Verstappen wins US Grand Prix sprint race, but Norris grabs pole position | formula 1

It was first blood for Max Verstappen as the run-in to the Formula 1 championship began with the Red Bull driver enjoying his first win since June and his most comfortable ride since, with a victory in the sprint race at the Grand Prix of the USA. But his title rival Lando Norris returned fire later in the day, taking pole position for Sunday with Verstappen in second place on the grid.

The sprint race was an impressively dominant victory at the Circuit of the Americas. After beating Norris to third, Verstappen extended his championship lead and showed Red Bull are once again in good form. Norris lost second place to Ferrari's Carlos Sainz on the final lap, but made up for it in qualifying.

Verstappen maintained his unbeaten short-form record this season and was in control from pole to flag; While he was in the lead from the start, he was unchallenged for the entire 19-lap route. Norris chased him hard and moved up from fourth to second place with a brilliant start, but was then unable to reduce Red Bull's lead and was powerless against Sainz as his tires were broken towards the end.

The victory was just the start Verstappen needed for the six-game, title-deciding final that will conclude the season. He extended his lead over Norris to 54 points, with another 172 still on the table. Although he only overtook Norris by two points, he crucially prevented the British driver from reducing his gap.

Importantly for Verstappen and Red Bull alike, it showed that the limited improvements the team brought to the race to address the balance issues their car was suffering from appeared to be successful, establishing the lead at the front of the field enjoyed the first half of the season.

This was acknowledged by a beaming Verstappen. “It feels a bit like old times,” he said. “I'm very happy, we're finally racing again. Normally we always look back when racing, but now we could run our own race.”

But Norris recovered in qualifying and took first place, beating Verstappen by just 0.031 seconds. The McLaren driver set the pace early in the shootout for pole and was then lucky when George Russell had an accident with his Mercedes in the penultimate corner.

At this point, Verstappen appeared ready to beat Norris' time, but all drivers were forced to step back after his high-speed maneuver with Russell into the barriers. This allowed Norris to secure the crucial pole while Verstappen was next to him on the front row.

Sainz finished third for Ferrari, one place ahead of Charles Leclerc, while Norris' McLaren teammate Oscar Piastri was fifth. Lewis Hamilton has won a record five times in Austin, but the seven-time world champion endured a horror show that left him 19th in qualifying.

“What happened to this car, man?” Hamilton said over the radio after finishing six tenths behind Russell in the other Mercedes. Russell, who advanced to Q3 and finished sixth despite his late crash. Hamilton is moved up one place to 18th, while Liam Lawson is pushed into the background for having a number of new engine parts fitted to his RB.

Hamilton blamed his surprising result on suspension damage he sustained in the earlier sprint race. “In the sprint we had a defect in the front suspension on the formation lap,” he said. “I had that throughout the sprint race and it made the balance really difficult. The car was a nightmare in qualifying. I should probably start in the pit lane, otherwise I can’t get anywhere from where I am.”