$253.2 billion worth Elon Musk visits the Mercedes garage with his son at the United States GP

Elon Musk made a surprise appearance at the United States GP where he brought his son for company as well.

$253.2 billion worth Elon Musk visits the Mercedes garage with his son at the United States GP

The United States GP marked the return of Formula One to America after a stint in the Asian countries of Singapore, Japan and Qatar. And it was also the comeback of Daniel Ricciardo after the AlphaTauri racer had to sit out a few races to recover from his wrist injury at Zandvoort. The weekend at the Circuit of the Americas was filled with action as there were several events scheduled, including a Sprint Shootout and a Sprint Race.

The Ferrari SF-23 of Charles Leclerc turned out to be quite a surprise at COTA. He captured the pole position at the Qualis and even finished third in the Sprint Race after Max Verstappen and Lewis Hamilton. While the Monegasque looked all set to replicate his teammate Carlos Sainz‘s resounding victory at Singapore, he failed in the quest. He started off strong as he maintained the lead in the race, but fell to the back only a few laps in.

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And watching the entire scene unfold right in front of him was none other than the world’s richest man Elon Musk. The SpaceX mastermind was present at the Mercedes garage with his son, enjoying a special view of the on-track drama. But this was not his first appearance at an F1 race in 2023 as he was also spotted at the Miami Grand Prix. At that time, he had expressed his wishes to invest in Formula One, and his re-appearance might point towards a possible entry of the billionaire business into the world of motorsports.

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Max Verstappen got the best of Charles Leclerc despite the Ferrari driver’s pole at US GP

Charles Leclerc has often been touted as a future World Champion. Soon after shifting to Ferrari in 2019, he had captured some spectacular wins in Belgium and in Imola, giving the Tifosis some hope. They had even claimed that Charles might bring the World Championship to Maranello ages after Kimi Raikkonen won the Drivers’ Title in 2007. But unfortunately, it has been almost 5 years since Leclerc joined Ferrari and they are still nowhere close to winning the Championship.

Charles Leclerc and Max Verstappen (via Eurosport)

Last year, the F1-75 looked quite competent during the initial races and many pundits pinned their hopes on Charles Leclerc to finally outshine his rivals. But once Red Bull got the hang of things after solving their performance issues with their car, Max Verstappen soared to the top while Charles Leclerc had to settle for the second spot in the World Drivers’ Standings.

This year, Charles Leclerc’s situation has been much worse than how he had performed in 2022. The Monegasque is currently down in the 6th position in the rankings, even below his teammate Carlos Sainz. As the Grands Prix are becoming less in number, time is running out for Leclerc to show off his skills. After failing to win the United States GP, he will now have his eyes set on achieving victory at the Mexican Grand Prix next week.