Max Verstappen won the penultimate Sprint Race for the 2023 Formula 1 season in Austin, beating Lewis Hamilton after a brief challenge from the latter in the first few laps of the race.
Verstappen was aggressive at the start to keep Charles Leclerc at bay, which gave Hamilton the chance to pass the Monegasque and set out to chase the Dutchman.
But there was no answer to the reigning F1 Champion's pace, as he found his rhythm and managed to finish the race over nine seconds ahead of his rival, keeping in mind he only had 19 laps to build such an advantage.
The triple F1 Champion was having some problems the with driveability on his RB19 in the Sprint Shootout, but that did not seem to be an issue during the Sprint Race.
Verstappen will be confident to have a decent race on Sunday given the pace he showed during the Sprint, especially since he starts from sixth on the grid.
Leclerc seemed to be struggling for pace, as he didn't seem to be able to keep up with Verstappen and Hamilton once the latter passed him on lap one. He had to settle for third, but came under pressure from Lando Norris in the McLaren who finished less than one second behind him in fourth.
Sergio Perez - having started from seventh - made up two position to finish the Sprint in fifth ahead of Carlos Sainz who was sixth.
Sainz gambled on using the Soft tyres, the only driver to do so on the grid, but given he finished where he started - in sixth - it was somehow worthwhile to try something different. The Spaniard, however, put on a great show in defensive driving.
While George Russell crossed the line in seventh, he dropped down to eighth after picking up a five-second penalty for overtaking Oscar Piastri off the track.
Pierre Gasly inherited Russell's seventh place, scoring two points for Alpine, while Piastri finished tenth after suffering damage from contact with Sainz on the opening lap.
Verstappen: Luckily there was a lot of space going into Turn 1
After the Sprint, Verstappen reflected on the start, he said: "It was quite tight. Luckily there was a lot of space going into Turn 1, so that helps.
"After that we could do our own race and control the pace a bit. Had a bit of fun at the end, pushing a bit more," he added. The DRS with such big wings on this track, it's quite powerful, Once I cleared the DRS we all settled in our own rhythm and I think the pace of our car was very good."
As for his prospects in Sunday's grand prix starting P6, Verstappen said: "Starting P6 is going to be a bit different than today. It makes it interesting and hopefully we can have a bit of fun. Of course we want to win."
Seven-time F1 Champion Hamilton said after finishing second in the upgraded Mercedes W14: "That was a fun race.
"A good start down to Turn 1, then a good battle with Charles. Then I was trying to get closer to Max but their pace is just undeniable at the moment.
"But I'm happy with just a little bit closer, we've still got a long way to be able to eek the pace that he was doing throughout the race, but nonetheless I'm really happy to be back on the podium," the Briton maintained.
Hamilton will start the race on Sunday from third on the grid, he commented on his chances: "That will be helpful for us at the front.
"Ultimately I think he [Verstappen] will be breathing down our necks before too long with the pace that he had today, but I think it'll open up for a good fight with Charles and Lando.
"We are all quite similar in pace so hopefully we can get to have a good battle tomorrow and if we can all keep Max behind tomorrow that'll be awesome. But, if not, no worries," Hamilton concluded.
Leclerc launched a very brief attack on Verstappen at the start of the race, one that ended after the first corner, he reflected: "There was an opportunity and a gap.
"I tried and it was tight. I lost a position to Lewis but they were a bit stronger today in race pace," he added. "We need to work and understand what we can do better to be a step ahead tomorrow.
"We have quite a lot of data to analyse. Having two cars on two different strategies," the Ferrari driver added referring to his teammate's Soft tyre strategy.
"This will be a bit of a help tomorrow because we know how the soft tyre behaves, so I hope we can take advantage of that and hopefully we can win," he concluded.
How the Sprint unraveled
Just ahead of the Sprint Race, Russell was handed a three-place grid penalty for impeding Leclerc during the Sprint Shootout earlier in the day. That means the Briton started the Sprint from 11th.
The whole grid was on Medium tyres, except for Sainz who opted for something different and risky, bolting the Soft tyres on his SF-23.
Verstappen just managed to keep his first place after some tough racing with Leclerc, the former pushing the Ferrari to the left, which meant Hamilton benefitted and overtook Leclerc for second.
Sainz made good use of his Soft tyres to jump into fourth, making up two positions with both McLarens - Norris and Piastri - losing two positions.
Lap two, the gap between Verstappen and Hamilton was less than a second, while back, Perez was fighting with Piastri for sixth place, the Australian holding on to his position.
Lap 3, the DRS was activated, and Hamilton remained within DRS range to Verstappen while Leclerc dropped back to over three seconds in third place.
Perez managed to overtake Piastri who was also under attack from Russell, and indeed lost another position to the Mercedes driver who apparently overtook off the track. Piastri soon lost another position to Gasly.
Lap 5 and the order was: Verstappen - Hamilton - Leclerc - Sainz - Norris - Perez - Russell - Gasly.
Verstappen was complaining about drivability, after struggling with the rear of his car, but the team told him that might have been down to a gust of wind.
Sainz started to struggle with his Soft tyres, and was under attack from Norris, while Hamilton was over the radio complaining that Verstappen was exceeding the track limits.
By Lap 7, Russell was handed a five-second time penalty for overtaking Piastri off the track, while Norris and Sainz were having a nice battle for fourth.
By Lap 8, Piastri was out of the points, down in tenth, as Albon in the Williams also found his way past the #81 McLaren.
Up front Verstappen opened up the gap to Hamilton to over two seconds, giving himself some breathing space being outside of the DRS range of the #44 Mercedes.
By Lap 9, Norris was yet unable to find a way to pass Sainz, the latter doing a mega job keeping the McLaren at bay.
Lap 10 and the order was: Verstappen - Hamilton - Leclerc - Sainz - Norris - Perez - Russell - Gasly.
But Norris then passes Sainz who now had to look out for Perez who was in DRS range and looking to pass the #55 Ferrari.
By lap 11, Verstappen increased his advantage over Hamilton to over three seconds, while Perez was able to pass Sainz for sixth, as Russell was lurking one second behind the Spaniard.
By Lap 12, matters started to settle a bit, with now Russell closing in on Sainz whose Soft tyres were done, the risk clearly not paying off.
McLaren soon confirm Piastri is suffering from damage after contact with an aggressive Sainz at the start of the race.
Sainz was still managing to keep Russell behind him by Lap 13, as the Mercedes driver was trying to build a five-second gap to Gasly in a bid to keep his position.
Lap 14, and most drivers up front were in tyre-conservation mode, only Russell still battling Sainz but to no avail. The Spaniard was holding on to his position.
Lap 15 and order was: Verstappen - Hamilton - Leclerc - Norris - Perez - Sainz - Russell - Gasly.
By Lap 17, Verstappen was over six seconds ahead of Hamilton, while back down the grid, Stroll in the Aston Martin was called in to retire his AMR23 after suffering the same brake issues he faced since the start of the weekend in Austin.
By Lap 18, Norris starting to get closer to Leclerc who was third, the gap at 2.4s, but there was still one lap to go, and the Briton did not have enough time to fight for third.
Eventually, Verstappen took the chequered flag over nine second ahead of Hamilton, Leclerc crossing the line in third.
Austin Sprint Results
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