Max Verstappen has won the sprint in Austin. After surviving a chaotic opening lap and subsequent safety car, Verstappen found himself under attack from George Russell. On lap eight, Russell made what appeared to be the definitive pass as he dove down the inside into turn 12. However, Russell locked up and ran both himself and Verstappen off the track. Verstappen retained the lead and neither driver was penalised for the incident. Despite the win, Verstappen was left dissatisfied with the RB21’s race pace and said a thorough debrief will be needed ahead of the grand prix.
Austin’s infamous turn one was once again a hotbed for chaos. A good launch saw Oscar Piastri jump his teammate, Lando Norris. However, both Fernando Alonso and Nico Hulkenberg went down the inside into turn one. The Sauber driver tagged Piastri, who, in turn, collided with Norris, taking them both out of the race. Neither driver apportioned blame for the collision, though Zak Brown did lambast Hulkenberg, accusing him of “amateur-hour driving”.
Carlos Sainz benefited from the first lap chaos to exit the first corner in third. He ran largely untroubled for most of the race but was forced to contend with Lewis Hamilton’s advances in the closing stages. Sainz held firm to secure third place and six valuable points.
Behind him, the Ferraris made up for their disappointing performance in sprint qualifying yesterday. Charles Leclerc and Lewis Hamilton made it through turn one unscathed and held firm in fourth and fifth, respectively. That was until Leclerc went off track on lap nine and found himself under pressure from his teammate. Hamilton took to the inside at turn 12 and, despite Leclerc’s efforts, was able to hold on to fourth place.
Alex Albon was unhappy with his race pace but nevertheless enjoyed a quiet but commendable run to sixth, ahead of Yuki Tsunoda, who managed to thread his way through the carnage at turn one, make up 11 places and secure seventh, despite running over Hulkenberg’s dislodged front wing.
Kimi Antonelli spent much of the sprint in ninth as he hounded Ollie Bearman for the final points position. A memorable tussle on lap 14 saw Bearman hang on to eighth; however, the stewards concluded that Bearman had retained the place by going off track at turn 16. A ten-second penalty demoted him to 15th and handed Antonelli the final points-paying position.
A solid showing from Liam Lawson saw him move from 15th to ninth, one place ahead of Pierre Gasly and the sprint’s biggest mover: Gabriel Bortoleto.
After failing to set a time in SQ1 and starting from the back of the grid, Bortoleto made up nine positions in the sprint. Isack Hadjar finished 12th ahead of Hulkenberg, whose stunning performance in sprint qualifying was undone by the first corner incident. After pitting for a new front wing and rejoining at the back of the field, Hulkenberg had diced with Hadjar on lap 12 but ultimately lost out. Franco Colapinto finished 14th with Bearman last over the line.
On lap 16, Lance Stroll attempted a lunge on Esteban Ocon but locked up and made contact. The collision forced both drivers out of the race and brought out the safety car behind which the race was concluded.
With this win, Verstappen has cut Piastri’s championship lead to 55 points and now sits 33 points behind Norris. This marks McLaren’s first double DNF of the season, one their drivers will have to swiftly put behind them as they head straight into qualifying.
