F1 United States Grand Prix live tracker: Max Verstappen wins Sprint race
We're on the ground in Austin, Texas for the 2023 United States Grand Prix, where Max Verstappen notched another sprint race win.
Alex Davies, Patrick Iversen and more
Jared C. Tilton - Formula 1/Formula 1 via Getty Images
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We knew Max didn't like the sprint format
But we haven't heard this thinking before. Gotta say, he makes sense.
Never what?
A charming moment from Bianca Bustamante, who a few days ago became the first woman to enroll in McLaren's driver development program. Next year, she'll represent the papayas in the all-female F1 Academy series.
Checo's targeting a podium
(Mark Thompson/Getty Images)
While Max Verstappen cruised along at the front of the field, his Red Bull teammate Sergio Pérez turned in a solid performance, turning a P7 start into a P5 finish, good for four points. Asked what he thinks is possible tomorrow, he said he could finish on the podium. "If we make progress early on, things should be looking good.”
Red Bull team principal Christian Horner said Checo put in "some good strong racing ... hopefully that'll come into play tomorrow."
Another disappointing day for Logan Sargeant
Williams' young driver is still without points as his debut season nears its close — and he is still the only driver without a guaranteed seat for 2024.
“I just struggled to be quick in the place I needed to be quick to be close enough to try to overtake," he said today's sprint. “Still in search for a bit more pace.”
His teammate Alex Albon, meanwhile, finished ninth, just barely missing out on points.
GO FURTHER
Has Williams rookie Logan Sargeant missed his best chance to secure his F1 future?
Sainz unhappy with his run on the softs
Carlos Sainz was less than thrilled to discover he was the only driver on soft tires, he said after today's sprint, and the results justified his trepidation. "After two or three laps, I saw the medium was just quicker, pretty much the whole stint," he said.
The upside is that he's saved some medium tires for tomorrow's grand prix, where the real points get handed out. And Ferrari has the advantage of knowing how its car works on soft tires over a proper distance.
“Today was tough," Sainz said. "But at least we learned something.”
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Here are four extremely fast people
(Jim Watson/AFP via Getty Images)
Presenting the plaques to sprint race leaders Lewis Hamilton, Max Verstappen and Charles Leclerc is Sha'Carri Richardson, who earned the title of fastest woman in the world with a record 10.65-second time in the 100-meter sprint in August.
"It wasn't a classic"
Will Buxton spitting truth on the F1TV post-race show.
The full classification
Alex Albon was closer to Max Verstappen than Logan Sargeant was to Albon.
The points finishers
- Max Verstappen: 8
- Lewis Hamilton: 7
- Charles Leclerc: 6
- Lando Norris: 5
- Sergio Pérez: 4
- Carlos Sainz: 3
- Pierre Gasly: 2
- George Russell: 1
Not even close at the front
Both Friday’s qualifying and Saturday’s sprint shootout gave us hope of a close fight between four teams at the front as fine margins separated them — but now Max Verstappen has torn up the script.
Winning the sprint by over eight seconds is a pretty ominous sign ahead of tomorrow’s race. Even from P6, he’s got the race pace, quite clearly, over the Mercedes and Ferrari cars. Tomorrow’s pole-sitter Charles Leclerc finished over 17 seconds behind — in a 19-lap race.
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Max Verstappen wins sprint race
Color me surprised. He does it with a 9.4-second gap to Hamilton.
"Simply lovely that," Max says.
Five-second penalty for Zhou
Dinged for leaving the track to overtake Magnussen.
Lap 18/19
Verstappen's got this one locked in with a 6.7-second lead over Lewis Hamilton, who's followed by Leclerc, Norris and Pérez.
That'll look good for Hamilton's chances of passing Pérez for P2 in the driver standings.
Stroll into the pits
"I need to box. No brakes," the driver said.
More bad news for Aston Martin, which started this year looking so good.
KMag and Zhou under investigation
"Forcing another driver off the track."
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No further action on Albon-Piastri
Stewards say all's good.
Sainz falling away
Sainz just lost fifth to Sergio Pérez, and now Russell is looking to close in. He's just under a second behind the Ferrari.
What drivability problem?
Verstappen has checked out. He's over three seconds clear of Hamilton at the front now, and added half a second to his lead on the previous lap. Even with the issue or discomfort he reported earlier, he's in good shape right now.
Sainz's tires are starting to drop off
Sainz will do well to keep Norris and Pérez back. They're both closely tailing him, and those soft tires are surely going to wear even quicker as we get into the closing stages of this sprint. He just lost fourth place to Lando Norris.
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