Max Verstappen was dominant in F1 US GP sprint win from Lewis Hamilton in distant as Charles Leclerc was third.
It was a tight start from Red Bull’s Max Verstappen in F1 US GP sprint race on Saturday as he managed to hold onto the lead against Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc, who lost second to Mercedes’ Lewis Hamilton at Turn 1 after he went off-track in an aggressive move.
Ferrari’s Carlos Sainz gained couple of places to be fourth on the soft tyre as he passed McLaren’s Oscar Piastri off the line and then cleared Lando Norris at the end of Lap 1. Replays showed a brush of tyres between Sainz and Piastri at the start.
Red Bull’s Sergio Perez was seventh from Mercedes’ George Russell, who gained three places to be in the points straight up after losing those places due to grid penalty. The two were on Piastri’s tail quickly with the Australian not having a good moment.
Perez tried to pester Piastri a couple of times before getting it done. Russell made an opportunistic try on the Australian and went off line to clear him. Since he didn’t give the place back, he was handed a 5s time penalty for overtaking outside the white line.
He ran seventh from Alpine’s Pierre Gasly who passed Piastri to get himself in the points as Williams’ Alexander Albon also gained a place on the Australian to be in the Top 10. The Thai was under investigation for gaining an advantage leaving the track but was cleared.
There was also an investigation for Alfa Romeo’s Zhou Guanyu and Haas’ Kevin Magnussen for forcing another driver off as they fought for track position at the fag end of the grid. The major points fight was between Sainz and Russell with Gasly behind.
The Brit tried a move at Turn 1 but couldn’t hold on with Sainz staying ahead. It put Russell in a bad place with Gasly not far behind to cover the 5s. There was a retirement for Aston Martin’s Lance Stroll after he complained of brake problems.
It was dominance at the front from Verstappen to win the F1 US GP sprint by 9.465s over Hamilton with Leclerc holding onto third from Norris who gained time to be just 0.876s. Perez recovered to fifth from Sainz who held on despite the soft tyre.
Russell dropped to eighth after the penalty which helped Gasly to be seventh, as Albon missed out on points by just the 0.317s in ninth as Piastri rounded out the Top 10 from Alpine’s Esteban Ocon and AlphaTauri’s Daniel Ricciardo close behind.
