The Australian, who leads the championship, has 336 points, the British 314, while the Dutchman has 281 and sees his title hopes resurfacing
gained more reasons to trust in a turnaround and victory of the fifth consecutive world title in . This Saturday (18), at the Circuit of the Americas, in Austin, the Dutchman saw the two championship leaders, and , abandon after causing an accident right at the start of the sprint race. The situation brought some peace of mind to the , who resisted ,’s attempts, and won the quick race at the United States GP. Russell, from Mercedes, finished the sprint in second place, followed by Spaniard Carlos Sainz, from Williams, who came in third. Lewis Hamilton was fourth, Charles Leclerc fifth. Also scoring: Alex Albon, Yuki Tsunoda and Kimi Antonelli. Brazilian Gabriel Bortoleto completed the stage in 11th place.
The result saw Verstappen add eight points in the drivers’ standings and close the gap on Piastri and Norris. The Australian has 336 points, the British 314, and the Dutchman has 281. The drivers will return to the Texan track this Saturday, at 6pm (Brasília time), to define the starting grid for the main race, scheduled for this Sunday, at 4pm.
The sprint race got off to a bumpy start. Right at the first corner, Piastri caused an accident that took him out of the race, as well as his teammate, Norris, and Fernando Alonso. Hülkenberg, who started in a good position, in fourth, was the first hit by the Australian and fell to the back of the pack. The confusion led to the introduction of the safety car, which remained on the track until the fifth lap. Meanwhile, Verstappen remained intact in the lead, closing the gap to McLaren’s cars in the drivers’ world championship. With the accident, Bortoleto, who started on the last row, jumped to 13th place.
Russell put pressure on Verstappen from the eighth lap onwards. The Brit attempted an attack that took both drivers off the track. Still, the Dutchman resisted at the top. The dispute was investigated by the stewards, but there was no penalty for the Mercedes driver. In the fight for fourth place, Hamilton didn’t make Leclerc’s life easier. The seven-time champion got the better of the dispute between the Ferrari drivers and overtook on the 10th lap.
When everything seemed to be resolved, Lance Stroll (Aston Martin) missed the turn 1 apex and crashed into Esteban Ocon (Haas) as they fought for 12th place. The new accident led to a new safety car deployment, which lasted until the final lap.
No-one expected this to happen! 😱💥
— Formula 1 (@F1)
Check out the final result of the United States GP sprint race:
1º Max Verstappen (HOL/Red Bull), em 37min58s229
2º George Russell (GBR/ Mercedes), a 0s395
3rd Carlos Sainz Jr. (ESP/ Williams), at 0s791
4º Lewis Hamilton (GBR/ Ferrari), a 1s224
5th Charles Leclerc (MON/ Ferrari), at 1s825
6th Alex Albon (TAI/ Williams), at 2s576
7º Yuki Tsunoda (JAP/ Red Bull), a 2s976
8o kimi Antonelli (now/ Mercedes), 4S1
9o Liam Lawson (NZE/ RACING BULLS), which is 4S804
10o Pierre gasly (fra/ alpine), 5S1
11th Gabriel Bortoleto (BRA/ Sauber), at 5s649
12th Isack Hadjar (FRA/ Racing Bulls), at 6s228
13º Nico Hülkenberg (ALE/ Sauber), and 6s624
14th Franco Colapinto (ARG/ Alpine), at 8s006
15º Oliver Bearman (GBR/ Haas), a 13s576
Did not complete: Lance Stroll (CAN/ Aston Martin), Esteban Ocon (FRA/ Haas), Oscar Piastri (AUS/ McLaren), Fernando Alonso (ESP/ Aston Martin) and Lando Norris (GBR/ McLaren)
*With information from Estadão Conteúdo
Published by Fernando Dias
