Image source, Reuters
Image caption, Max Verstappen has won three of the past four grands prix, as well as Saturday’s sprint race in Austin
By
F1 Correspondent in Austin
Red Bull’s Max Verstappen dominated the United States Grand Prix to increase the pressure on McLaren drivers Oscar Piastri and Lando Norris in the championship.
Norris and Piastri finished second and fifth, with Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc and Lewis Hamilton between them.
Briton Norris cut Piastri’s championship lead to 14 points with five races remaining, while Verstappen reduced his deficit to the Australian to 40 points.
Verstappen, who won the sprint on Saturday, was in total control after converting his pole position into a lead at the first corner, and putting a stranglehold on the race, which he has now won for a record seven times.
The four-time champion was asked whether he felt he was in the title fight and said: “For sure, the chance is there. We just need to try and deliver these weekends until the end. We will try whatever we can. It’s exciting and I’m very excited until the end.”
Leclerc used a different tyre strategy to frustrate Norris for much of the grand prix.
Norris finally passed the Ferrari with five laps to go to boost his hopes of catching Piastri in the points chase.
The key stories of an uneventful grand prix, on the day F1 announced a new deal to keep the Austin race on the calendar until 2034, were:
McLaren’s loss of form relative to both Red Bull and other cars underlines the threat of Verstappen in the championship.
Piastri struggling for the third race in a row
An outstanding drive from Leclerc to hold second for much of the grand prix before losing out in the closing stages.
Norris gets Leclerc in the end
Norris started alongside Verstappen on the front row, hoping McLaren’s usually strong race performance would allow him to challenge the Red Bull driver, who had won two of the past three races and beaten the McLarens in all of them.
But Norris’ hopes of the win evaporated quickly as Leclerc used the extra grip of the soft tyres – he was the only driver in the top 10 to pick them fo
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