Max Verstappen took victory in a dramatic sprint at the United States Grand Prix that saw both McLaren drivers retire on the first lap after being caught in a melee at Turn 1.
With Verstappen clearly leading from pole position, Oscar Piastri’s McLaren was hit by Nico Hulkenberg’s Kick Sauber in the first corner, which then sent the Australian into the face of teammate Lando Norris.
This put both Team Papaya cars out of the race, while Hulkenberg dropped out of the lead after suffering damage. But there were no such problems for Verstappen, who held off a challenge from Mercedes’ George Russell – and two safety car phases – to win the Sprint.
In an event that ended under one of those safety car appearances – following a late collision between Lance Stroll and Esteban Ocon – Russell had to settle for P2 behind Verstappen, while Williams’ Carlos Sainz took P3 ahead of the Ferrari pair of Lewis Hamilton and Charles Leclerc in P4 and P5 respectively.
The other Williams of Alex Albon followed in sixth, while Red Bull’s Yuki Tsunoda took seventh. Haas’s Ollie Bearman, meanwhile, crossed the line in eighth but was relegated to the back of the field due to a 10-second penalty, favoring Mercedes’ Kimi Antonelli for the final paying spot.
After just an hour of practice earlier in the day, Friday’s sprint qualifying had decided the starting order for the 100 kilometer, a format in which the top eight finishers score points ranging from a maximum of eight for P1 to one for P8.
While Norris had set the pace throughout SQ1 and SQ2, it was Verstappen’s Red Bull that ultimately took pole position in the final moments of SQ3, marking the Dutchman’s 10th Sprint pole.
This put Norris and teammate Piastri second and third respectively, while Hülkenberg claimed an eye-catching fourth place for Kick Sauber.
With much to play for in the Drivers’ Championship, excitement built as cars gathered on the grid ahead of Saturday’s 19-lap event in increasingly hot conditions – and when the tire covers came off ahead of the formation lap, it was revealed that all 20 drivers would start on the medium compound.
As the lights went out at the Circuit of the Americas, Verstappen made a smooth launch forward. But drama quickly unfolded as the field entered Turn 1, with Piastri being hit by Hulkenberg, which sent the Australian into a spin – and sent him into Norris, immediately putting the Briton out of the race.
As Piastri initially continued, the championship leader was warned that he may have suffered suspension damage and was ultimately unable to return to the pits, meaning both McLaren cars retired from the Sprint on the first lap.
Fernando Alonso also found himself out of the event, with the Aston Martin caught in the melee on contact with Hulkenberg, while the safety car was deployed due to debris strewn across the track.
As for Hulkenberg – who described the incident as a “huge sandwich” – the Kick Sauber driver had fallen to 15th after a visit to the pits, while Alpine’s Franco Colapinto and Stroll had also pitted after an eventful first lap.
On lap five of 19, it was announced that the safety car period would soon end, with Verstappen still in the lead ahead of Russell, Sainz, Leclerc, Hamilton, Albon, Tsunoda – the Red Bull driver having resisted crashing Hulkenberg’s wayward front wing on the track – and Bearman.
It was another good restart from Verstappen, with the world champion retaining P1 ahead of Singapore race winner Russell. Further back, Antonelli’s other Mercedes was keen to move as the rookie tried to force his way past Pierre Gasly in a fight for ninth place.
By Lap 8, Russell had gotten close enough to Verstappen to attempt a daring overtake by throwing himself into Turn 12 – but both cars left the track, with Verstappen moving back in front of his rival. “What was that?” The Red Bull man arrived by radio – and although the stewards noted the incident, they decided no further investigation was necessary.
Elsewhere, the Ferrari duo of Leclerc and Hamilton found themselves in a fierce battle for P4, with Hamilton ultimately winning the fight to move ahead of his teammate. And back at the front, Russell appeared to have lost ground to Verstappen, with the Briton falling back 1.7 seconds.
As the 11th lap wore on, Verstappen continued to lead ahead of Russell, Sainz, Hamilton, Leclerc, Albon, Tsunoda and Bearman. The battle for that final paying position seemed to be heating up, with Bearman closing to within a second of Tsunoda while Antonelli was also at the tail of the Haas.
“We have two strikes at turn 12,” Russell warned his race engineer about the limits of the track, while elsewhere Bearman and Antonelli were known to have left the track and taken the advantage following a wide moment for the rookies during their duel.
Further drama occurred on lap 16 when Stroll attempted to lunge at Ocon in Turn 1, with the Aston Martin driver blocking and collecting the Haas to put the latter out. While the Canadian appeared to raise his hand in apology, he also retired after pulling his damaged car off the track at Turn 3.
All of this sparked a second safety car phase, as it was confirmed that the Stroll and Ocon incident would be investigated after the Sprint. Bearman, meanwhile, was handed a 10-second penalty for that aforementioned fight with Antonelli, a punishment that would knock the Haas man out of the points.
With the recovery operation continuing on track, the Sprint finished under the safety car as Verstappen took a 13th Sprint victory, the Dutchman crossing the line ahead of Russell, Sainz, Hamilton, Leclerc, Albon and Tsunoda.
With Bearman – who was eighth – falling to the bottom of the standings due to his penalty, Antonelli moved up to P8, while Racing Bulls’ Liam Lawson and Gasly’s Alpine missed out on points in P9 and P10 respectively.
Kick Sauber’s Gabriel Bortoleto finished 11th, ahead of the Racing Bulls of Isack Hadjar (12th), Hulkenberg (13th), Colapinto (14th) and the aforementioned Bearman (15th).
A quarter of the field dropped out in a very eventful sprint, with Norris, Piastri and Alonso all going out on the first lap while Ocon and Stroll were added to the list of drivers who failed to see the finish.
Key quote
“I mean, the start was good,” said Sprint winner Verstappen. “Then, of course, there was the safety car because of the incident at Turn 1, and it took a few laps after the safety car to get a decent pace, so we have to try and understand what was going on there.”
“However, we won the Sprint, which is the most important thing. For tomorrow, I think we need to be a little better in the race to be able to fight the McLarens, because we haven’t seen anything from them.”
What’s next
Following the sprint, drivers will then take to the track in qualifying for the Grand Prix later on Saturday, with the session scheduled to begin at 4:00 p.m. local time. Head towards the RACING HUB to find out how to follow the action.
