(From left) McLaren’s Lando Norris, Red Bull Racing’s Max Verstappen, and Ferrari’s Carlos Sainz Jr. stood on the podium after the US Sprint race at the Circuit of the Americas in Austin, Texas on Saturday. Photo: AFP
Red Bull's Max Verstappen secured victory in the US Grand Prix sprint from pole position on Saturday, breaking an eight-race losing streak and extending his Formula One championship lead over McLaren's Lando Norris to 54 points. Ferrari's Carlos Sainz finished second, 3.882 seconds behind Verstappen, after overtaking Norris at the start of the last lap at Austin's Circuit of the Americas when the Briton misjudged turn one.
"It feels a bit like old times. I'm very happy with today. If you look at the whole race, Ferrari was also very quick," said Verstappen. "For us, finally we are racing again. Normally we are always looking back but now we can just do our own race, so we had good pace." This victory marked Verstappen's first win since the sprint race in Austria in June. With this win, the triple champion has now claimed victory in all four 100km sprints this season, with two more still to come.
Norris had a strong start from fourth on the grid, seizing second place on the inside into the first corner and maintaining that position until the 19th lap. The Briton nearly lost third place as well when he went wide at turn 12 with Ferrari's Charles Leclerc close behind, nearly colliding at turn 15. Stewards noted potential erratic driving by the McLaren contender.
"It was a tough one. I thought I could hang onto second but Carlos did a good job. My front tyres were completely finished, so there wasn't a lot I could do," said Norris. "A disappointing end but I'm happy with the race result and a good amount of points."
Leclerc finished fourth, with the Mercedes pair of George Russell and seven-times world champion Lewis Hamilton taking fifth and sixth places. The Haas pair of Kevin Magnussen and Nico Hulkenberg secured the final points in seventh and eighth, providing a significant boost for the US-owned team in their home race.
The main US Grand Prix is scheduled for Sunday, with qualifying taking place on Saturday.
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