US Grand Prix: Commanding Austin sprint win for Verstappen
Max Verstappen started from pole position and went on take a confident victory in the United States sprint race at the Circuit of the Americas in Austin on Saturday afternoon.
The Red Bull driver kept a firm hold on the 19-lap race throughout, while behind him McLaren's Lando Norris made an early leap from fifth to second but subsequently lost one place to Ferrari's Carlos Sainz on the final lap.
Sainz' team mate Charles Leclerc went to extremes to join the Spaniard on the podium but was fought off by Norris. Some way behind, Mercedes' George Russell and Lewis Hamilton and Haas pair Kevin Magnussen and Nick Hulkenberg took the final points on offer today.
After an unusually long pause between F1 race weekends, it was finally back to business for the teams and drivers in Texas. After sprint races earlier in the year in China, Miami and Austria it was a return to the format with a Saturday shoot-out at the Circuit of the Americas, with Max Verstappen having taken pole for Red Bull ahead of Mercedes driver George Russell who joined him on the front row.
Everyone opted to run medium tyres when they set off for the grid, although one car was absent - Alex Albon's Williams had been worked on overnight, forcing a pit lane start. That didn't affect the leaders: when the lights set off to get the race underway, Verstappen was immediately able to convert his pole advantage to a lead into the first corner.
Behind him it was a wheel-to-wheel scrap that saw Lando Norris come out on top ahead of Russell, who was able to hold off the two Ferraris of Charles Leclerc and Carlos Sainz. Lewis Hamilton moved up to sixth in a frantic opening few corners which also saw a close call between RB's Yuki Tsunoda and Kevin Magnussen's Haas. Behind them, Tsunoda had a close call with Sergio Perez on lap 2 that almost the Red Bull out of the race. Fortunately, disaster was averted.
Sainz managed to pick off Leclerc for third in turn 1 on lap 3, but Leclerc immediately snatched it back. The scarlet civil war continued back and forth until Sainz finally nailed the pass in turn 12 on lap 5. Their battles had helped Russell ease away and eke out a lead over the pair as he set his sights on chasing down Norris, who was starting to fall away from Verstappen.
By lap 8, Hulkenberg had finally managed to pass Tsunoda to take up the final points position behind his team mate Magnussen who was in seventh. Two laps later, Russell's grip on the podium buckled due in part to a worn front left tyre. He lost two places in quick succession to Sainz and Leclerc leaving him in fifth. Up ahead, Verstappen was nursing a 1.5s advantage over Norris who was looking far from safe from the mounting Ferrari surge behind him, as the McLaren pit wall expressed concern about tyre wear.
There was an epic battle over ninth between Tsunoda and Perez which finally came down on the Red Bull driver's side. Tsunoda then found himself under pressure from Oscar Piastri despite the McLaren having incurred a five second penalty. Piastri finally forced his way past on lap 16, but it still didn't put him into the points.
At the front, Verstappen was no longer under any pressure and cruised to victory. Norris had been told to ease off and that allowed Sainz and Leclerc to close up. A big lock-up for Norris on the final lap allowed Sainz to sail past for second, and Leclerc tried to pull off the same feat only to flirt with disaster and have to settle for tucking back in behind Norris and accepting fourth instead.
Russell and Hamilton were ten seconds behind the action and flew in formation to fifth and sixth at the line, while the final two points-paying positions went to Haas pair Magnussen and Hulkenberg. That left Perez and Piastri out of the points in nin th and tenth at the chequered flag, with Tsunoda 11th ahead of Franco Colapinto, Lance Stroll, Pierre Gasly, Esteban Ocon, Liam Lawson, Alex Albon andFernando Alonso. The final two places went to Sauber pair Zhou Guanyu and Valtteri Bottas.
The teams now have a chance to make adjustments to their cars before qualifying for Sunday's main event, the United States Grand Prix.
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