Verstappen wins Sprint in Austin as McLarens collide

Max Verstappen has taken victory in a dramatic Sprint at the United States Grand Prix that saw both McLaren drivers retire on the opening lap after being caught up in a Turn 1 melee.

While Verstappen led cleanly away from pole position, the McLaren of Oscar Piastri was tagged by Nico Hulkenberg’s Kick Sauber into the first corner, which then sent the Australian into team mate Lando Norris.

This put both of the papaya squad’s cars out of the running, while Hulkenberg dropped down the order after sustaining damage. But there was no such trouble for Verstappen, who handled a challenge from Mercedes’ George Russell – and two Safety Car phases – to win the Sprint.

In an event that ended under one of those Safety Car appearances – following a late collision between Lance Stroll and Esteban Ocon – Russell had to settle for P2 behind Verstappen, while Williams’ Carlos Sainz took P3 ahead of the Ferrari pair of Lewis Hamilton and Charles Leclerc in P4 and P5 respectively.

The other Williams of Alex Albon followed in sixth, with Red Bull’s Yuki Tsunoda taking seventh. Haas’ Ollie Bearman, meanwhile, crossed the line in eighth but was dropped to the back of the field owing to a 10-second time penalty, promoting Mercedes’ Kimi Antonelli into the last points-paying place.

After just one hour of practice earlier in the day, Friday’s Sprint Qualifying had decided the starting order for the 100 kilometre dash, a format in which the top eight finishers score points from a maximum of eight for P1 down to one for P8.

While Norris had set the pace throughout SQ1 and SQ2, it was the Red Bull of Verstappen that ultimately swept through to take pole position in the final moments of SQ3, marking the Dutchman’s 10th Sprint pole.

This put Norris and team mate Piastri in second and third respectively, while Hulkenberg grabbed an eye-catching fourth place for Kick Sauber.

With much still to play for in the Drivers’ Championship, the excitement was building as the cars assembled on the grid ahead of Saturday’s 19-lap event in increasingly warm conditions – and when the tyre blankets came off prior to the formation lap, it was revealed that all 20 drivers would be starting on the medium compound.

As the lights went out at the Circuit of The Americas, Verstappen made a smooth launch away at the front. But drama rapidly unfolded behind as the pack entered Turn 1, with Piastri getting tagged by Hulkenberg which launched the Australian into a spin – and sent him into Norris, immediately putting the Briton out of the running.

While Piastri initially continued, the championship leader was warned that he may have picked up suspension damage and was ultimately unable to make it back to the pits, meaning that both McLaren cars had retired from the Sprint on only the first lap.

Fernando Alonso also found himself out of the event, the Aston Martin having been caught up in the melee amid contact with Hulkenberg, while the Safety Car was deployed due to the debris scattered across the track.

As for Hulkenberg – who called the incident a “massive sandwich” – the Kick Sauber driver had dropped down to P15 following a visit to the pits, while Stroll and Alpine’s Franco Colapinto had also pitted after an eventful opening lap.

On Lap 5 of 19, it was announced that the Safety Car period would soon be ending, with Verstappen still leading from Russell, Sainz, Leclerc, Hamilton, Albon, Tsunoda – the Red Bull driver having withstood running over Hulkenberg’s stray front wing on the track – and Bearman.

It was another strong restart from Verstappen, the World Champion holding onto P1 ahead of Singapore race winner Russell. Further back, the other Mercedes car of Antonelli was keen to make moves as the rookie tried to find a way past Pierre Gasly in a fight for ninth.

By Lap 8, Russell had closed in on Verstappen enough to attempt a bold overtake of his own by making a lunge into Turn 12 – but both cars ran wide off the track, with Verstappen rejoining ahead of his rival. “What was that?” the Red Bull man radioed in – and while the stewards noted the incident, they decided that no further investigation was needed.

Elsewhere the Ferrari duo of Leclerc and Hamilton were locked in a fierce scrap for P4, Hamilton ultimately winning the fight to move ahead of his team mate. And back at the front, Russell looked to have lost ground to Verstappen, the Briton dropping back by 1.7s.

As Lap 11 ticked down, Verstappen continued to lead from Russell, Sainz, Hamilton, Leclerc, Albon, Tsunoda and Bearman. The battle for that last points-paying position looked to be heating up, with Bearman closing to within a second of Tsunoda while Antonelli was also hot on the tail of the Haas.

“We have two strikes at Turn 12,” Russell was warned by his race engineer about track limits, while elsewhere Bearman and Antonelli were noted for leaving the track and gaining an advantage following a wide moment for the rookies during their duel.

Further drama hit on Lap 16 when Stroll attempted a lunge on Ocon into Turn 1, the Aston Martin driver locking up and collecting the Haas to put the latter out. While the Canadian appeared to raise his hand in apology, he also became another retirement after pulling his damaged car off the track at Turn 3.

All of this prompted a second Safety Car phase, while it was confirmed that the Stroll and Ocon incident would be investigated after the Sprint. Bearman, meanwhile, was handed a 10-second time penalty for that aforementioned Antonelli fight, a punishment that would drop the Haas man out of the points.

With the recovery operation continuing on track, the Sprint ended under the Safety Car as Verstappen clinched a 13th Sprint victory, the Dutchman crossing the line ahead of Russell, Sainz, Hamilton, Leclerc, Albon and Tsunoda.

With Bearman – who had been running in eighth – dropping to the bottom of the order due to his penalty, Antonelli moved up into P8, while Racing Bulls’ Liam Lawson and the Alpine of Gasly missed out on points in P9 and P10 respectively.

Kick Sauber’s Gabriel Bortoleto was 11th, ahead of the Racing Bulls of Isack Hadjar (12th), Hulkenberg (13th), Colapinto (14th) and the aforementioned Bearman (15th).

A quarter of the field retired in a highly eventful Sprint, with Norris, Piastri and Alonso all out on Lap 1 while Ocon and Stroll added to the list of drivers who failed to see the finish.

Following the Sprint, the drivers will next hit the track during Qualifying for the Grand Prix later on Saturday, with the session set to begin at 16:00 local time (22:00 GMT).