At the end of the U.S. GP in Austin, winner Charles Leclerc, runner-up Carlos Sainz, and third-place finisher Max Verstappen all stood on the podium — but something was missing. Three things, in fact. None of the podium finishers of the U.S. Grand Prix were awarded the much-hyped trophies from Pirelli that were shown off in the days before the race. 

Dubbed “Heroo,” built by Pirelli, and designed by Italian artist Matteo Macchiavelli, each of the original trophies had a black body and articulating arms made from carbon fiber, with a chromed head that matched the finishing position: gold (sprinkled with actual gold dust) for first, silver for second, and titanium for third.

After the race, Pirelli confirmed to Motorsport.com that the company — in conjunction with the race promoter, and after informing the FIA — pulled the trophies from usage because it had been made aware of potential similarities with other designs. (The trophies closely resemble sculptures and collectibles created by the brand Bearbrick.)

Sainz and Verstappen lofted miniature tires like the ones given as Saturday’s qualifying awards. Leclerc appeared to be holding a tall metallic tube-shaped trophy. All three had to be flown in by Pirelli from one of the company’s U.S. offices after it pulled the original trophies, the company confirmed to Motorsport.com.

Pirelli introduced the trophies at the start of the week, and showcased them on the grid the day before the race, posing them on the pit wall and giving them their own paddock pass credentials. Pirelli also originally mentioned that collectible “art toys” would be put on sale for the public, which also may have led to potential issues.

Since Sunday’s race ended, Pirelli went so far as to remove the original link on its press site announcing the trophies. 

Bob Pockrass

FOX NASCAR Insider

LAS VEGAS — Joey Logano went from out of the playoffs to having a spot to vie for the NASCAR Cup Series title in three weeks at Phoenix Raceway.

Logano, who thought he was knocked out of the playoffs last week at Charlotte until learning a couple of hours after the race that Alex Bowman failed postrace weight requirements to put Logano into the semifinal round, vaulted himself into the championship race by using a fuel-mileage strategy to capture the victory Sunday at Las Vegas Motor Speedway.

Logano said he and his wife laughed about it in victory lane.

“Do you believe one week ago at this hour… I come walking out of our bedroom, and I said, ‘You’re not going to believe this s—,’” Logano said in recalling the conversation. “Here we are a week later. I told her, ‘You ain’t going to believe this, that we won this one.’”

The Team Penske driver entered the Round of 8 (NASCAR’s version of the semifinal round) with the fewest points, and while at least one driver, will be among the four finalists based on points, winning a race earns a playoff driver an automatic bid. The four drivers who make it to the championship round race (along with everyone else) in the season finale Nov. 10 at Phoenix Raceway and the top finisher among those four wins the title.

“We had maybe not the best regular season, but when the pay window opens up in the playoffs, the 22 [team] shows up,” said two-time Cup champion Logano, who was 15th in the regular-season standings while the other seven drivers in the Round of 8 were in the top seven.

Christopher Bell thought he would be that driver in victory lane as he led 155 laps and had the dominant car, but Logano ran the final 69-lap green-flag run without stopping for fuel while most of the field opted to pit. Logano was told he would be one lap short and was able to save enough and then pass Daniel Suarez with six laps remaining.

“[My crew chief] told me we’re one lap short,” Logano said. “Saving one lap over the course of that many laps, not that hard to do.”

The opening race of the three-race round (Homestead and Martinsville remain) did not go smoothly for the eight drivers still eligible for the title as Tyler Reddick, Chase Elliott and Ryan Blaney were involved in a wreck on Lap 89 while Denny Hamlin and Kyle Larson were stymied by problems on pit road.

Takeaways from Las Vegas:

Reddick Flips, Elliott Frustrated

Reddick, who won the opening stage, tried to make a move on the outside to make it three-wide when Chase Elliott (in the middle) and Martin Truex Jr. ended up having contact, turning Reddick, who did a flip in the trioval grass.

Reddick couldn’t continue after a move he wished he would have back but one that he felt he had enough room to make.

“Being aggressive, I feel like you need to be on these mile-and-a-half [tracks], and it bit me today,’ Reddick said. “The 19 [of Truex] wiggled up into the 9 [of Elliott] and we just all ran out of room.

“That’s all there is to it.”

Elliott appeared to have mixed feelings afterward.

“I certainly understand but there was not a lot of room … in the corner,” Elliott said. “At that point in the race, it was a big gamble for him to bank on me recognizing and Martin recognizing that he had a big run up top.

“It was aggressive for sure, but who am I to say, we’re trying to race for a championship.”

Elliott said his car was possibly the best one he had at Vegas in the last few years.

“I was personally just trying to get out of the situation and was a little too late at that point,” Elliott said. “It sucks.”

Reddick’s car landed on all fours and he drove it to pit road, but the car was destroyed when it came to the suspension and the brakes.

“I saw a little bit of grass, a little bit of the sky,” Reddick said about the flip.

Logano capitalizes with some help?

Ryan Blaney was also caught up in the Reddick wreck and was several laps down in following Logano in the final laps.

Bell felt Blaney played some defense for Logano — and was OK with that.

“It’s fair game and props to [Blaney],” Bell said. “The 22 [of Logano] winning was probably bad for the 12 [of Blaney] because they’re racing each other for points to get in.

“Penske won the race and got one car in. They did it right.”

Blaney scoffed at the idea he was helping keep Bell from catching him.

“The 20 [of Bell] didn’t get to me until the last corner,” Blaney said. “I don’t know what the hell you would think I’m blocking him for.

“I’m running the top. I’m not taking anyone’s air away. He should have maybe got to the 22 quicker. He would have been able to pass me pretty easy, but he was half a lap too late.”

Larson, Hamlin pit crew woes

Both Denny Hamlin and Kyle Larson were the victim of slow pit stops that cost them several positions during the race, with Larson even having to pit a second time and going a lap down in one sequence.

Hamlin finished eighth and Larson finished 11th.

“Just not a clean day,” Hamlin said. “That certainly kind of sums it up. You’ll have that. We’ll just do the best we can to get the best finish.”

Larson had a similar outlook.

“We made the most of it,” Larson said. “[It] could have been a lot worse.”

Larson at least has the consolation that he leaves the race 35 points above the cutoff while Hamlin is 27 points behind.

“We’re not running quite as strong as what we were earlier in the year,” Hamlin said. “We’re definitely not as clean execution-wise as what we were.

“We’ve just got to clean it up, go to Homestead and try to win it.”

Bob Pockrass covers NASCAR for FOX Sports. He has spent decades covering motorsports, including over 30 Daytona 500s, with stints at ESPN, Sporting News, NASCAR Scene magazine and The (Daytona Beach) News-Journal. Follow him on Twitter @bobpockrass.

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Organisers of the Circuit of the Americas have been summoned by the FIA for an early track invasion by spectators.

At the end of the race at the Circuit of the Americas, several spectators entered the track on the start-finish straight while cars were still coming past on their in laps after the end of the race.

Representatives from US Race Management and COTA were required to report to the FIA’s race stewards at 18:15 local Austin time to provide an explanation.

Premature track invasions are considered a serious incident and and breach of the FIA’s safety protocols, and it has previously pulled up other grands prix for a similar offence.

In 2023, track invasion issues marred the Australian Grand Prix in Melbourne, with the organisers asked to present a detailed report on what happened and any steps they would take to prevent a repeat incident.

The Melbourne organisers ended up deciding to ban their traditional track invasion for this year’s race at Albert Park.

The problems in Australia last year were not unique, with a similar situation happening at the Brazilian Grand Prix when fans spilled out onto the Interlagos circuit at Turn 1 as the cars took the chequered flag. Race organisers in Brazil have also been asked to come up with an action plan that satisfies the FIA before this year’s race.

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The final race of the weekend at Imola saw James Owen and Bence Valint split the Trofeo Pirelli AM and Trofeo Pirelli titles. The Meridian Modena – Engstler driver seized the moment in tricky conditions to win the AM world title ahead of his rivals and winning the overall race.

Owen made the most of the rain, which fell heavily in the last 10 minutes of the race. This was the key factor that affected the outcome in favour of the British driver, but also Valint, who saw his main rivals Giacomo Altoè and Luca Ludwig eliminated from the battle for remaining on the track with slicks for too long.

It was Altoè who got the best possible start from pole, with Ludwig slotting in behind aiming to hassle him throughout in an all-Italian duel. The first upset, however, came after 10 minutes with a spectacular high-speed incident at Tamburello.

Shortly before the braking point, Claus Zibrandtsen lost control of his 296, and after suddenly swerving to the left, the Danish driver’s car picked up speed on the wet grass and slid towards the chicane, hitting Luigi Coluccio’s 296 head-on. The impact was violent, but fortunately both stepped out of their respective cars unscathed.

This incident, however, forced the Race Direction to display the red flag, stopping the race for several minutes to allow the track marshals to remove the damaged cars.

At the restart, Altoè and Ludwig picked up where they left off, at the top and battling for first place. The situation seemed to have stabilized, with the two Italians fighting for the Trofeo Pirelli title.
With eight minutes to go, the rain started to fall and Altoè had to give up first place to Owen. Both the Italians were on slicks, while Owen, who had switched to rain tyres earlier, immediately felt at ease on the wet track and powered his way ahead.

Owen was able to manage an advantage of more than half a minute over second-placed Roberto Perrina, first among the Trofeo Pirelli drivers. The Ferrari of Seattle team man, however, made a mistake, slipping to fourth overall and second in his category behind Valint.

A few moments later, Jay Logan went off the track, ending up beached in the gravel. This forced the Race Direction to send the Safety Car out again, thus wiping out the advantage of more than half a minute that Owen had accumulated in the previous laps.

At that point, with four minutes plus one lap to go, the race ended under the Safety Car, with Owen ahead of Giammarco Marzialetti and crowned Trofeo Pirelli AM champion. Bence Valint, on the other hand, finished third, but as he was the first Trofeo Pirelli driver to the flag, he won the category title.

The result was a bit of a travesty for Altoè and Ludwig, who were clearly the fastest drivers on the track but who were forced to settle for sixth overall (third in class) and eleventh overall and seventh in class respectively. Both were penalized for their decision to remain on slick tires when another heavy downpour arrived to flood the Santerno circuit nine minutes from the end of the race.

Finali Mondiali Ferrari – Trofeo Pirelli e Trofeo Pirelli AM – Final classification