Lando Norris had a good start from pole position and moved over to the inside on the run to the first corner to cover off Max Verstappen. He wasn’t able to do so, leaving a car width for the championship leader. Verstappen pounced, diving to the inside and pushing Norris wide off the circuit. Verstappen ran so wide that he was over track limits himself. Despite complaints from McLarens, the stewards did not investigate the issue.
A compromised exit for the two leaders enabled Charles Leclerc to take the lead. Teammate Carlos Sainz got by Norris but was stuck behind Verstappen. He tried to create a Ferrari 1-2 with a brave lunge inside of turn 12 but was too deep. Verstappen ran very wide to avoid a collision and Sainz yielded the position. George Russell would later earn a five-second penalty for a similar move later in the race.
Sainz was all over the rear of the leading Red Bull on the second lap but was not close enough to attack. Any potential of overtaking on the third lap was neutralized by the safety car, making its first appearance since the Canadian Grand Prix. Lewis Hamilton, who had made up a ton of positions on the opening lap after his shocking Q1 exit during qualifying, lost the rear of the car in turn 19, skidding into the gravel and becoming beached. The incident was similar to his teammate’s crash late in Q3.
The race resumed on lap six and Leclerc continued his charge out front. It was not all smooth sailing at Ferrari, as Sainz began complaining about a lack of power and the smell of fuel in the cockpit. The engineers on the pit wall instructed him to adjust some settings on the car, seemingly fixing the issue.
Red Bull also warned Verstappen about a problem with the car they could see in the data, vowing to fix it during the first pit stop. It didn’t seem to impact Verstappen too much. Although unable to keep up with Leclerc out front, he kept Norris at bay by more than three seconds.
Sainz was the first of the lead cars to pit for hard tyres, diving into the pit lane on lap 22. The next was Verstappen, who stayed out until Norris closed the gap within three seconds, pitting on lap 26. He was undercut by Sainz, who climbed to a net P2. Leclerc pitted the following lap.
Norris managed to stretch his first stint until lap 31. He rejoined the race well behind Verstappen, but McLaren hoped the fresher tyres would help Norris to chase down his championship rival. Norris used his fresher tyre to nibble away at the gap to Verstappen, breaking into the DRS range on lap 44. Catching a car is one thing, but overtaking is another.
Norris’ best chance was in turn 12 at the end of the long back straight with help from the DRS. However, the Red Bull appeared faster in turns three through nine, at least partially due to the dirty air impacting the close-following McLaren. Norris was close, going side-by-side with the Red Bull as the laps ticked down.
On lap 53, Verstappen took the defensive line in turn 12 and Norris tried to make a move around the outside. Verstappen forced Norris wide off the circuit, also putting all four tyres over the track limits himself. Norris kept his foot down and gained the position ahead of Verstappen. The move was immediately met by complaints on the Red Bull team radio, prompting the stewards to take a look. McLaren felt that Norris was ahead of the apex and was forced wide, gambling on the penalty by not having Norris return the position. Although he was certainly forced wide by the Red Bull, Verstappen was ahead at the apex. The stewards awarded Norris a five-second penalty for leaving the track and gaining an advantage, dropping him off the podium and losing points to his championship rival.
But it was Ferarri’s weekend, as they appeared to be untouchable around the Circuit of the Americas. Charles Leclerc crossed the line in P1, leading a Ferrari 1-2 with teammate Carlos Sainz. With Lando Norris penalized for his late-race overtaking attempt, Max Verstappen was promoted to the podium.
There will be little time to debate the results of the race, as we head down to Mexico for the 20th race of the season. The race will be held on October 27.
| Pos. | Driver | Laps | Time | Points | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 56 | 1:35:09.639 | 25 | ||
| 2 | 56 | +8.562 | 18 | ||
| 3 | 56 | +19.412 | 15 | ||
| 4 | 56 | +20.354 | 12 | ||
| 5 | 56 | +21.921 | 10 | ||
| 6 | 56 | +56.295 | 8 | ||
| 7 | 56 | +59.072 | 6 | ||
| 8 | 56 | +62.957 | 4 | ||
| 9 | 56 | +70.563 | 2 | ||
| 10 | 56 | +71.979 | 1 | ||
| 11 | 56 | +79.782 | |||
| 12 | 56 | +90.558 | |||
| 13 | 55 | +1 Lap | |||
| 14 | 55 | +1 Lap | |||
| 15 | 55 | +1 Lap | |||
| 16 | 55 | +1 Lap | |||
| 17 | 55 | +1 Lap | |||
| 18 | 55 | +1 Lap |  | ||
| 19 | 55 | +1 Lap | |||
| DNF | 1 |
| 1 | M. Verstappen | 354 |  | |
| 2 | L. Norris | 297 | -57 | |
| 3 | C. Leclerc | 275 | -79 | |
| 4 | O. Piastri | 247 | -107 | |
| 5 | C. Sainz | 215 | -139 | |
| 1 | McLaren | 544 | | |
| 2 | Red Bull | 504 | -40 | |
| 3 | Ferrari | 496 | -48 | |
| 4 | Mercedes | 344 | -200 | |
| 5 | Aston Martin | 86 | -458 | |
