F1 United States GP Live Commentary and Updates – Sprint Quali & Race
Saturday's action from the 18th round of the 2023 Formula 1 season
Live AppleTV Race Audio
After Charles Leclerc grabbed pole position in Friday’s qualifying for the grand prix on Sunday at the Circuit of the Americas, it is another F1 sprint Saturday.
Sprint qualifying starts at 6:30pm BST to order the grid for the fifth sprint race of the season, which begins at 11pm BST.
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Summary
Max Verstappen wins US GP sprint race by almost 10 seconds ahead of Hamilton, with Leclerc third
He is the first F1 driver to win three sprints in one season
Russell relegated one place to eighth after five-second penalty for leaving the track and gaining an advantage to pass Piastri
Given Sunday is seven minutes away (in the UK at least) we'll call time on this live text coverage of the US GP sprint Saturday. We'll be back tomorrow for the build-up to the US GP which starts at 8pm BST. Until then, go well!
So that was the sprint race. Verstappen controlled it from pole, but he has a much tougher challenge tomorrow given he starts from sixth place. Let's see what Sunday brings.
Leclerc on his start against Verstappen and third place: "I had to go for it, there was a gap, but then it was tight and I lost a position to Lewis. But they were stronger on race pace."
Hamilton on second place: "That was a fun race, a good start down to Turn 1, a good battle with Charles and I was trying early on to get close to Max but their pace is just undeniable at the moment. But I am happy that we are a bit closer."
Verstappen on his US GP sprint win: "[The start] was quite tight but luckily there is a lot of space going into Turn 1 so that definitely helps. After that we could do our own race and control our pace."
Verstappen slips out of his Red Bull and appears content with his day's work. It wasn't the most memorable of F1 sprint races, but the Dutch driver won't care one bit.
With Albon in the unlucky ninth place, Piastri takes 10th ahead of Ocon, Ricciardo, Alonso, Tsunoda, Hulkenberg, Bottas, Zhou, Magnussen and Sargeant as the final finisher.
Norris just misses out on catching Leclerc so settles for fourth, with Perez fifth and Sainz sixth. Russell's penalty drops him to eighth and behind Gasly - but he keeps 0.3s ahead of Albon for the final points place.
Stroll retires from the sprint race on lap 17 as his brakes have gone on his Aston Martin. He was limited to five laps in practice due to a brake issue, so more brake misery for the Canadian.
It is a good distraction for this sprint race fizzling out. Verstappen is in control with a 6.2s lead over Hamilton and he also has six seconds in hand over Leclerc.
On lap 11 Perez only needs DRS to fly by Sainz to take fifth place. The Spaniard has Russell 1.2s behind him but the Mercedes driver has that five-second penalty remember.
Piastri is having a stinker. He's struggling to keep his McLaren on the track and he's been shown the black and white flag for track limits - one more and he'll get a penalty.
Norris looks for a move on Sainz at Turn 12 but the Ferrari driver fights back to retain fourth place. Their squabble is inviting Perez into the battle.
Verstappen is pulling clear at the front, as on lap eight he is 2.3s clear of Hamilton. The driveability issue that was troubling him earlier appears to have been solved.
Perez gives it another go on Piastri at Turn 12, but this time the Red Bull driver has enough of his car alongside to fight for the place at Turn 13 and he gets ahead.
