UNITED STATES GP – Max Verstappen wins the sprint beating Carlos Sainz by nearly four seconds
Max Verstappen won the sprint race at the United States Grand Prix beating Carlos Sainz by nearly four seconds. Verstappen went into this weekend looking for a reset as he hasn’t won a Grand Prix since June, it was a strong drive by the Red Bull driver as the team looks to bounce back through out the sprint, he steadily increased his lead over Sainz and Lando Norris.
The Dutchman’s first win in any form since the Austrian Grand Prix back in June, and could be a decisive development in the title race on a weekend where Red Bull have introduced a major upgrade to their car. He converted his pole position into a lead at the first corner and was able to keep Norris at bay for the full 19 laps.
Norris was third finishing two seconds behind his former teammate having locked up and hugged the apex at Turn One allowing Sainz into second. But then the McLaren driver successfully fended off the Ferrari the second Ferrari of Charles Leclerc narrowly by seven tenths of a second. Norris had made a great start passing George Russell and Leclerc in the first sector on the opening lap.
Norris held onto third by the skin of his teeth, nearly coming to blows with Leclerc at Turn Fifteen on the final lap as the Ferrari driver was surprised by his early braking into the tight left-hander. The incident will be investigated by the stewards as potential erratic driving.
Norris said, “It was a good race. I am pretty happy with how things ended up. It was a tough one, I thought I could maybe hang on to second but Carlos did a good job. My front tyres were completely finished and there was not a lot I could do. Whether I’d stayed straight or defended, I am pretty sure I would have lost the place.”
As the result stands, Verstappen’s Drivers’ Championship lead grows by two points to fifty-four, with Norris still having the opportunity to make ground in Sunday’s Grand Prix, for which qualifying takes place later on Saturday
Russell finished sixth nearly ten seconds behind the Ferrari and ahead of teammate Lewis Hamilton by nearly three seconds, but Mercedes appear to be struggling to find the pace to fight at the front this weekend in Austin. Kevin Magnussen was seventh nearly a second and a half ahead of his Haas teammate Nico Hulkenberg.
The result for Haas moves them ahead of RB into sixth in the constructors championship,
Magnussen had ignored an order to let the RB of Yuki Tsunoda passed, as he believed the Japanese driver had tried to push him off the track trying to pass. Tsunoda was also defending hard as he dropped down to eleventh behind Sergio Perez and Oscar Piastri who completed the top ten, but the RB missed out by a second.
Franco Colapinto was twelfth for Williams as he finished a second behind Tsunoda and ahead of Lance Stroll by nearly two seconds. Pierre Gasly was just over eight tenth ahead of his Alpine teammate Esteban Ocon. In his first Sprint Liam Lawson was sixteenth ahead of Alexander Albon and Fernando Alonso both Sauber’s completed the field, Guanyu Zhou nearly two seconds ahead of Valtteri Bottas.