Max Verstappen took victory in the Formula 1 United States Grand Prix Sprint Race, after both McLarens sensationally crashed out at the first corner.
The Dutchman was left with little challenge after Nico Hulkenberg tagged Oscar Piastri, sending him into Lando Norris, and both of them into retirement.
George Russell inherited second as a result, and despite one lunge on Verstappen midway through the race, the Mercedes driver offered little recourse to Verstappen’s lead.
Carlos Sainz took another top-three finish for Williams, holding off Lewis Hamilton, who came through to finish fourth amid a tight battle with team-mate Charles Leclerc.
At the start, Verstappen got away well and covered off both McLarens to take a tight line into Turn 1, but then, perhaps the most inevitable happened – McLaren contact.
Norris and Piastri, side by side, followed in behind. Norris, a shade behind Piastri, braked deep to stay in-front, but behind, Hulkenberg braked even later, his Sauber tagging Piastri, sending the Australian right into the side of his team-mate.
Both McLarens were out, and the only blessings they could count was that the contact was caused by a third party, rather than between each other after two weeks of fraught discussion on their intra-team racing battle.
The Safety Car was deployed to clear up the slew of debris scattered over the track, with Russell now second, with Sainz third. Leclerc and Hamilton were now fourth and fifth. Alonso was also caught up in the mayhem and was the third man to retire.
Racing resumed at the end of Lap 5 with Verstappen getting a good launch with Russell half a second behind.
The biggest beneficiary was Tsunoda, who leapt from 18th to seventh, with Bearman also moving up and now in eighth.
Hulkenberg was now 15th after having to pit for repairs to his damaged Sauber.
Russell and Verstappen get close in testy duel
On Lap 8, the gap was still the same at the front, with Russell managing to stay in touch, and midway through the lap, he was right on the Red Bull’s tail.
Divebombing the Red Bull at Turn 12, Russell and Verstappen both ended up off the track and rejoining in the same positions.
By Lap 10, Russell was now nearly two seconds behind, with the Ferraris getting close behind them, with Hamilton and Leclerc enjoying a tasty little duel for fourth spot.
Despite complaining the ride of the car was “f***ed,” Verstappen set the fastest lap of the race and the gap was now 2.2 seconds to Russell, with Sainz starting to fall into the clutches of Hamilton’s Ferrari.
Hulkenberg, now 16th, was fighting Hadjar for position, but the Racing Bulls was able to fend off the German’s advances, as Antonelli and Bearman were in the middle of their own battle, this one for eighth.
With three laps now to go, Verstappen led by 2.7 seconds with Sainz maintaining a gap to Hamilton in third.
But the drama did not end there, with the Safety Car coming back out after Lance Stroll speared into the side of Esteban Ocon’s Haas, after attempting an overtake which started in a different postcode.
The Canadian put his hand up in apology, knowing the ambition of the move outweighed the likelihood of its success, and making him and Ocon the fourth and fifth retirees.
It became doubly bad news for Haas, as Bearman was handed a 10 second time penalty for leaving the track and gaining and advantage in his manoeuvre on Antonelli for eighth.
The Safety Car remained out on track, bringing a damp squib of an end to what was an enthralling Sprint Race, with Verstappen taking victory, with Russell third and Sainz fourth.
Hamilton and Leclerc maintained fourth and fifth, with Alex Albon sixth, Tsunoda seventh and Antonelli eighth, after Bearman’s time-infused relegation.
McLaren will be thankful that the incident did not happen during the Grand Prix, as Verstappen would only take an eight-point chunk out of the pair’s title lead.
READ MORE – F1 2025 United States Grand Prix – Sprint Race Results
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