Formula One returned to America for the second time this season, this time in Texas for the FORMULA 1 MSC CRUISES UNITED STATES GRAND PRIX 2025 at the Circuit of the Americas. But before the action on Sunday, fans were treated to some Saturday sprint race action.
Max Verstappen had a quick start from pole position, but Lando Norris had a slow start, setting the scene for chaos into the first corner. Oscar Piastri was alongside his teammate in the first corner and thought about trying to take the position on the outside under braking, but thought better of it. He instead tried the switchback, but there were cars on the inside.
Fernando Alonso was trying to make a mega move on the inside of Nico Hulkenberg, who had a great grid position in P4. Hulkenberg was defending, only to have Piastri’s McLaren slam into the front of his car. Piastri’s car bounced wide on two wheels, collecting teammate Norris in the process. Hulkenberg was the only one of the four drivers involved to continue the race, albeit at the rear of the field after pitting for a new front wing.
The safety car was deployed to clear the stranded cars and the debris. There was a lot of debris scattered around the circuit, at least partly because the turn one incident had caused a small chain reaction at the rear of the field, with many drivers colliding. It also didn’t help that the damaged front wing of Hulkenberg’s Sauber had been wedged under Yuki Tsunoda’s car for much of the opening lap. Tsunoda had a brilliant first lap, gaining 11 positions.
The race resumed on the sixth lap. George Russell, who had been promoted to P2, did well sticking with Verstappen on the restart. After a few laps, Russell made a brave lunge into turn 12 but locked up. Both drivers ran wide, and Verstappen maintained the lead. That was Russell’s only overtaking opportunity, as the Red Bull driver pulled away in the lead.
Further back, Charles Leclerc showed the impact the windy conditions have on modern F1 cars, losing control going through the esses. This allowed Lewis Hamilton to overtake his teammate in turn 12, climbing to P4. The Brit looked much more confident in the Ferrari compared to past races, although this is far from a strong circuit for the Prancing Horse.
There was further drama in the closing laps that triggered a final safety car. Lance Stroll launched an optimistic divebomb into turn one on Esteban Ocon in the Haas. There was no way the Canadian could have gotten the car slowed down and turned in, slamming into the rear of Ocon and taking both drivers out of the race.
Haas did seem on course to gain a single point with Oliver Bearman, but the stewards applied a ten-second penalty on the Haas rookie for leaving the track and gaining an advantage. He ran wide when defending against Kimi Antonelli in the closing laps, maintaining his position. This dropped him to the rear of the field as the race finished behind the safety car.
Max Verstappen, the only non-McLaren driver still mathematically in the running for the World Drivers’ Championship title, gained eight points towards his championship bid. But he’s still 55 points away from Piastri. Russell settled for a P2 finish while Carlos Sainz rounded out the top three after a relatively quiet drive.
But this was only a peek at the action still ahead this weekend. The main event is just on the horizon, where all 20 drivers will participate in the 56-lap race around the 5.5km Circuit of the Americas tomorrow.
UPDATE: Lance Stroll will serve a five-place grid penalty at Sunday’s race for his late-race collision with Esteban Ocon. The FIA has also awarded him two penalty points on his Superlicence, bringing his 12-month total to seven points.
| Pos. | Driver | Laps | Time | Points | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 19 | 37:58.229 | 8 |  | |
| 2 | 19 | +0.395 | 7 | ||
| 3 | 19 | +0.791 | 6 | ||
| 4 | 19 | +1.224 | 5 | ||
| 5 | 19 | +1.825 | 4 | ||
| 6 | 19 | +2.576 | 3 | ||
| 7 | 19 | +2.976 | 2 | ||
| 8 | 19 | +4.147 | 1 | ||
| 9 | 19 | +4.804 | |||
| 10 | 19 | +5.126 | |||
| 11 | 19 | +5.649 | |||
| 12 | 19 | +6.228 | |||
| 13 | 19 | +6.624 | |||
| 14 | 19 | +8.006 | |||
| 15 | 19 | +13.576 | |||
| DNF | 15 | ||||
| DNF | 15 | ||||
| DNF | 0 | ||||
| DNF | 0 | ||||
| DNF | 0 |
| 1 | O. Piastri | 336 |  | |
| 2 | L. Norris | 314 | -22 | |
| 3 | M. Verstappen | 281 | -55 | |
| 4 | G. Russell | 244 | -92 | |
| 5 | C. Leclerc | 177 | -159 | |
| 1 | McLaren | 650 |  | |
| 2 | Mercedes | 333 | -317 | |
| 3 | Ferrari | 309 | -341 | |
| 4 | Red Bull | 300 | -350 | |
| 5 | Williams | 111 | -539 | |
