Max Verstappen won the United States Grand Prix ahead of second-placed Lando Norris and third-placed Charles Leclerc.
 |
| Photo: Jared C. Tilton |
What seemed impossible just a few months ago is now becoming reality — Verstappen, after his victory at the US Grand Prix, finds himself in a very strong position to fight for his fifth world championship title. Although he currently sits third in the standings, he is only 24 points behind Norris in second and 40 points behind Piastri in first. With five races and two sprints remaining, there are still plenty of points up for grabs.
As for his teammate Yuki Tsunoda, he finished seventh in America, but it’s unclear whether that result will be enough to impress Helmut Marko, who is expected to decide on Red Bull’s second seat after the Mexican Grand Prix.
Ferrari seemed to have caught a second wind, and for the tifosi, Leclerc’s third-place podium finish was a small reward in difficult times for the Italian team. Leclerc put up a strong fight against Norris for second place but ultimately had to concede towards the end of the race. We can only speculate whether his late-race pace drop was due to excessive wear on the car’s floor plank, which forced him to “lift and coast,” or something else.
 |
| Photo: Clive Mason |
Lewis Hamilton has recently closed the performance gap to Leclerc and continues to challenge him — as he did in Saturday’s sprint. During the race, Hamilton briefly chased the podium positions but ultimately had to settle for fourth place. After the race, he also became the first Formula 1 driver ever to surpass 5,000 career points.
A confident Mercedes, fresh off their Singapore victory, had a rollercoaster weekend in Austin. Russell briefly fought for the lead in the sprint, but in the main race, he hovered around the middle of the top ten, eventually finishing sixth. Young Kimi Antonelli suffered from a collision with Sainz and left Texas with just one point from eighth place in the sprint.
McLaren seemed to have lost its magical speed. In both qualifying sessions, they couldn’t match Max Verstappen’s pace, and in Saturday’s sprint, both drivers crashed out amid chaos and unpredictable circumstances. In the race, both drivers struggled significantly with their cars, resulting in only a second-place finish for Lando Norris and fifth for Oscar Piastri. The gap between the two McLaren drivers now stands at just 14 points.
The top ten was rounded out by Nico Hülkenberg in eighth place, Oliver Bearman in ninth, and Fernando Alonso in tenth.