Verstappen dominates sprint in Austin whilst both McLarens crash out on Lap 1

Max Verstappen dominated the Sprint race in Austin to take victory and is joined by George Russell and Carlos Sainz in the top three. Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri collided on Turn 1 and were unable to finish the race, missing out on vital practice ahead of Qualifying.

Verstappen won the Sprint race in Austin. | Credit: Formula One

The United States Grand Prix is back to host another Sprint weekend in Formula One. Verstappen took his third sprint pole at the Circuit of the Americas ahead of both McLarens.

Verstappen managed to maintain his lead ahead of George Russell, who made his way up to second after Oscar Piastri and Lando Norris collided at Turn 1, bringing out the first Safety Car of the race.

Further into the race, more chaos ensued after Esteban Ocon and Lance Stroll clashed to bring out another Safety Car.

Sprint Race Report

All 20 cars lined up on the grid before the red lights went out. Verstappen got away clean, however both McLarens and Nico Hulkenberg collided at the first corner.

This took Piastri and Norris out of the rest of the race, as well as Fernando Alonso. Both front runners in the Drivers' Championship missed out on valuable practice ahead of the Qualifying tonight, as well as extra points.

The Safety Car was sent out after the front wing of Hulkenberg's Sauber came flying off on the track.

Lewis Hamilton came over the radio to report debris "all over the track," from Turn 1 to around Turn 11.

Piastri and Norris collided at Turn 1 of Lap 1. | Credit: Formula One

The Safety Car came in at the end of Lap 5. Verstappen went for an early restart with Russell now in second hanging onto the Red Bull ahead.

Russell kept within DRS range to Verstappen, with Charles Leclerc and Hamilton battling one another for third. Leclerc had been noted for a Safety Car infringement, but it was later confirmed in the race there would be no further action.

Lap 8 saw Russell dive down the inside for an overtake attempt on Verstappen. Both drivers went off track and Verstappen held the lead.

Meanwhile Hamilton overtook his teammate to get up to fourth place and was then on the hunt for third.

Russell had been noted for his move on Verstappen for forcing another driver off the track. However, it was quickly confirmed there would be no further investigation.

Verstappen struggled with his rear tyres, yet still managed to increase the gap between his Red Bull and the Mercedes.

On Lap 10, Liam Lawson had a nice overtake on Pierre Gasly to move up into tenth.

A warning came through for Russell about track limits. He had two strikes for exceeding track limits at Turn 12, however Russell believes his move on Verstappen should not count.

Ollie Bearman and Kimi Antonelli showed off their wheel to wheel racing to battle for eighth place.

Ocon and Stroll clashed on Lap 16. | Credit: @F1 via X.

Ocon and Stroll had a clash on Lap 16. After Stroll dived down the inside, his tyres locked up and hit Ocon's Haas. Both drivers were unable to continue as another Safety Car was brought out.

Bearman was investigated and penalised for overtaking Antonelli off the track. He received a 10 second time penalty which left him last due to the Sprint ending under the Safety Car.

Verstappen stormed to victory after 19 laps at COTA where the Sprint ended under the Safety Car. Russell finished second and Sainz in third.

Full results can be found here.

Key Quotes

Both Piastri and Norris spoke when their races finished. Both drivers claimed they needed to look into the situation more.

Piastri said: "I've not seen the incident from the TV cameras, but obviously I had a pretty good start, we both went pretty deep into Turn 1 and I tried to cut back, and got a hit, so obviously not a great way to start the day.

"I need to have another look."

Norris said : "I got hit, What else was I meant to do?

"I need to look at it a bit more. I just got hit, I got taken out, so not a lot I could have done."

Despite winning the Sprint, Verstappen said there is still work they need to do to get into better form for the race.

He said: "The start was good, then of course there was a Safety Car after the Turn 1 incident. I took a few laps after the Safety Car to have decent pace, so we need to figure out what was going on there, but nevertheless we won the Sprint which is of course the most important."

Up Next

Later tonight, Qualifying will go ahead in Austin. Piastri and Norris will look to redeem themselves after the incident today. Verstappen should be able to capitalise off his result today as well as Russell and Sainz with more confidence going into Qualifying.

Qualifying begins tonight at 22:00 BST.