Max Verstappen has took victory of the Sprint race at the United States Grand Prix, with Carlos Sainz in second place due to a costly last-lap lock-up that costed Lando Norris the position.
Weather for the Sprint race was fairly hotter than yesterday, with air temperatures reaching up to 27 degrees Celsius and track temps at 43,4. Everyone departed from the grid on the Medium compound tires.
At lights out, Max Verstappen had the best take-off and managed to maintain his P1-spot to George Russell. However, third-placed Lando Norris beat his bad luck and had a good start, managing to overtake the Mercedes at Turn 3.
Russell tried to fight back but was then challenged by Charles Leclerc for the last step of the podium. However, the battle didn’t last and the Monegasque fell slightly back, which allowed teammate Carlos Sainz to try and pass the number 16. The fight ensued, and both drivers went back-and-forth for P4.
Rookie Franco Colapinto had a quick getaway but couldn’t keep up with Red Bull’s Sergio Perez, who quickly stole P10 from him. However, the Argentine defended well from Stroll behind, who was, at the time, being attacked by Oscar Piastri for position. The Australian eventually got past both drivers and claimed P9 by lap 14.
Halfway through the Sprint, Norris kept chasing Verstappen for the lead, and even though the Dutchman set the fastest lap, he couldn’t shake the Britton off his DRS range.
Going into the last lap, Norris locked-up through Turn 1, allowing Sainz to go through. This was great for the Spaniard, as he was now away from the menace of teammate Leclerc. The McLaren was then closely chased by the Monegasque, but no overtake was made.
While the battle behind ensued, Verstappen crossed the checkered flag in first place, claiming yet another Sprint race victory. Sainz and Norris followed in the podium.
The Sauber duo of Valtteri Bottas and Guanyu Zhou took the bottom spots on the timing sheets, showcasing what will be an extremely difficult race performance-wise for the Audi-owned squad.
RB’s Liam Lawson took the 16th spot at the checkered flag, ahead of Albon. His teammate, Yuki Tsunoda, took P11 ahead of Colapinto.
Qualifying for Sunday’s GP is next.