Max Verstappen continued to drive the wheels off his Red Bull as he keeps a fifth consecutive Formula One title within his sights, winning Sunday’s United Stated Grand Prix in another dominant performance.
Verstappen started on pole and never looked back, keeping the lead for the entire race and taking an easy victory. In the end, he never saw a challenge, cruising to the finish and winning by 7.959 seconds.
“It was an unbelievable weekend for us,” said Verstappen, after his fourth win in Austin, TX and his third victory in the last four GPs. “I knew that the race was not going to be super straightforward. If you look at the whole race, the pace between me and Lando [Norris] was really close. I think the first stint was where we made the difference and I could eke out a little bit of a gap and that’s what we kept until the end.
“For sure the chance is there [for the drivers’ title], we just need to try to deliver these kinds of weekends to the end,” he continued. “We will try whatever we can and I’m just excited to be in it.”
The victory put Verstappen just 40 points behind championship leader Oscar Piastri of McLaren, who managed only a fifth-place finish. On Saturday, Verstappen gained eight points on Piastri with a win in the Sprint race, bringing the gap down a total of 25 over the weekend.
Meanwhile, Norris also gained points on teammate Piastri with his second-place finish, closing the gap to 14 points with five races to go.
Norris started second but lost out to Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc in the first corner and needed to get past the scarlet car twice to end the day in second, once before and once after the mid-race pit stops. The second passing move happened with just a handful of laps left and after Norris tried several times to squeeze past the Ferrari. He eventually got by with six laps to go.
“It was a good battle with Charles – he fought hard,” said Norris. “I expected a slightly easier second attempt to get through but it wasn’t the case. Charles drove a very good race and it was fun and a good battle. I had to take second because there wasn’t more I could do today.”
Leclerc used an opposite strategy, being the only drivers in the top-15 to start on soft tires. He used the extra grip to power past Norris, then nursed them through the first two-thirds of the race before stopping earlier than the other frontrunners to switch to mediums for his second stint. It almost worked to gain him a position, but he ended up finishing where he started.
“I was a little bit worried when I saw that I was the only car on soft tires at the beginning but I kind of knew it was a bit of a risky move,” said Leclerc. “I’m very happy overall because it’s been a tough second half of the year. To be back on the podium here after what was a difficult practice, with the gearbox problem, means we recovered well, so I’m happy.”
Piastri leads the driver standings with 346 points, with McLaren teammate Norris second on 332, followed by Verstappen with 306.
While Norris lined up in the front row with Verstappen, Piastri only managed sixth behind the Ferrari of Leclerc, who qualified third, ahead of George Russell’s Mercedes and the second Ferrari of Lewis Hamilton, who rounded out the top-five.
It could’ve been worse for Piastri, who struggled all weekend on the Circuit of the Americas, but he didn’t lose any ground to Norris in Saturday’s Sprint race, which ended early for the two championship rivals. The pair collided in the first corner and retired after Piastri tried a switchback to go inside on his teammate at the first corner but made contact with the Team Stake car of Nico Hulkenberg and then knifed into Norris ahead.
Once the pair retired, Russell did try to take the fight to Verstappen, but could not make a pass work. In the end, Verstappen took the win, with Russell second and Williams driver Carlos Sainz rounding out the podium.
The Sprint race also brought repercussions for Canadian Lance Stroll, who attempted an ill-fated, late-race overtake on Haas’ Esteban Ocon at Turn 1 that took both cars out of the race. Stroll received a five-place penalty for Sunday’s race and two penalty points on his licence for his efforts.
In the Grand Prix, Stroll started 19th, after qualifying 18th, and finished 12th, while his Aston Martin teammate Fernando Alonso crossed the line where he started, in 10th.
