peak that brought wins in Austria, Britain and Belgium.

That’s not to mention scraps elsewhere, as RB try to keep Haas at bay for P6 in the constructors’, a reinvigorated Williams do their best to get involved, and a whole host of driver head-to-heads play out.

A fascinating situation, then, ahead of two decisive triple-headers…