Max Verstappen won from pole position in the US grand prix sprint race this afternoon. The win meant Verstappen gained 1 point on a recently surging Lando Norris who has lifted McLaren ahead of Red bull for most of the second half of the 2024 F1 season. However, today it was Verstappen who led from the front and would not look back. Verstappen said, “It was not too bad, feels a bit like old times! I’m very happy with today. I think of course if you look at the whole race Ferrari was also very quick, but I think for us finally we were racing again. Normally in the race we’re always looking back behind us, but now we could just do our own race and we had good pace.”
Despite Verstappen’s documented distaste for the sprint race weekend format its clear he has a knack for winning them. Additionally, Red Bull gained points on McLaren as they chase the orange in the constructors championship race after falling behind in the mid season.
Lando Norris Late Lock Up Costs Him
Lando norris was in a comfortable P2 until Carlos Sainz in his Ferrari took advantage of a late lock up by Norris which saw Sainz through to claim P2 in the sprint. Norris was under constant pressure from a surging Charles Leclerc behind. As the tires started to fall off Norris locked up again but was able to hold off Leclerc on the final lap of the race. Leclerc nearly wrecked both drivers after trying to back a pass and making slight contact with the back of Norris’ McLaren. However, crisis was avoided and both finished the race. No investigation findings were noted for the pass attempt.
Grand Prix qualifying is up next in a few hours time.
US Grand Prix Sprint Race Results
Pos | No | Driver | Car | Laps | Time/retired | Pts |
---|
1 | 1 | Max Verstappen | Red Bull Racing Honda RBPT | 19 | 31:06.146 | 8 |
2 | 55 | Carlos Sainz | Ferrari | 19 | +3.882s | 7 |
3 | 4 | Lando Norris | McLaren Mercedes | 19 | +6.240s | 6 |
4 | 16 | Charles Leclerc | Ferrari | 19 | +6.956s | 5 |
5 | 63 | George Russell | Mercedes | 19 | +15.766s | 4 |
6 | 44 | Lewis Hamilton | Mercedes | 19 | +18.724s | 3 |
7 | 20 | Kevin Magnussen | Haas Ferrari | 19 | +25.161s | 2 |
8 | 27 | Nico Hulkenberg | Haas Ferrari | 19 | +26.588s | 1 |
9 | 11 | Sergio Perez | Red Bull Racing Honda RBPT | 19 | +29.950s | 0 |
10 | 81 | Oscar Piastri | McLaren Mercedes | 19 | +37.059s | 0 |
11 | 22 | Yuki Tsunoda | RB Honda RBPT | 19 | +38.363s | 0 |
12 | 43 | Franco Colapinto | Williams Mercedes | 19 | +39.460s | 0 |
13 | 18 | Lance Stroll | Aston Martin Aramco Mercedes | 19 | +41.236s | 0 |
14 | 10 | Pierre Gasly | Alpine Renault | 19 | +41.995s | 0 |
15 | 31 | Esteban Ocon | Alpine Renault | 19 | +42.804s | 0 |
16 | 30 | Liam Lawson | RB Honda RBPT | 19 | +44.008s | 0 |
17 | 23 | Alexander Albon | Williams Mercedes | 19 | +44.564s | 0 |
18 | 14 | Fernando Alonso | Aston Martin Aramco Mercedes | 19 | +46.807s | 0 |
19 | 24 | Zhou Guanyu | Kick Sauber Ferrari | 19 | +52.842s | 0 |
20 | 77 | Valtteri Bottas | Kick Sauber Ferrari | 19 | +54.476s | 0 |