Verstappen reignites title hopes with controlled Austin win ahead of Norris and Leclerc's race-long battle
- Meghana Sree
- 1 hour ago
- 6 min read
Max Verstappen converted pole to victory at the United States Grand Prix to cap off a dominant weekend, slicing his deficit to the championship leader down to 40 points. Lando Norris and Charles Leclerc completed the podium following thrilling battles throughout the race for second, eventually claimed by Norris, while championship leader Oscar Piastri finished fifth.
Formula One makes its way back to the United States, this time to the Lone Star State with a weekend that kicked off in dramatic fashion. Plenty of action during the sprint preceded the main event around the Circuit of The Americas, which was recently announced as securing an extension on the F1 calendar through 2034.
Max Verstappen kept it calm and collected to secure the first pole-to-win Grand Prix victory at COTA since 2021, ahead of Lando Norris and Charles Leclerc who were engaged in a race-long battle for second, eventually won by Norris despite Leclerc’s masterful defence and alternate strategy.
While Oscar Piastri still remains the championship leader after finishing fifth, Verstappen’s gap to the lead is down to 40 points while Norris is just 14 points away from his teammate.
Here’s how race day in Austin panned out.
Race Report
As the five lights blinked out, Verstappen immediately covered off Norris, while Leclerc electing to start on the soft tyres leaped up to second ahead of the McLaren. Further behind, the other McLaren of Piastri had a rapid getaway to climb up a place from sixth.
With a cleaner opening lap compared to the pandemonium in the sprint, come Lap 2, the top five was occupied by Verstappen, Leclerc, Norris, Hamilton and Piastri – George Russell losing two places from fourth.
The midfield saw some efficient moves to shake up the order, with sprint podium-finisher Carlos Sainz gaining a place on Oliver Bearman to take eighth, while Yuki Tsunoda slotted in right behind him after making up four places at the start.
A momentary yellow flag flashed as Alex Albon and Gabriel Bortoleto made contact, Albon plummeting down the order to 20th.
Up ahead, Norris was attempting to snatch back his lost position to the 2024 Austin winner, which gave Verstappen breathing room to stretch his legs and eke out the gap to his rivals after his ideal start.
Norris’ chance to pass Leclerc failed to materialise, and his charge was hindered when a Virtual Safety Car was released after Sainz’s overtake attempt on Kimi Antonelli at Turn 15 resulted in contact between the two, taking the Williams driver out of the race after a promising start.
With the cars all bunched up, we returned to green flag conditions on Lap 9, Norris now in the clutches of the second Ferrari of Lewis Hamilton as Leclerc sped off on the soft compound, the only driver in the top 10 on the alternate strategy.
However, quickly the soft compound began to wear off, inviting Norris back into the picture for P2 on Lap 13.
His teammate Piastri was having a painful weekend, with his front-left being put through the wringer, Russell quipping that the championship leader ahead of him was slow.
Meanwhile, Norris’ efforts to reel Leclerc in continued into Lap 16 through 19, the Briton almost having his chance through Turns 13, 14 and 15 but being shown the door by Leclerc’s solid defence – the Ferrari-McLaren battle continuing to allow Verstappen to build a nine-second lead out front.
Finally on Lap 21, Norris made the long-awaited pass on Leclerc, although not without being shown the black and white flag for track limits.
In the lower points-paying positions, Tsunoda continued to run in seventh, being promoted after Sainz’s retirement, followed by Bearman, Nico Hülkenberg, and Fernando Alonso in 10th.
On Lap 23, Leclerc peeled into the pits to swap his soft tyres for mediums, following a feisty scrap between the Monegasque and Hamilton.
Leclerc’s stop crucially promoted Hamilton to the podium and Piastri to fourth, as the race approached the half-way point.
Meanwhile the man who replaced the seven-time world champion at Mercedes, Antonelli, was on a recovery drive from the back after being tapped by Sainz, now in 14th.
Another driver making up positions was Albon, executing a clinical pass on Franco Colapinto at Turn 15 to take 15th behind Antonelli, while the other Alpine of Pierre Gasly suffered a sticky pit stop.
At this stage, McLaren were weighing up strategy options for Piastri over the radio, who decided to box for softs with a swift 2.3-second stop, coming out back on track in seventh.
The pitstop cycle continued with Hamilton bolting on the soft tyres as well, crucially maintaining track position over the championship leader Piastri.
Norris came in for a consequential stop, but McLaren’s pitstop troubles seemed to continue with a 3.8-second tyre change, while Verstappen and Russell followed suit but with much quicker stops.
With all the cars having made their trip through the pitlane, the top five was occupied by Verstappen, Leclerc, Norris, Hamilton and Piastri – Leclerc the only driver on the medium tyres with the others on softs.
A tense moment between Bearman and Tsunoda brought out the momentary yellow flags again, the Haas being spun after skidding across the grass attempting a lunge on Tsunoda.
Meanwhile, part two of the Leclerc-Norris battle had gained traction on Lap 37, for the same position but both drivers now on opposite compounds compared to their first scrap earlier in the race.
Norris continued to push hard behind Leclerc but soon slipped behind, radioing his “tyres are gone” despite just 14 laps on them, prompting Red Bull to warn Verstappen of the McLaren driver’s concerns, who himself felt that he was sliding around a lot on the softs.
Norris’ struggles began to show with 10 laps to go, as he complained of his sluggish pace, dropping 2.7 seconds back on Leclerc.
Just outside the points, Lance Stroll had clawed his way through the field after starting 20th following a grid penalty, running in 12th behind Liam Lawson and Alonso in 10th. Right behind him, Antonelli made another pass, this time on Esteban Ocon, to take 13th.
While the midfield cars jostled for position, the battle for second was back on, courtesy of Norris regrouping and inching into Leclerc’s DRS range. His P2-securing moment came on Lap 51, after a failed attempt at Turn 1 but making it stick through Turn 12.
Norris quickly pulled away from the Ferrari driver, while Verstappen had caught up to the backmarkers – Colapinto trying to prove his mettle and moving past his experienced teammate Gasly despite being ordered by the team to hold positions.
Come the final lap, Verstappen sealed a controlled victory to cap off a dominant weekend, while Norris made inroads in the championship too with second place ahead of Leclerc, followed by Hamilton who has still not seen the podium since joining Ferrari.
Piastri finished fifth after a disappointing weekend, followed by Russell who had lost positions at the start and was unable to recover them. Tsunoda, Hülkenberg, Bearman and Alonso completed the points.
Full results can be found here.
Championship Standings
Despite a horrible sprint race and underwhelming qualifying that resulted in a mere fifth-place finish, Piastri maintains his championship lead, but is now just 14 points ahead of Norris, while the external threat of Verstappen looms ahead.
In just a handful of races, the Dutchman has annihilated a near 100-point gap to just 40 points now, and if his momentum is anything to go by, then McLaren have their work cut out for them to manage their internal title rivalry with Verstappen much closer than expected.
In the Constructors' standings, Red Bull is just three points away from third-placed Ferrari, who despite a better Saturday and Sunday than Friday in Austin, have continued to struggle relative to their rivals.
Key Quotes
Following a clean sweep of all the competitive sessions this round, Verstappen expressed: "It was an unbelievable weekend for us. I knew the race would not be super straightforward.
"The whole race, the pace between myself and Lando [Norris] was super close. But in that first stint I could eke out a gap and that’s what I managed to the end."
As for his championship hopes, the Dutchman said: "For sure the chance is there, we just need to deliver these kind of weekends until the end. It is exciting."
Norris, who was held up by Leclerc for much of the race, shared in relief: "It took long enough! No, it was a good battle with Charles [Leclerc], he fought hard.
"Charles drove a good race, was good fun, good battles. Had to take second, not a lot more we could have done today."
Meanwhile for Leclerc's thoughts his battles and strategy, the Ferrari driver stated: "I was a little bit worried when I saw I was the only car [in the top 10] on the softs at the beginning, I knew it was a risky move.
"We tried the soft to get into free air, which was tough with two cars in front. I had fun in the car, I enjoyed it."
Up Next
The second half of this double-header will take place in Mexico City from 24th to 26th October, as the title fight heats up between not just Piastri and Norris, but Verstappen too as he joins the party with the better momentum.
