US Grand Prix: Verstappen blows title wide open with dominant victory

An utterly dominant display from Max Verstappen has moved him to just 40 points of the world championship lead following the United States Grand Prix.

The Red Bull driver led every lap from pole while Norris finished second after a thrilling scrap with Charles Leclerc as Oscar Piastri could do no better than fifth.

Max Verstappen victorious as Oscar Piastri struggles in US Grand Prix

Verstappen jumped well as the lights went out and immediately moved to the inside of the track to block Norris’s path. In doing so, it opened the door for Leclerc to surge into second while behind, Russell had a slow getaway as he lost out to Piastri.

It was a clean start, unlike Saturday’s Sprint, the opening lap ending with Verstappen 1.4s clear of Leclerc from Norris, Lewis Hamilton, Piastri, Russell, Kimi Antonelli, Oliver Bearman, Carlos Sainz, and Yuki Tsunoda in the top 10.

Towards the back, there was a moment between Alex Albon and Gabriel Bortoleto, the Williams driver spinning and dropping to the back of the pack.

Piastri was under pressure from Russell, who’d had a look at the Turn 11 hairpin on the opening lap but couldn’t make that move stick. He remained very much in the wheel tracks of the McLaren ahead.

After starting on used soft tyres, Leclerc was soon forced to defend the advances of Norris, the lead Ferrari’s pace starting to fade as he started Lap 4.

With DRS down the back straight, Norris drew alongside as Leclerc moved to the inside to protect the Turn 15 left-hander. There was no way through as the cat and mouse game between the pair saw Hamilton draw up to Norris’ rear wing.

On Lap 7, Antonelli found himself pointing the wrong way at Turn 12, while Sainz stopped just prior to the final corner to draw the Virtual Safety Car.

The two were connected, Sainz having dived for the apex as Antonelli swept across the left-hander. It was a legitimate move from the Williams driver, though he wasn’t far enough up to have been afforded racing room under the guidelines – not that Antonelli would have seen him in any case.

The Virtual Safety Car ended as the pack filed into Turn 1 at the start of Lap 9, Norris having dropped back from Leclerc through that process.

Piastri struggled for pace, dropping away from Hamilton as the front of the race began to open up slightly.

That saw Norris fall back from Leclerc for a time before he closed in once again on Lap 15. That saw the pair run side-by-side through Turn 12 to Turn 15, though the Ferrari maintained its advantage.

The battle for second had fallen 6.5s back from Verstappen out front, while behind, Piastri began coming under pressure from Russell.

Norris tried again on Lap 19, but was again forced to go the long way around, only to have the door firmly shut by Leclerc. In the process, the McLaren driver ran outside of track limits, a crucial development given he’d already had two transgressions in the first 15 laps and saw him given a black and white flag.

Clearly, Norris was faster, and on Lap 21 he finally made the move stick. Having been closer through Turn 11, he used DRS to breeze by to find himself in a clear second place before he reached the braking zone at the end of the back straight.

By the time he was clear, Verstappen was 11 seconds up the road as Leclerc immediately came under pressure from the medium-shod Hamilton.

Ferrari hauled Leclerc in, swapping his soft tyres for mediums in a move that cleared the road for Hamilton and ramped up the pressure on the McLaren pit wall.

Leclerc’s pace was marginally quicker, his first racing lap around three-tenths faster that Norris’, but with traffic ahead.

The middle phase of the race saw it settle into a rhythm with drivers protecting their tyres with a view to converting to a one-stop strategy with a set of softs at the end of the race.

Looking to cover the undercut threat posed by Russell, McLaren blinked first and boxed Piastri on Lap 30 for a set of used soft tyres.

That triggered the pit stop cycle, with Hamilton in next time around and Norris at the end of Lap 32 to cover off the Ferrari. He emerged behind Leclerc.

Verstappen pitted on Lap 33, Russell too, completing the pit sequence.

That left Verstappen leading from Leclerc, Norris, Hamilton, Piastri, Russell, Tsunoda, Bearman, Nico Hulkenberg and Alex Albon.

A lunge from Bearman on Tsunoda into Turn 15 saw the Brit bounce through the grass, where he was pitched into a spin. While he initially remained in eighth place, he was quickly mugged by Hulkenberg to fall to ninth.

Ahead, Norris soon closed on Leclerc in the battle for second, only to report back to his engineer, Will Joseph, that his soft “tyres are gone”.

It saw the third-placed McLaren yo-yo back and forth as he charged up to the Ferrari before backing off to cool his tyres – the softs proving especially fragile versus Leclerc’s mediums.

A slide out of the final corner left Leclerc exposed as they entered Turn 1 on the start of Lap 51. Diving to the inside, Leclerc didn’t defend, preferring to cut back underneath the McLaren to seize the position.

Half a lap later, a good run out of the Turn 11 hairpin allowed Norris to use DRS to drive underneath the Ferrari and take the place.

Once clear, Norris sprinted clear to confirm himself in second behind Verstappen.

The Dutchman duly took the flag to win for the seventh time in the United States. Norris was second, having pulled comfortably clear of Leclerc, with a fading Hamilton, nursing a suspected puncture, fourth ahead of Piastri, Russell, Tsunoda, Hulkenberg, Bearman, and Fernando Alonso to round out the top 10.

United States Grand Prix results

1. Max Verstappen, Red Bull
2. Lando Norris, McLaren, 7.959
3. Charles Leclerc, Ferrari, 15.373
4. Lewis Hamilton, Ferrari, 28.536
5. Oscar Piastri, McLaren, 29.678
6. George Russell, Mercedes, 33.456
7. Yuki Tsunoda, Red Bull, 52.714
8. Nico Hulkenberg, Sauber, 57.249
9. Oliver Bearman, Haas, 64.722
10. Fernando Alonso, Aston Martin, 70.001
11. Liam Lawson, Racing Bulls, 73.209
12. Lance Stroll, Aston Martin, 74.778
13. Kimi Antonelli, Mercedes, 75.746
14. Alex Albon, Williams, 80.000
15. Esteban Ocon, Haas, 83.043
16. Isack Hadjar, Racing Bulls, 92.807
17. Franco Colapinto, Alpine, 1L
18. Gabriel Bortoleto, Sauber, 1L
19. Pierre Gasly, Alpine, 1L
20. Carlos Sainz, Williams, 51L