F1 United States GP: Max Verstappen resists early Lewis Hamilton charge to win sprint race
Max Verstappen beat his former F1 title rival Lewis Hamilton to win Saturday’s sprint race at the F1 United States Grand Prix.
Hamilton overtook Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc at the start and stayed within touching distance of Verstappen during the opening stages, but the Red Bull driver pulled clear and eased to a comfortable victory by a margin of nearly 10 seconds.
The newly-crowned three-time world champion led all 19 laps at the Circuit of the Americas on his way to picking up his third sprint victory out of the five to be staged in 2023.
After losing out to Hamilton at Turn 1, Leclerc finished a distant third behind the seven-time world champion.
McLaren’s Lando Norris took fourth ahead of Red Bull’s Sergio Perez.
Ferrari’s Carlos Sainz made early progress as the only driver to opt for softs and ran as high as fourth, only to slip back to sixth by the chequered flag as his tyres faded.
Alpine’s Pierre Gasly took seventh ahead of George Russell, who was demoted a position after picking up a five-second penalty for overtaking Oscar Piastri’s McLaren off the track during the early stages.
Russell did just enough to stay ahead of Alex Albon’s Williams by 0.317s in order to hold onto the final point on offer in eighth.
