Formula 1 | Verstappen wins the Austin F1 Sprint ahead of Sainz and Norris

It’s already time for the first race of the weekend, the F1 United States Grand Prix Sprint. Max Verstappen starts in pole position for this 100 km race ahead of George Russell, then Charles Leclerc and Lando Norris. There are therefore four teams on the first two rows of the grid.

Carlos Sainz is five stars behind Nico Hülkenberg, Lewis Hamilton and Kevin Magnussen. Yuki Tsunoda and Franco Colapinto complete the top 10 of the grille devant Sergio Pérez and Pierre Gasly, then Lance Stroll and Fernando Alonso. Liam Lawson and Oscar Piastri star Esteban Ocon, Valtteri Bottas, Guanyu Zhou and Alex Albon.

In fact, the latter decided to make adjustment changes to validate them before the race. The Williams driver was not satisfied with his settings yesterday during Sprint Qualifying. Eliminated in SQ1, he has every interest in making the Sprint a life-size laboratory.

The weather is mild this Saturday and the sun is out for the Sprint, with high temperatures. The asphalt climbs to 44 degrees, while the mercury in the air is 27 degrees for this Sprint.

19h57: The entire grid starts with medium tires for these 100 kilometers.

Departure : Very good start from Lando Norris who took advantage of Russell slowing down in front of the Ferraris to take second place! Alonso left the track briefly.

Tour 1 : Tsunoda fights with the Haas, Hamilton is sixth ahead of them, while Leclerc attacks Russell and passes, but the Mercedes regains third position.

Tour 2 : Verstappen is less than a second ahead of Norris, and Russell is third. Russell follows in front of Leclerc and Sainz, then Hamilton, Magnussen, Tsunoda and Hülkenberg who has lost three places. Pérez passed Colapinto and Stroll passed Gasly. Piastri gained two places ahead of Lawson and Alonso, then Ocon, Bottas, Zhou and Albon who had already caught up with the peloton. The Ferraris fought but without their positions changing.

Tour 3 : Verstappen sets the best lap in 1’38″688, beaten by Norris in 1’38″583 then by Russell in 1’38″452. The three leaders are within 1’7″ of each other. Sainz tried a new attack but Leclerc remained in front.

Tour 4 : Verstappen takes the best time in 1’37″906, but Norris remains around a second behind. Russell and Leclerc follow closely, while the Monegasque asks his team to come back to those in front, that is to say not to not be attacked by his teammate Piastri passed Gasly and was 13th.

Tour 5 : Verstappen took Norris out of his DRS zone, while Russell was less than half a second behind the McLaren. Sainz passed Leclerc.

Tour 6 : Norris remains 1″3 behind Verstappen and keeps Russell in his wake. Is the McLaren driver saving his tires for the end of the Sprint? Tsunoda overtakes Magnussen but the Haas driver regains seventh place. Norris is attacked by Russell and must defend against the Mercedes, which suits Verstappen.

Tour 7 : The latter now has a two-second margin over Norris, who pushed Russell back to nine tenths after this duel. Norris’ engineer confirms that the degradation is greater on the Red Bull than on his McLaren. Piastri overtakes Stroll.

Tour 8 : Verstappen is 1″7 ahead of Norris, who pushed Russell back to a second. Sainz and Leclerc have returned to the Mercedes, while Hamilton is 1″6 behind and has a 6 second margin over Magnussen. Alonso attacks Lawson but the New Zealander passes him again, and Ocon takes the opportunity to overtake both men.

Tour 9 : Norris has returned to 1″4 behind Verstappen, while Sainz overtakes Russell and is 2″2 behind. Leclerc is close to the Mercedes. Russell was pushed off the track for this, we will have to see if the race management takes action, since they have put Piastri under investigation for having pushed Gasly off the track while passing him.

Tour 10 : Norris is 1″3 behind Verstappen, and Sainz is 2″4 from the Briton. Leclerc gets rid of Russell for fourth place. Hülkenberg passed Tsunoda, and Haas could score three points. By doing so at the expense of Tsunoda, he allows his team to potentially get back on par with RB F1.

Tour 11 : Verstappen accelerates and has a 1.9″ lead over Norris. Sainz is two seconds behind, Leclerc one second behind his teammate, and Russell stalls completely. Piastri receives a 5-second penalty.

Tour 12 : Leclerc set the best lap in the race in 1’37″748. He is nine tenths behind his teammate. Up front, Verstappen has spent two seconds ahead of Norris.

Tour 13 : Pérez overtook Tsunoda for ninth place, while Piastri passed Colapinto. Up front, the Gap is 2.2″ between the two leaders. Leclerc is pressing on Sainz, about half a second behind. Piastri attacks Tsunoda but the Japanese stays ahead.

Tour 14 : The gaps do not change in the top 8, and Pérez is much slower than the Haas, by a second on the last lap.

Tour 15 : Tsunoda was ordered by his team to let Piastri pass, but he defends himself by saying that the Australian forced him off the track, and we can only approve, because Piastri pretty much did the same to him. same attack as against Gasly.

Tour 16 : The gap is 2″4 between Verstappen and Norris, and Sainz and Leclerc cannot get closer. Piastri finally overtakes Tsunoda. Pérez has regained his pace but he does not catch up with the Haas. Tsunoda is under investigation for having gained an advantage off the track.

Tour 17 : There is a 2.6″ margin between Verstappen and Norris, and 1.1″ between Norris and Sainz, while the latter is followed like his shadow by his teammate Leclerc. The FIA ​​is not opening a formal investigation into Tsunoda.

Tour 18 : Verstappen continues to widen the gap, and the Ferraris are now less than a second behind Norris, even though we are on the penultimate lap!

Last round: Sainz is in the wake of Norris and Leclerc in that of his teammate. Sainz attacks at the first hairpin and Norris misses his braking, which allows Sainz to go second! Piastri set the best lap in the race in 1’37″613! Norris tried to attack Sainz but made another mistake. Leclerc tried to attack him but missed!

Finish: Verstappen wins the Sprint of the United States Grand Prix, ahead of Sainz and Norris. Leclerc is fourth ahead of Russell and Hamilton, who finish far behind the Ferraris. Magnussen and Hülkenberg scored three points and allowed Haas to move up to sixth thanks to their results.

Pérez is ninth ahead of Piastri, who keeps his tenth place thanks to a nice gap on Tsunoda. Colapinto is 12th ahead of Stroll, Gasly, Ocon, Lawson, Albon, Alonso, Zhou and Bottas.