Austin (AFP) – Max Verstappen made the most of a first-corner collision between the two McLaren drivers to win Saturday’s sprint race at the United States Grand Prix and reduce Oscar Piastri’s lead over him by eight points. The four-time world champion turned his third consecutive sprint pole at the Circuit of the Americas into a third straight sprint win, reducing the gap between him and Piastri to 55 points. Lando Norris remained second, 22 points behind Piastri who had crashed into him after being hit by Nico Hulkenberg’s Sauber as the German driver attempted to sweep inside the McLarens at Turn One.
Verstappen went on to win after 19 laps, ahead of Mercedes’ George Russell, Williams’ Carlos Sainz, and the two Ferraris, with Lewis Hamilton finishing fourth after a slick overtake of Charles Leclerc. “The start was good,” said Verstappen. “But then, of course, there was the safety… It took a few laps to have good pace so we need to work out what happened there. We need to be better in race trim tomorrow to fight the McLarens. We’ll take a look. We have some ideas so hopefully it will work better.”
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The McLarens are without a race win since Australian Piastri’s victory at the Dutch Grand Prix in August. “We both went pretty deep into Turn One,” said Piastri. “I tried to cut back but I got a hit… Not a great way to start the day – I need to take another look.” Norris said: “There’s not a lot I could do. I was taken out and that was it.”
On a hot day in Austin, Verstappen made a perfect start to lead away up the hill into Turn One. The accident behind him was caused by Hulkenberg tagging Piastri who was lifted airborne into Norris’s car. For McLaren and their dueling title-chasers, it was a disastrous start and gifted Verstappen an opportunity to make a substantial cut into Piastri’s championship lead.
Hulkenberg lost his front wing as he progressed, leaving debris across the track, with Fernando Alonso also retiring his Aston Martin due to a puncture. The contest resumed after five controlled laps behind the safety car, of the 19 in total, with Verstappen surging away, chased by Russell. Sainz continued to hang on in third for Williams with the two Ferraris breathing down his neck.
On lap eight, Russell made a dive down the inside at Turn 12 in an attempt to pass Verstappen, but succeeded only in ensuring both slid off before rejoining. Behind them, a lap later, Hamilton executed a perfect move to pass Leclerc for fourth and then resist his fightback. Verstappen stayed in control but complained that his car was imperfect. He held on to a 2.4-second lead while Sainz battled to resist Hamilton’s pace before a second safety car intervention. That came when Lance Stroll speared his Aston Martin into Esteban Ocon’s Haas inside Turn One, prompting the flags that curtailed the final laps.
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