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Motorsport

F1 US GP: Max Verstappen takes dominant victory from Lando Norris, Oscar Piastri fifth

Max Verstappen Lando Norris Charles Leclerc Oscar Piastri George Russell Lewis Hamilton F1 Ferrari Andrea Kimi Antonelli Oliver Bearman

Reigning world champion Max Verstappen has cruised to his fifth win of the Formula 1 season in Austin, with Lando Norris defeating Charles Leclerc for second and championship leader Oscar Piastri only managing fifth in the United States Grand Prix.

At the Circuit of the Americas Verstappen led the field from pole, while Leclerc passed second-place start Norris around the outside of Turn 1, the Ferrari man getting a better getaway on soft tyres compared to mediums for the rest of the frontrunners.

Norris' bid to challenge Verstappen was effectively ruined by falling behind Leclerc as he was then unable to overtake the soft-shod Ferrari for the majority of the opening stint.

There was a brief virtual safety car on lap 7 for contact between Carlos Sainz and Andrea Kimi Antonelli in Turn 15, triggered by the Spaniard, which saw him knocked out of the race and also dumped Antonelli out of the top 10.

After that incident was cleared up, Norris remained stuck behind Leclerc until he finally got close enough to the back of the Monegasque on lap 21, and passed him on the inside of Turn 12.

That was the sign for Leclerc to pit for mediums, but the damage was already done for Norris as Verstappen's gap had steadily swelled to 11 seconds. To make matters worse, Norris had received a black and white flag for three track limits violations while hunting down Leclerc, putting him on thin ice for the remainder of the 56-lap contest.

Charles Leclerc, Ferrari, Lando Norris, McLaren (Photo by: Zak Mauger / LAT Images via Getty Images)

The second Ferrari of Lewis Hamilton followed three seconds behind Norris, with the championship leader Oscar Piastri in a net fifth position. Piastri managed to pick off George Russell at the start but soon started struggling for grip, as he continued what had been a low-key weekend.

Piastri made his only pitstop on lap 31 to protect against potential undercut from Russell, with Hamilton, Norris and then Verstappen also heading to the pits on subsequent laps.

By that time Norris had made up two seconds on Verstappen, but his pitstop then put the Briton behind Leclerc once more, albeit this time on the faster tyres.

Keen to make the move on Leclerc much faster than in round one before he lost the edge of his soft tyres, Norris pushed for a move, but soon reported his tyres were past their best.

Norris then bided his time, cooled his tyres and relaunched his attack in the closing laps, briefly getting the move made into Turn 1 on lap 51. Leclerc initially restored his position with a switchback, but was then powerless to hold Norris at bay on the main DRS straight, with Norris securing second on the run into Turn 12.

Hamilton dropped back from the Norris-Leclerc fight to finish a distant fourth, just ahead of Piastri in fifth and Russell in sixth.

Oscar Piastri, McLaren (Photo by: Steven Tee / LAT Images via Getty Images)

In an otherwise uneventful race, Yuki Tsunoda survived a fraught fight with Oliver Bearman to claim seventh in the second Red Bull, with Bearman's spin also costing him eighth to Nico Hulkenberg.

Aston Martin's Fernando Alonso held off Liam Lawson and hard-charging team-mate Lance Stroll to secure the final point.

It all means Piastri holds a 14-point lead over second-placed Norris in the championship, while Verstappen is third and 40 off top with five rounds remaining.

F1 US GP - Race results

1 - 2
Cla	Driver	#	Laps	Time	Interval	km/h	Pits	Points	Retirement	Chassis	Engine
1	M. Verstappen Red Bull Racing	1	56	1:34'00.161			1	25		Red Bull	Red Bull
2	L. Norris McLaren	4	56	+7.959 1:34'08.120	7.959		1	18		McLaren	Mercedes
3	C. Leclerc Ferrari	16	56	+15.373 1:34'15.534	7.414		1	15		Ferrari	Ferrari
4	L. Hamilton Ferrari	44	56	+28.536 1:34'28.697	13.163		1	12		Ferrari	Ferrari
5	O. Piastri McLaren	81	56	+29.678 1:34'29.839	1.142		1	10		McLaren	Mercedes
6	G. Russell Mercedes	63	56	+33.456 1:34'33.617	3.778		1	8		Mercedes	Mercedes
7	Y. Tsunoda Red Bull Racing	22	56	+52.714 1:34'52.875	19.258		1	6		Red Bull	Red Bull
8	N. Hulkenberg Sauber	27	56	+57.249 1:34'57.410	4.535		1	4		Sauber	Ferrari
9	O. Bearman Haas F1 Team	87	56	+1'04.722 1:35'04.883	7.473		1	2		Haas	Ferrari
10	F. Alonso Aston Martin Racing	14	56	+1'10.001 1:35'10.162	5.279		1	1		Aston Martin	Mercedes
11	L. Lawson Racing Bulls	30	56	+1'13.209 1:35'13.370	3.208		1			RB	Honda
12	L. Stroll Aston Martin Racing	18	56	+1'14.778 1:35'14.939	1.569		1			Aston Martin	Mercedes
13	A. Antonelli Mercedes	12	56	+1'15.746 1:35'15.907	0.968		1			Mercedes	Mercedes
14	A. Albon Williams	23	56	+1'20.000 1:35'20.161	4.254		2			Williams	Mercedes
15	E. Ocon Haas F1 Team	31	56	+1'23.043 1:35'23.204	3.043		1			Haas	Ferrari
16	I. Hadjar Racing Bulls	6	56	+1'32.807 1:35'32.968	9.764		1			RB	Honda
17	F. Colapinto Alpine	43	55	+1 Lap 1:34'02.468	1 Lap		1			Alpine	Renault
18	G. Bortoleto Sauber	5	55	+1 Lap 1:34'03.718	1.250		2			Sauber	Ferrari
19	P. Gasly Alpine	10	55	+1 Lap 1:34'06.316	2.598		1			Alpine	Renault
dnf	C. Sainz Williams	55	5	+51 Laps 8'29.440	50 Laps				Accident	Williams	Mercedes
View full results