Max Verstappen then gave first blood as the F1 Championship dry run continued as the Red Bull driver enjoyed his first victory since June and his most comfortable and controlled drive since then, winning the sprint race at the American Grand Prix. I got it.
With a commanding victory at the Circuit of the Americas, where he beat title rival Lando Norris to move into third place, he extended his championship lead and confirmed that Red Bull are once again in good form. It was proven that Norris lost second place to Ferrari’s Carlos Sainz on the final lap and was unable to take the key points from Verstappen, but remained optimistic heading into Sunday’s race.
Verstappen maintained an unbeaten record in the short-form format this season, remaining in control from pole to flag. After leading from the start, he was unstoppable throughout the 19-lap dash. Norris had a ferocious start, rising from fourth to second and chasing hard, but was ominously unable to break Red Bull’s lead after that, and a flat tire in the closing stages meant he was powerless against Sainz.
The win is just the opening round Verstappen needs for a title-clinching finale in six straight races to end the season. He extended his lead over Norris to 54 points with 172 more points remaining. He was only two points ahead of Norris, but most importantly he stopped Norris from closing the gap. This would be a missed opportunity as Norris would have to outscore his rival by just under nine points per meeting, but would have had more of a chance to do so in the sprint race.
Most importantly for Verstappen and Red Bull, the limited upgrades the team brought into the race to resolve balance issues the car was having appeared to be successful, demonstrating command at the front of the field. It shows that. He enjoyed the first half of the season.
Verstappen acknowledged this with a smile. “It feels like a long time ago,” he said. “I’m very happy, we can finally race again. Usually when we’re racing we’re always looking back, but now we can race our own.”
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Norris believes he has extracted all he can from McLaren and admitted that upgrading the team was essential to stay in touch with a resurgent Red Bull. “I’m happy with everything here, otherwise we would have been further down the grid,” he said. “These upgrades have made us work faster.” However, this form is not fast enough.
Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc was fourth, with Mercedes’ Lewis Hamilton and George Russell fifth and sixth. Haas’ Kevin Magnussen and Nico Hulkenberg were seventh and eighth.
