Austin Sprint Race

Max Verstappen ended his winless run by dominating the US Grand Prix sprint race. This extended his championship lead over Lando Norris by 2 points.

Verstappen converted pole into the lead and was never challenged for the remaining 19 laps. His championship rival Lando Norris moved up to second behind Verstappen on the opening lap from fourth on the grid.

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However, McLaren's pace wasn’t as strong as in recent races. Norris was unable to get within DRS range of Verstappen, and his tyres fell off in the last few laps. He was left to fight with the Ferrari and ultimately lost.

A mistake at Turn 1 on the final lap allowed Sainz up to second. Sainz had already passed his teammate in the opening few laps, and may have been able to challenge Verstappen with a better grid position.

Leclerc also tried to overtake Norris, but failed to do so after almost losing it when Norris moved to defend. Norris was investigated after the race for the move but wasn’t penalised.

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After a promising qualifying George Russell (p2) struggled with tyre wear early in the race and fell behind both Ferraris but stayed ahead of teammate Lewis Hamilton. 

The two Haas cars showed strong race speed, rounding the points positions in 7th and 8th, with Magnussen overtaking Hulkenberg on Lap 1.

Oscar Piastri made his way up to tenth, but was unable to recover to a points position following his SQ1 exit. Yuki Tsunoda made a pitch to Red Bull, keeping Perez behind for several laps, before the Mexican completed the move and finished ninth. Fernando Alonso was unimpressed by Liam Lawson’s defensive driving in the New Zealander’s first Grand Prix in over 12 months.

Verstappen's victory is the first time he's won any race since the last sprint race in Austria.

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