Max Verstappen of Red Bull dominated the US Grand Prix from pole position on Sunday, leading every lap to significantly close the gap on Oscar Piastri’s Formula One championship lead during a flawless weekend in Texas.
McLaren’s Oscar Piastri finished fifth, with his teammate and closest rival Lando Norris coming in second after overtaking Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc, last year’s winner, five laps before the finish line.
Piastri now leads Britain’s Norris by 14 points with five rounds and two sprints remaining, while Verstappen has reduced his gap to the Australian to 40 points after being 104 behind at the end of August.
Verstappen also won the Saturday sprint from pole position at Austin’s Circuit of the Americas, while the McLarens collided and retired, marking a weekend of maximum points for the four-time world champion.
McLaren has already secured the constructors’ title.
“For sure, the chance is there,” Verstappen said about the title battle. “We just need to try and deliver these weekends until the end.
“We will try whatever we can. It’s exciting,” he added after his third win in the last four races and the 68th of his career.
Piastri expressed full confidence in his ability to become Australia’s first champion since Alan Jones in 1980, with no worries.
“I’d still rather be where I am than the other two,” added the 24-year-old.
Norris initially lost out to Leclerc at the start but took 21 laps to regain his position as the Monegasque, on faster but less durable soft tires, demonstrated a defensive masterclass.
Leclerc then battled with Lewis Hamilton, who started on mediums, before pitting on lap 23 and rejoining in ninth place, with his teammate moving up to third and Piastri to fourth.
By then, Verstappen was 10 seconds ahead of his closest rival.
Once the rest of the frontrunners had made their pit stops, Leclerc was again second on the track—but more than six seconds behind Verstappen—with Norris third and needing to overtake again with a track limits warning looming over him.
Mission accomplished, Norris pulled away and finished 7.9 seconds behind Verstappen and 7.4 seconds ahead of the Ferrari.
“It was tough. We did everything we could,” he said of a battle that provided fans with excitement as Verstappen completed lap after lap largely absent from the global television feed.
“I expected a slightly easier second attempt to get through, but it wasn’t the case. Charles drove a very good race. It was good fun, good battles. So we have to take second. Not a lot more we could’ve done today.”
McLaren team boss Andrea Stella commented that Norris could have fought for the win had he not been held up by the Ferrari.
Hamilton was fourth, with Piastri just 1.1 seconds behind, and George Russell—winner in the previous race in Singapore—finishing sixth for Mercedes.
Red Bull’s Yuki Tsunoda finished seventh, ahead of Sauber’s Nico Hulkenberg and Haas’s Oliver Bearman. Fernando Alonso took the final point for Aston Martin.
The virtual safety car was deployed on lap seven when Mercedes’ Italian rookie Kimi Antonelli and Williams’ Carlos Sainz collided, with the Spaniard retiring after attempting to overtake on the inside for seventh place.
Stewards handed Sainz a five-place grid penalty for next weekend’s Mexican Grand Prix, along with two penalty points, for causing the collision.
Sainz’s teammate Alex Albon was also involved in a first-corner collision with Sauber’s Brazilian rookie Gabriel Bortoleto.
The weekend was declared a heat hazard, although the air temperature during the race was lower than expected, around 28.6 degrees Celsius (83.5 Fahrenheit).
