Max Verstappen’s Formula One championship run-in began with his first win since June and his most comfortably managed drive since then, winning the sprint race at the US Grand Prix. However, his title challenger Lando Norris responded later in the day, securing pole position for Sunday, with Verstappen second on the grid.
The sprint race was an impressively dominant victory at the Circuit of the Americas. Verstappen strengthened his championship lead by beating Norris into third place, demonstrating that Red Bull is once again in top form. Norris lost second place to Ferrari’s Carlos Sainz on the final lap, but recovered in qualifying.
Verstappen maintained his unbeaten record in the short-form format this season and was in control from pole to flag; once leading from the off he was unchallenged across the 19-lap dash. Norris chased him hard, moving from fourth to second with a blistering start but could then make no dent in the Red Bull lead and with his tyres shot toward the end, was powerless against Sainz.Formula One
The win was just the opening Verstappen required to the six-meeting title-deciding finale that will close the season. He extended his lead over Norris to 54 points, with a further 172 still on the table. While he outscored Norris by only two points, most importantly he prevented the British driver from narrowing the gap.
Equally importantly for Verstappen and Red Bull, it indicated the limited upgrades the team brought to the race in an effort to solve the balance issues with which their car has been suffering, appear to have been successful, demonstrating the command at the front of the field he enjoyed in the first half of the season.
This was acknowledged by a beaming Verstappen. “It feels a bit like old times,” he said. “I am very happy, finally we were racing again. Normally in the race we are always looking back but now we could do our own race.”
However, Norris recovered in qualifying to grab first position, beating Verstappen by barely 0.031 seconds. The McLaren driver set the early pace in the pole battle, and luck smiled on him when George Russell crashed out of his Mercedes at the penultimate corner.
Verstappen appeared to be on track to break Norris’ record, but all of the drivers were forced to back off after Russell collided with the barriers at great speed. That allowed Norris to capture what could be a pivotal pole, and Verstappen joined him on the front row.
Sainz finished third for Ferrari, one place ahead of Charles Leclerc, with Norris’ McLaren colleague Oscar Piastri fifth. Lewis Hamilton has a record five wins in Austin, but the seven-time
The winner endured a horrible show, qualifying in 19th. “What has happened to this car, man?” Hamilton spoke on the radio after finishing six tenths behind Russell in the other Mercedes. Russell advanced to Q3 and, despite a late accident, finished sixth. Hamilton will be moved up one position to 18th, with Liam Lawson being put to the back for installing a lot of new engine parts in his RB.
Hamilton blamed his shocking finish on a suspension problem incurred in the previous sprint race. “In the sprint we had some sort of failure from the formation lap on the front suspension,” the driver explained. “I had that throughout the sprint race, which made maintaining balance really tough. The automobile was It was a nightmare in qualifying. I should definitely start in the pit lane; otherwise, I won’t be getting anywhere from here.”
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