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