From the pole position, Max Verstappen put on a typical Verstappen-like clinic en route to winning Saturday’s sprint race at Circuit of The Americas in Austin, Texas.
The Oracle Red Bull Racing driver scampered away after a tight battle with Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc on the initial start. At the finish line, Verstappen stretched his gap to over nine seconds on runner-up finisher Lewis Hamilton.
“We had a strong day out there today. It was quite tight at the start with Charles (Leclerc) but after that we could focus on our own race,” Verstappen said. “The pace of the car was really good, a bit better than we expected, we looked after our tires quite well.
“Starting in P6 tomorrow will be interesting, we’ll try and stay out of trouble on the first lap and then we’ll take it step by step making our way through the field. Hopefully we can have some fun out there tomorrow.”
It was Verstappen’s third sprint win of the season.
After overtaking Leclerc for second on the first lap, Hamilton remained in second for the rest of the 19-lap race.
“That was a fun race! I made a good start into turn one and had a really good battle with Charles (Leclerc). Running in second, I was then focused on trying to get closer to Max (Verstappen) in those early stages,” Hamilton said. “Their pace at the moment is undeniable though so I wasn’t able to get close enough to challenge him.
“We’ve still got a long way to go to equal the pace he showed throughout the sprint. Nonetheless, I’m really happy to be back on the podium.”
Leclerc crossed the finish line in third, followed by McLaren’ Lando Norris and Red Bull’s Sergio Perez.
Haas F-1’s Nico Hulkenberg led the American team’s result in 15th. Hulkenberg’s teammate Kevin Magnussen finished 18th.
American Logan Sargeant wheeled his Williams Mercedes entry to a 19th-place finish.