Max Verstappen made a big statement by placing himself even further into Formula 1 title contention with a dominant victory at the United States Grand Prix.
The Dutchman held the lead at the start and never looked back, taking further points out of both the McLarens, especially Oscar Piastri, who was a distant fifth.
Lando Norris took points out of his team-mate by taking second, having been engaged in an entertaining battle with Charles Leclerc for much of the race. He would finish third, with Lewis Hamilton fourth in the sister Ferrari.
At the start, Verstappen covered off the lead as he did in the Sprint Race, but Norris was unable to keep second as Leclerc took the McLaren on the exit of Turn 1.
Hamilton got up to fourth, with Piastri up to fifth, both jumping George Russell and relegating him to sixth.
Verstappen was 1.4s ahead by the end of the first tour, with Tsunoda making up good ground and getting himself up to 10th from 13th on the grid.
Carlos Sainz divebombed Oliver Bearman for eighth at Turn 12, whilst at the front, Norris was now beginning to harry Leclerc, who started the race on worn Softs.
Hamilton was inching away from Piastri’s challenge and closer to the #4 McLaren, as Verstappen was now 2.5 seconds ahead.
At the start of Lap 5, Norris was now on Leclerc’s tail again and aware that the sooner he could be free of the Ferrari, the more likely he would be of keeping in touch with Verstappen.
Verstappen’s lead was now three seconds from Leclerc, with Norris still within his DRS range, with Hamilton still close by too.
Further back, Sainz and Andrea Kimi Antonelli got together at Turn 15, causing a Virtual Safety Car. Replays would show that Sainz tried to take Antonelli on the inside, but the two touched, pitching the Mercedes into the gravel, and causing damage to the Williams’ front.
Antonelli freed himself and got going, whereas Sainz would park a matter of yards up the road, ending his promising chances of a points-scoring finish. Predictably, both men blamed the other.
On Lap 10, racing resumed with Verstappen just under three seconds in front of Leclerc, who was sluggish in getting away.
The Monegasque’s Softs were now starting to wear off, as Verstappen opened up a lead of four seconds at the start of Lap 13, with Norris closing back in.
Norris and Leclerc engaged in battle as Verstappen opens up lead
Piastri’s front-left was starting to wear, causing a downgrade of his speed, observed by Russell, who was begnning to close in on the McLaren man.
On Lap 15, Norris was now back on Leclerc’s gearbox, and trying to find a way through, the Ferrari starting to hold on as its grip diminished. Verstappen was now six seconds in front.
Norris was suffering from being unable to get close to Leclerc at Turn 1, catching the Ferrari mostly at parts of the circuit where it is harder to overtake, but Hamilton was now not appearing to be much of a threat, as he sat comfortably in fourth, with Piastri still looking sluggish in fifth.
With the race now at a third’s distance, Verstappen was over eight seconds in front, with Norris again trying to find a way through Leclerc in the final sector.
Norris’ biggest problem was exceeding track limits, doing so on Lap 13, 15 and 19 respectively and putting him under pressure to not be too overeager in his challenges of Leclerc’s second place.
He now got the black and white flag for these offences, but then managed to finally find a way through, taking Leclerc at the outside of Turn 15. He was free of the Ferrari’s dirty air but had perhaps too much clean air ahead, as Verstappen was now over 10 seconds up the road.
Leclerc was now firmly in the clutches of his team-mate, as Hamilton was clearly the faster car. Ferrari called Leclerc in immediately, putting him on Mediums, rejoining in ninth position.
Further back, Antonelli was staging a comeback drive, having pitted for Mediums after his brush with Sainz. He was now up to 14th, taking Franco Colapinto’s Alpine amid setting the fastest lap of the race.
Leclerc was on the move, taking Nico Hulkenberg for eighth and set about Bearman’s seventh spot, as Verstappen, 11 seconds ahead of Norris, was beginning to complain of his Medium tyres wearing off.
Leclerc soon caught Bearman and was through on Lap 29, with Tsunoda’s Red Bull next on his list.
Piastri’s race was still uneventful and uncompetitive, disagreeing with the idea of going onto Softs until the end of the race.
Leclerc was quickly ahead of Tsunoda, with Russell seven seconds ahead. Tsunoda opted to take on Softs, dropping him to 11th.
Piastri, informed of Russell now being in the undercut range, pitted for Softs on Lap 31, dropping him to seventh.
Hamilton was next, Ferrari bolting on a fresh set of Softs, putting him out in sixth, four seconds ahead of Piastri.
It was now Norris’ turn, coming in on Lap 33 for Softs after a big lock-up at Turn 15, promoting Russell to third, but the Mercedes was still yet to stop, effectively putting Leclerc back into that position.
Verstappen, having made his Mediums last over half the race distance, came in for Softs on Lap 34, with Russell coming in also.
Bearman was keen to take seventh off Tsunoda, but a little bit of overexuberance got the better of him, as a brief look up the inside at Turn 14 with no room available saw him take to the grass and spin. The misdemeanour saw him drop to ninth behind Hulkenberg.
Norris and Leclerc’s battle resumed, as the Ferrari was now back in second, 1.2s ahead with Verstappen now six-and-a-half seconds in front.
With Hamilton nine seconds behind, it was a straight fight for seconds between the McLaren and the #16 Ferrari, with Norris again getting close on the twistier parts of the COTA circuit.
There appeared to be little bite in Norris’ charge this time, confirmed by his affirmation to his pit that his tyres were wearing off already, perhaps proving Leclerc’s bold gamble was effective and wise.
This was relayed to Verstappen, who was now informed to look after his rubber and help preserve his six second lead.
Leclerc was able to open up a 1.8s lead from Norris, which steadily grew to over two seconds, as the Brit complained of being slow, his tyres now having fallen away.
He was, however, under no threat from Hamilton who was nearly 10 seconds adrift, as Verstappen managed to consolidate his six-second lead.
Norris appeared to be given a chance to take Leclerc again, narrowing the gap down to a second with just six laps to go, as Verstappen was now over seven seconds in the lead, with Norris now in DRS range of the Ferrari.
With Verstappen set to eat away at both McLarens’ points advantages once more, it was imperative for Norris to take the chance should it present itself and on Lap 50, he was now just five tenths behind.
A lap later, Norris made the bold divebomb up the inside of Leclerc at Turn 1, but outbraked himself and Leclerc was able to retake the place, but with the gap still the same as it was before, the DRS was still on.
Going into Turn 12, Norris dove down the inside of Leclerc again, this time making it stick, taking second, and proceeded to quickly open up a gap of over a second. Leclerc’s valiant and brave strategy gamble appeared to falter just at the end.
The gap was now three seconds with just four laps left, as Verstappen maintained a lead of 8.6 seconds.
Further back, it was becoming tetchy at Alpine, as Colapinto and Pierre Gasly were jostling for 17th position, but when told to hold station, the Argentinian incredulously asked why, reasoning: “He’s slow!”
Colapinto proved that at Turn 1 a lap later, chucking it down the inside and nudging the Frenchman wide to take the position, a move that might prove decisive in the team’s thoughts for who will partner Gasly at the team next year.
Verstappen was now negotiating these cars as he lapped them, but did so with ease, taking his fifth win of the season, and now firmly placing himself back into title contention.
Norris finished second, six seconds ahead of Leclerc in third, with Hamilton equalling his best result for Ferrari – fourth.
Piastri was a quiet fifth, with Russell sixth, and Tsunoda seventh. Hulkenberg was eighth, with Bearman ninth and Fernando Alonso 10th.
READ MORE – F1 2025 United States Grand Prix – Race Results
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