In a sprint race with little history in Austin, Max Verstappen secured the first victory of the United States Grand Prix Formula 1 weekend. The already crowned champion completely dominated the events this Saturday.
Starting from pole position, the Red Bull driver from the Netherlands was still under pressure at the beginning, both from Charles Leclerc (Ferrari) right at the start and from Lewis Hamilton (Mercedes) – who was his main pursuer and even had DRS to use until the sixth lap.
Verstappen continued to isolate himself, being the only one capable of running in the 1m39s among the frontrunners. In a somewhat monotonous race, the #1 ended up winning with a margin of 9.465s over Hamilton. The experienced seven-time champion also remained isolated in second place, in a solitary race.
Leclerc had to work a little harder to secure third place: he finished 17.987s behind the leader, but less than a second ahead of Lando Norris (McLaren/Mercedes). The top five was completed by Sergio Pérez (Red Bull), one of the great entertainers of this race with his recovery.
Carlos Sainz (Ferrari), Pierre Gasly (Alpine), and George Russell (Mercedes) also scored points, finishing in sixth, seventh, and eighth place, respectively. Alexander Albon (Williams/Mercedes) narrowly missed the goal by only 0.317s, finishing in ninth place. The only driver to retire was Lance Stroll (Aston Martin/Mercedes), due to a brake problem.
Results:
