United States GP Sprint: A Verstappen Hat-Trick, A McLaren Drama
F1 NewsSaturday, 18 October 2025 at 19:42
Max Verstappen won the Sprint Race for the 2025 United States Grand Prix making it a hat-rick of Sprint wins at the Circuit of the Americas on a day when McLaren imploded. George Russell was second with Carlos Sainz third.
Verstappen started the sprint race from pole and had a great start which meant he was safe from all the mess that took place in his wake.
It was a dramatic start to the fourth Sprint Race of the 2025 Formula 1 season with four drivers not surviving Turn 1 as Oscar Piastri out-dragged Lando Norris who went deep on the brakes trying to keep his position.
But the Australian went for the switcheroo and was collected by Nico Hulkenberg who was busy racing Fernando Alonso who was on the inside.
Both McLaren drivers were out on the spot as well as Alonso, while Hulkenberg managed to have his car repaired and rejoined in 15th - not what he was hoping for after a great performance in Sprint Qualifying.
The incident between the McLaren drivers came after another one between them at the start of the Singapore Grand Prix with talk about "repercussions" for Norris who owned up to that mistake all over the paddock.
But McLaren CEO Zak Brown was cool about the matter and commented during the race from the pitwall saying:
"That was terrible. Neither of our drivers to blame there.
"That was terrible. Neither of our drivers to blame there.
"That's some amateur-hour driving by some drivers up there at the front, [they] wacked out two guys," he added. "I want to see the replay again but clearly Nico Hulkenberg drove into Oscar and he had no business being where he was, he went into his left-rear tyre.
"It looks like it was just limited to suspension damage, so hopefully it's relatively easy to fix," Brown concluded.
That meant that the Safety Car was sent out to clear the huge amount of debris the Lap 1 incident spread around the track and racing was resumed only after Lap 5.
Verstappen kept his lead at the restart with Russell chasing him but not being able to make a move stick. The order after the restart was: Verstappen - Russell - Sainz - Charles Leclerc - Lewis Hamilton - Alex Albon - Yuki Tsunoda - Ollie Bearman.
However, Russell remained within DRS to Verstappen and went for a move on Lap 8 at Turn 12, but locked up and ran wide with Verstappen having to take evasive action as both cars went off track, the Dutchman keeping his position as the incident was deemed as a racing one.
Then Hamilton went for a move on Leclerc for fourth at Turn 12 and made it stick after an earlier mistake from the Monegasque.
After that, the top eight remained the same until Lap 16 when Lance Stroll tapped Esteban Ocon trying to pass him into Turn 1 sending the Frenchman into a spin and an immediate DNF.
The Canadian, with front right suspension failure, stupidly tried to drive back to the pits but then realized it wasn't possible and parked his car.
The Safety Car came out again and the Sprint Race ended behind it.
As such Verstappen scored eight points which will no doubt deliver a boost in his bid to deny Norris and Piastri a maiden F1 Drivers' Championship.
Russell finished second in the Mercedes with Sainz third after starting from seventh and emerging in one piece after the first lap chaos.
Then came the Ferraris of Hamilton and Leclerc in fourth and fifth after starting from eighth and tenth respectively.
Albon followed in sixth as Tsunoda was seventh starting from 18th and delivering a lighting start, surviving the first-lap incident and even driving over Hulkenberg's front wing without getting a puncture.
The final point-scoring positing went to Kimi Antonelli was spent most of the race fighting Bearman, but the Briton was given a ten-second time penalty for exceeding track limits while defending from the Italian rookie.
What the top three said
Verstappen admitted his race pace wasn't what he hoped for during the 19-lap dash and commented after taking the win: "The start was good, then of course there was a Safety Car after the Turn 1 incident.
"I took a few laps after the SC to have decent pace, so we need to figure out what was going on there, but nevertheless we won the Sprint, which is of course the most important.
"But already looking ahead for tomorrow, I do think we need to be a bit better in race trim to be able to fight the McLarens, because we haven't seen anything of them.
"We'll have a look. Of course we have some ideas of what we can do, and then hopefully it will just stick a bit better tomorrow," the reigning F1 Champion concluded.
Russell insisted he had to try and make a move on Verstappen, he added: "I knew you don't get many opportunities with Max, so I saw half a chance and sent it.
"I was probably too far behind but I'm glad I gave it a go. P2 is better than what we could have expected. Some decent points.
"I was on the outside and fully sent it," he said of how he handled the start. "Then I realised everyone on the inside fully sent it and then I realised everyone on the inside fully sent it.
"Carlos and I were like 'I don't think that will work too nicely'. I've not seen it but it looked like three cars into one, which often doesn't go," the Briton concluded.
A satisfied Sainz said: "We had a solid race. The Ferraris were quick behind but we kept them under control and brought home the P3, which tastes really good.
"Nothing," he responded when asked how Williams managed such a result. "We're just getting a little bit more lucky, and things stop happening to us.
"But I've had this pace all year. The first half of the year I wasn't able to show it and prove it, but now things are running a lot smoother, I'm just doing everything I was doing and things are clicking," Sainz concluded.
United States GP Sprint Provisional Classification
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