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:
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 for the start, with everyone else on mediums – to catapult into second place at the first corner.
Verstappen built his lead through an early virtual safety car period caused by a collision between Williams’ Carlos Sainz and Mercedes’ Kimi Antonelli. The Spaniard was forced out of the race and later given a five-place grid penalty for next weekend’s Mexico City Grand Prix after the stewards decided he was “predominantly to blame”.
Norris tried in vain to pass Leclerc, with Hamilton in close attendance. Several times Norris challenged on the outside at Turn 12, at the end of the long back straight, but he was never close enough to really try for a pass.
As Verstappen built his lead, Leclerc held on until just before he stopped for fresh tyres on lap 22, fitting the medium compound.
Verstappen stopped a couple of laps later, never losing the lead and enjoying an untroubled win, his third in four races and fifth of the season, matching Norris’ tally.
Norris stayed out for a further 10 laps, dropping behind the Ferrari again when he stopped to fit the soft tyres.
The Briton emerged 2.4 seconds behind Leclerc and within four laps was on the Ferrari’s tail.
But again he could not pass and soon he was on the radio saying his tyres we’re gone.
Norris was advised by his race engineer Will Joseph to back off for a few laps to cool his tyres and try again.
Norris did so, and closed in with five laps to go. He challenged into Turn One, briefly getting past, only for Leclerc to cut back and reclaim the place.
But half a lap later, Norris went for the position again into Turn 12, dummying Leclerc and this time making the move stick.
By this stage, Hamilton had dropped back and took a lonely fourth place.
Verstappen makes up 23 points on Piastri in Austin
The battle with Leclerc meant Norris never found out whether he could have challenged Verstappen, but he had a much better afternoon than Piastri.
The Australian was off Norris’ pace all weekend and could do nothing about Hamilton in front of him, although he did manage to fend off Mercedes’ George Russell for fifth.
With Verstappen winning Saturday’s sprint after Piastri and Norris crashed at the start, the Dutchman has made up 23 points on the championship leader at this grand prix alone.
Red Bull’s Yuki Tsunoda took seventh, moving up from 13th to 11th on the first lap and then benefiting from the Sainz-Antonelli incident before driving a solid grand prix.
Sauber’s Nico Hulkenberg, Haas driver Oliver Bearman, who survived a spin while challenging Tsunoda mid-race, and Aston Martin’s Fernando Alonso completed the top 10.
By BBC Sports
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