Max Verstappen took the F1 sprint win in US GP, as Carlos Sainz managed to pass Lando Norris on last lap to end up second from fifth.
It was a clean start from Red Bull’s Max Verstappen in F1 US GP sprint race as he held onto the lead from a fight pack where McLaren’s Lando Norris cleared two cars to be second after a slow start from Mercedes’ George Russell, who dropped to third.
He had to fend off from the Ferrari pair especially Charles Leclerc, which he managed to. The Monegasque soon dropped off Russell and fell into the clutches to his teammate Carlos Sainz to kick-start their tussle which went on for 2-3 laps.
Sainz got through Leclerc but the Monegasque managed to retake the place and it happened for multiple laps at different corners until the Spaniard went aggressive and finally got fourth. Mercedes’ Lewis Hamilton was sixth from Haas’ Kevin Magnussen.
The Dane made up a couple of places after teammate Nico Hulkenberg dropped to ninth in the opening lap, behind Visa Cash App RB’s Yuki Tsunoda. There was a note regarding the Dane taking advantage by going off when fighting the Japanese driver.
He gave up the place but retook it quickly with Hulkenberg and Red Bull’s Sergio Perez just on the tail of the two fighting drivers. Outside the Top 10, McLaren’s Oscar Piastri’s progress was hampered after he was handed a 5s time penalty.
He was blamed for forcing Alpine’s Pierre Gasly off when fighting for 12th. Aston Martin’s Fernando Alonso wasn’t too happy with Visa Cash App RB’s Liam Lawson as well after the Kiwi barged his way through, allowing Alpine’s Esteban Ocon through both for 15th.
At the front, Verstappen eked out a lead from Norris who came under pressure from Russell for a brief period of laps. But the Mercedes driver’s charge dropped off due to degradation, allowing Sainz to pick him and pass him at Turn 15.
A lap later, Leclerc passed Russell for fourth with the Brit in fifth from teammate Hamilton. Magnussen was sixth from Hulkenberg, who passed Tsunoda. The Japanese driver lost out to Perez too, with Piastri joining the battle after clearing Williams’ Franco Colapinto.
The Australian finally got through Tsunoda and created a 5s gap to retain track position. At the front, Verstappen eased off to win the F1 sprint in US GP to score crucial points as Norris was caught out on the last lap to lose out to Sainz at Turn 1.
He had a lock-up after tyre degradation hit him which allowed Sainz to take second. Norris almost lost third to Leclerc at Turn 15 but put on a risky move to brake hard to disallow the Monegasque through, who eventually had to settle for fourth.
Russell hung on to fifth from Hamilton, with Magnussen finishing seventh from Hulkenberg in the points places, with Perez finishing outside it in ninth ahead of Piastri.
UPDATE: The FIA cleared Norris of any penalty for erratic driving when defending against Leclerc on the final lap. Also, they cleared Guanyu, Bottas and Alonso of any investigation for their lap in the reconnaissance laps.
Here: https://x.com/fiadocsbot/status/1847723536644784136
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