Max Verstappen ran virtually untroubled en route to a dominant win in Austin. After a clean getaway, Verstappen wasted no time in gapping the rest of the field. In the end, he took the flag nearly eight seconds clear to claim his 68th career win and 122nd podium finish, a figure that sees him draw level with Sebastian Vettel in the all-time rankings. With regards to his championship chances, Verstappen admitted, “the chance is there” and said he was excited about the forthcoming races.
Behind him, Lando Norris and Charles Leclerc put on a spectacular show for second. Starting the race on soft tyres (the only frontrunner to do so), Leclerc wasted no time in passing Norris for second. Norris gave serious chase in the opening stages, only to be met with a defensive masterclass from the Ferrari.
Some immaculate car placement by Leclerc in the final sector saw him keep Norris at bay until lap 22 when he eventually conceded the place. Leclerc fended off his teammate before diving into the pits at the end of the lap. Norris ditched his medium tyres on lap 32 and came out behind Leclerc, following which they resumed their battle for second. Norris made an audacious first corner lunge on lap 51 but lost out to Leclerc on exit. A second bold move at the end of the back straight eventually made it stick. With this second place, Norris has closed to within 14 points of his teammate Oscar Piastri, a vital point swing given the rapidly tightening title battle.
In contrast to the fierce battle for second, Lewis Hamilton ran untroubled in fourth. That was until a suspected last-lap puncture left him vulnerable to Piastri. Hamilton hung on to equal his best result for Ferrari to date. An opportunistic first corner pass on George Russell was as good as things got for the championship leader, as Piastri struggled with tyre wear and was unable to make any significant inroads into Hamilton’s advantage. Fifth was all he could manage.
Behind him, George Russell tried to reclaim his starting position, but the Mercedes’ lacklustre race pace left him unable to catch Piastri despite the latter’s tyre issues. Yuki Tsunoda made up for his qualifying woes with seventh, despite a skirmish with Ollie Bearman on lap 35. A very late move by Tsunoda at turn 16 forced Bearman to take to the gravel, which caused a spin. Bearman did not mince words in his post-race interviews, stating that there was no point in even speaking to Tsunoda. The incident did not result in a penalty, but Bearman was able to recover to ninth, a deserved points finish given the impressive pace he’s shown all weekend. After colliding with Piastri in the sprint and failing to make Q3 for the race, Nico Hulkenberg was able to make the most of his first set of mediums and come home a valiant eighth.
Fernando Alonso took the final points-paying position in tenth ahead of Liam Lawson, Lance Stroll, and Kimi Antonelli, all of whom loomed large in his mirrors in the closing stages. Antonelli was spun to the back of the grid after a coming together with Carlos Sainz at turn 16 on lap seven and ended the race 13th, one place ahead of Alex Albon. Esteban Ocon suffered a slow pitstop and could only manage 15th ahead of Isack Hadjar and Franco Colapinto, who defied team orders and passed his teammate Pierre Gasly on lap 55. Gasly lost out to Gabriel Bortoleto a lap later and was the last car over the line.
The damage Carlos Sainz incurred from his collision with Antonelli proved terminal, Sainz was deemed to be predominantly at fault will incur a five-place grid penalty at the next race in Mexico.
With this win, Verstappen is now 40 points behind Piastri in the driver’s championship. McLaren may be upbeat about their prospects heading into Mexico, but with Verstappen on the march and the gap between Norris and Piastri too small to warrant team orders, there’s plenty more to play for in 2025.