Max Verstappen led from start to finish, winning the United States Grand Prix sprint race and getting the championship back on track.

The Dutchman started the weekend having failed to win in the last nine F1 races – eight Grands Prix and one Sprint. He kept an eye on the attacking Lando Norris, but extended his lead by another point with victory in the shortened race.

Max Verstappen secures sprint victory in Austin

Having won 10 of the 15 sprint races ever held, Verstappen was always the favorite once he secured pole, but Norris’ great start allowed the McLaren to position itself from P4 just behind Verstappen and potentially have a race for the race Prepare for leadership.

But over the course of the 19 laps, Verstappen increased his lead, pushed Norris out of the DRS area and then maintained a comfortable gap until the checkered flag.

Even if the minimal points scored in a sprint race means that there is little movement in the championship table, it is a statement victory for a Red Bull team that had struggled until the autumn break.

Having secured his 11th sprint victory, Verstappen will now head back to his team’s garage to plan how they will repeat the trick later on Saturday in qualifying and then in the race on Sunday.

There was also time for a costly mistake from Norris, who stalled on the final lap and left his former teammate in second place.

Further down the grid, George Russell, who got off to a poor start, held off the Ferrairs, who began to fight among themselves, briefly giving the Mercedes driver breathing room, but Carlos Sainz soon attacked and took the last one on lap 9 Podium place.

With his tires overheating, Russell was also vulnerable to Charles Leclerc, who moved up to P4.

Russell’s teammate Lewis Hamilton had a quiet race in sixth place, while the two Haas cars made good on their qualifying performance and added three points to their season result.

Behind the Haas cars, Sergio Perez and Yuki Tsunoda had a tremendous duel, with the Mexican eventually prevailing and finishing ninth, while Tsunoda finished eleventh.

While Norris ended up on the podium, it was less good news for Oscar Piastri, who started the race 16th and finished 10th, but received a five-second penalty for pushing Pierre Gasly off the track.

New signing Liam Lawson finished 16th, while Fernando Alonso and Alex Albon will be hoping for better results for the rest of the weekend in 18th and 17th.