Max Verstappen took a serene victory at the United States Grand Prix, cutting his championship margin to just 40 points on an uneventful day for title leader Oscar Piastri.
Verstappen got the perfect launch from pole and led the field by more than a second by the end of the first lap, but was not spotted again. The Dutchman led every lap of the race and completed his 15th career hat-trick, leaving him seven shy of Michael Schumacher’s record.
The result also puts Red Bull Racing six points behind Ferrari for third place in the constructors’ championship.
“It was an incredible weekend for us,” he says. “If you look at the whole race, the pace between me and Lando [Norris] was very close. I think we made a difference there already in our first stint. I could close a little gap, and that’s basically what we kept going until the end. … Just extremely proud of everyone for delivering such a weekend.
“The [championship] chance exists. We just have to try to take care of these kind of weekends until the end. We will try what we can.”
Lando Norris triumphed in a race-long battle with Charles Leclerc, taking second place with six laps to go. Leclerc was the only driver in the top 15 to start on the soft tire and used the compound with great success. He rounded the outside of Norris at the first corner to take a decisive inside line into Turn 2. His soft tires helped him stay ahead early, but from lap 15 onwards Norris was able to use his more durable mediums to close the gap and increase the pressure.
They cruised spectacularly through the third sector on that lap and again on lap 19, but on lap 21 the difference in tire life was overwhelming and Norris used DRS to speed past well before the Turn 12 braking zone. Ferrari responded by pitting Leclerc at the end of the next lap, switching to the medium tire for a long final stint of 34 laps.
With the hard tire not being competitive, Norris had to hold his nerve until lap 32, which gave him a no less intimidating 24-lap stint on soft tires. He rejoined the race 4.3 seconds behind Leclerc and quickly eliminated the gap, but it took only a handful of laps in the Ferrari’s dirty air before his tires withered, and on lap 40 he radioed that his attack on the place was over.
However, it was only postponed and with seven laps to go, Norris increased the pace to link up with the Ferrari’s gearbox again. On lap 51 he charged into the spot on the inside of the first corner, and although Leclerc pulled back to hold the spot, the gap between them was reduced to zero as they approached the straight. A strong exit from Turn 11 took Norris down the inside of Leclerc into Turn 12, where he dethroned the Ferrari to restore himself to second position.
It meant he did almost maximum damage to teammate and title leader Piastri, whose poor weekend left him with an ineffective fifth place. Norris reduced his title disadvantage to 14 points, and he is now just 26 points ahead of Verstappen.
“It took long enough!” he said. “I expected a little easier second attempt to get through, but that wasn’t the case. Charles rode a very good race. It was a lot of fun, a good fight. … I have to come in second; not much more we could have done today.”
Leclerc’s near miss saw Ferrari return to the podium for the first time since the Belgian Grand Prix in July. It also brought Ferrari within seven points of second-place Mercedes in the Constructors’ Championship.
“Overall, I’m very happy,” he said. “It was a tough second part of the year. To be back on the podium here after a difficult FP1 with a gearbox problem, we recovered well, so I’m happy.”
Lewis Hamilton finished a distant fourth, the Briton with a more conventional medium-soft strategy, in a lonely race whose only highlight was a brief battle with Leclerc for the pit stops and a suspected puncture on the final lap that left him exposed in the final corners with Piastri behind him.
Piastri had a good start from sixth, jumping George Russell off the line, but was unable to keep up with the top four in the first stint. His race turned defensive, stopping early to avoid an undercut from Russell, and although the Mercedes driver closed in the closing laps, the Australian held the position to limit the damage to his championship lead.
Russell led Yuki Tsunoda, who moved up six places from his starting position for his second scoring finish in the last three Grands Prix. Nico Hulkenberg scored points for eighth place for the first time since his first podium finish at Silverstone in July, finishing ahead of Oliver Bearman and Fernando Alonso in the last points-paying places.
Liam Lawson was the first finisher outside the points in a race that saw little action due to the extensive tire management required to use the soft compound. The Kiwi led Lance Stroll, Kimi Antonelli – who was kicked off the road by a clumsy Carlos Sainz, dropping him to the back of the pack – Alex Albon, Esteban Ocon and Isack Hadjar.
Franco Colapinto passed teammate Pierre Gasly on the penultimate lap, despite being told to maintain his position at the back of the field. Gabriel Bortoleto then passed Gasly for 18th on the final lap, relegating the Frenchman to the last of the finishers.
RESULTS
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