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Writer's pictureBen Waterworth

Verstappen wins Sprint race as Leclerc takes main race pole for US GP

Max Verstappen became the first driver in F1 history to win three sprint races in a season as he cruised to the win this morning in Texas.


The win came off a slightly disappointing qualifying for the Dutchman, who claimed pole for the main race of the US Grand Prix but had his time deleted due to track limit violations and will start in sixth place.


The main beneficiary of Verstappen’s slip-up was Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc, who made it two Ferrari poles in a row at the popular Circuit of the Americas.


(Photo by Sportskeeda)


Leclerc finished third in the sprint race, being overtaken by Lewis Hamilton into the first corner. Hamilton in the Mercedes looked pacey, with a clear fight emerging between the Ferraris and Mercedes for the “best of the rest” mantle behind Verstappen in the main race, with Hamilton starting third behind Leclerc.


McLaren continue to show their strong recent form with Lando Norris qualifying on the front row for the main race, ahead of Hamilton, Carlos Sainz in the second Ferrari and George Russell in the second Mercedes.


Norris drove a strong sprint race to fourth, narrowly missing out on a podium. Teammate Oscar Piastri struggled in both the sprint race and qualifying, finishing 10th in both.


The remaining points positions in the sprint race went to Sergio Perez, Sainz, Pierre Gasly and Russell. Daniel Ricciardo was 12th on his return to the sport after his hand injury, and will start the main race in 15th.


With both championships sealed and Verstappen in the superior car starting back further than expected, all eyes will be on his Red Bull to see if he can continue his winning form.


The race begins at 6am AEDT Monday morning.


SPRINT CLASSIFICATION

1 Max VERSTAPPEN Red Bull 31:30.849 19 laps

2 Lewis HAMILTON Mercedes +9.465

3 Charles LECLERC Ferrari +17.987

4 Lando NORRIS McLaren +18.863

5 Sergio PEREZ Red Bull +22.928

6 Carlos SAINZ Ferrari +28.307

7 Pierre GASLY Alpine +32.403

8 George RUSSELL Mercedes +34.250

9 Alexander ALBON Williams +34.567

10 Oscar PIASTRI McLaren +42.403

11 Esteban OCON Alpine +44.986

12 Daniel RICCIARDO AlphaTauri +45.509

13 Fernando ALONSO Aston Martin +49.086

14 Yuki TSUNODA AlphaTauri +49.733

15 Nico HULKENBERG Haas +56.650

16 Valtteri BOTTAS Alfa Romeo +64.401

17 ZHOU Guanyu Alfa Romeo +67.972

18 Kevin MAGNUSSEN Haas +71.122

19 Logan SARGEANT Williams +71.449

DNF: Lance STROLL Aston Martin


QUALIFYING TIMES

1 Charles LECLERC Ferrari 1:34.723

2 Lando NORRIS McLaren +0.130

3 Lewis HAMILTON Mercedes +0.139

4 Carlos SAINZ Ferrari +0.222

5 George RUSSELL Mercedes +0.356

6 Max VERSTAPPEN Red Bull +0.358

7 Pierre GASLY Alpine +0.366

8 Esteban OCON Alpine +0.431

9 Sergio PEREZ Red Bull +0.450

10 Oscar PIASTRI McLaren +0.744

11 Yuki TSUNODA AlphaTauri 1:35.697

12 ZHOU Guanyu Alfa Romeo +0.001

13 Valtteri BOTTAS Alfa Romeo +0.161

14 Kevin MAGNUSSEN Haas +0.183

15 Daniel RICCIARDO AlphaTauri +0.277

16 Nico HULKENBERG Haas 1:36.235

17 Fernando ALONSO Aston Martin +0.033

18 Alexander ALBON Williams +0.080

19 Lance STROLL Aston Martin +0.354

20 Logan SARGEANT Williams +0.592


This article was originally written for The Roar. You can read the published version here

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