Twenty drivers were in action Sunday in the Lone Star State, all fighting to be the lone star of the FORMULA 1 MSC CRUISES UNITED STATES GRAND PRIX 2025. The Circuit of the Americas was the stage. This circuit can provide fantastic action, as proven by the chaotic opening lap of yesterday’s sprint race, which saw both McLarens retire in the first corner along with Fernando Alonso.
It was a much cleaner start this time around. Max Verstappen again had a strong start from pole position, moving to cover the inside line into the first corner. Charles Leclerc found his way around the outside of Lando Norris in the first corner, potentially helped by the Ferrari’s aggressive strategy to start on the soft compound tyres.
A couple of rows behind, Oscar Piastri was locked in a three-wide battle in the first corner, stuck between George Russell and Lewis Hamilton. The McLaren driver emerged ahead of the Mercedes but slotted in behind the Ferrari, climbing into the top five.
In the middle of the pack, Alex Albon was the only casualty of the opening lap, suffering an unfortunate spin in turn 12. The Williams driver was trying to overtake multiple cars on the inside of the corner, but ended up tapping the rear tyre of Gabriel Bortoleto.
There was further disappointment for Williams only seven laps into the race, when Carlos Sainz crashed out of the race, bringing out the virtual safety car. Sainz attempted a brave lunge into turn 16 on Kimi Antonelli, but locked up and spun the Mercedes. It was an optimistic move, but one he had managed to complete only a few laps earlier on Oliver Bearman. The incident will be investigated after the race.
When racing resumed on lap ten, Leclerc’s tyres quickly began to drop off, allowing Verstappen to build a strong gap out front. Norris rapidly chased down Leclerc, but struggled to do anything with his faster pace. On a few occasions, Norris was able to set up a switchback to put himself wheel-to-wheel with Leclerc, but the switchback does not work well at the Circuit of the Americas because it always leaves you on the outside line for the following corner.
Driving defensively didn’t help Leclerc’s pace, in turn hindering Norris’ chance of challenging Verstappen. The Brit was using every inch of the circuit, and then some, to fight Leclerc. Norris had accumulated three track limit warnings before the halfway point of the race.
Norris finally managed to get by Leclerc on the run down to turn 12 on lap 21, getting the move done well before the braking zone. This unleashed him to chase down Verstappen, who was ten seconds ahead at this point.
On worn tyres, it looked as though Leclerc was going to allow his teammate through the following lap, but he fought in a side-by-side battle with Hamilton in the third sector. Hamilton was forced to back out of the move, waiting until Leclerc pitted at the end of the lap. He managed to take his soft tyres much farther than initially predicted.
This may have influenced the teams who started on the medium tyres to change their strategies to fit the soft tyres for the final stint. Piastri was the first of the lead cars to pit for tyres on lap 31, triggering those behind to follow.
After the pit cycle, Norris found himself behind Leclerc again. He was able to get within DRS range of the Ferrari within a few laps, but couldn’t get close enough to challenge. After only a handful of laps on the soft tyres, Norris began to complain as he struggled with grip in the dirty air, dropping back more than two seconds. But this allowed him to cool the tyres
With the laps ticking down, Norris launched his second challenge for P2, climbing back into DRS range of Leclerc. Having difficulty overtaking Leclerc earlier in the race, Norris decided to try something different, lunging to the inside of the first corner on lap 51. He was in P2 momentarily, but Leclerc cut back to the inside to maintain the position. Norris repeated the move into turn 12, this time keeping P2.
Finishing ahead of Leclerc brings Norris to within 14 points of Piastri, who finished in P5, in the World Drivers’ Championship title. An easy victory also improves Max Verstappen’s bid for championship number 5. He is now 40 points away from the top position in the championship, having reduced the gap that was as high as 105 points earlier in the season.
With five races still remaining in the season, the championship is still up for grabs. Next on the calendar is the Mexican Grand Prix, which will be held next weekend on October 26.
UPDATE: Carlos Sainz will serve a five-place grid penalty at the Mexican Grand Prix for his collision with Kimi Antonelli. Additionally, two penalty points have been added to his Superlicence, bringing his 12-month total to four.
| Pos. | Driver | Laps | Time | Points | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 56 | 1:34:00.161 | 25 | ||
| 2 | 56 | +7.959 | 18 | ||
| 3 | 56 | +15.373 | 15 | ||
| 4 | 56 | +28.536 | 12 | ||
| 5 | 56 | +29.678 | 10 | ||
| 6 | 56 | +33.456 | 8 | ||
| 7 | 56 | +52.714 | 6 | ||
| 8 | 56 | +57.249 | 4 | ||
| 9 | 56 | +64.722 | 2 | ||
| 10 | 56 | +70.001 | 1 | ||
| 11 | 56 | +73.209 | |||
| 12 | 56 | +74.778 | |||
| 13 | 56 | +75.746 |  | ||
| 14 | 56 | +80.000 | |||
| 15 | 56 | +83.043 | |||
| 16 | 56 | +92.807 | |||
| 17 | 55 | +1 Lap | |||
| 18 | 55 | +1 Lap | |||
| 19 | 55 | +1 Lap | |||
| DNF | 5 |
| 1 | O. Piastri | 346 |  | |
| 2 | L. Norris | 332 | -14 | |
| 3 | M. Verstappen | 306 | -40 | |
| 4 | G. Russell | 252 | -94 | |
| 5 | C. Leclerc | 192 | -154 | |
| 1 | McLaren | 678 |  | |
| 2 | Mercedes | 341 | -337 | |
| 3 | Ferrari | 334 | -344 | |
| 4 | Red Bull | 331 | -347 | |
| 5 | Williams | 111 | -567 | |
