The Formula 1 race returned to the U.S. with Red Bull's driver Max Verstappen ending his nearly four-month drought, winning the U.S. Grand Prix sprint in Austin, Texas.
The victory boosted Verstappen’s confidence in the car since he has not won any of the last nine F1 races – eight grands prix and one sprint.
“It was not too bad, feels a bit like old times!” said Verstappen, “I’m very happy with today. I think of course if you look at the whole race, Ferrari was also very quick, but I think for us finally we were racing again."
The Dutch driver kept Lando Norris of McLaren, at bay for 18 out of the 19 sprint laps at the Circuit of the Americas.
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A lights to flag victory for Max Verstappen in #F1Sprint 👏
— Formula 1 (@F1) October 19, 2024
Bodes well for the rest of his weekend #F1 #USGP pic.twitter.com/44Ur0LDaIJ
“Normally in the race we’re always looking back behind us, but now we could just do our own race and we had good pace.” Added the Red Bull's top driver.
Verstappen is going for his fourth title in a row. He secured his pole position for Saturday's sprint race, winning by nearly four seconds ahead of Ferrari's driver Carlos Sainz.
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The Spaniard took advantage of Norris mistake in the first turn of the final lap and slipped behind Verstappen, securing second place.
Formula 1 returned from a four-week autumn break this week, kicking off the second race in the U.S. in Austin.
The last race on U.S. soil is scheduled for November 2024 on the Las Vegas strip.
Formula 1 US GP Sprint race results
1 Max Verstappen, Red Bull
2 Carlos Sainz, Ferrari +3.882
3 Lando Norris, McLaren +6.240
4 Charles Leclerc, Ferrari +6.956
5 George Russell, Mercedes +15.766
6 Lewis Hamilton, Mercedes +18.724
7 Kevin Magnussen, Haas +25.161
8 Nico Hulkenberg, Haas +26.588
9 Sergio Perez, Red Bull +29.950
10 Oscar Piastri, McLaren +37.059
11 Yuki Tsunoda, VCARB +38.363
12 Franco Colapinto, Williams +39.460
13 Lance Stroll, Aston Martin +41.236
14 Pierre Gasly, Alpine +41.995
15 Esteban Ocon, Alpine +42.804
16 Liam Lawson, VCARB +44.008
17 Alexander Albon, Williams +44.564
18 Fernando Alonso, Aston Martin +46.807
19 Zhou Guanyu, Sauber +52.842
20 Valtteri Bottas, Sauber +54.476
