F1 United States GP live commentary and updates - sprint race

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Full sprint race report

Formula 1

F1 US GP: Verstappen wins sprint race, Norris and Piastri taken out in start crash

Max Verstappen wins F1's US GP sprint race, as contact forces McLaren's Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri to retire

Carlos Sainz, P3 in the US GP sprint: "We definitely had a solid race, solid pace, the Ferraris were quick behind but we could keep it under control.

"Nothing has changed, we're just getting a little bit more lucky and things stop happening to us. I couldn't show it at the start of the year, but things are clicking. We lack a bit compared to these guys, but we're still in the midst so it's good to see."

George Russell, after finishing second: "I know you don't get many opportunities with Max and I had half a chance. But P2 was better than we expected, and got decent points.

"I was on the outside and fully sent it, and realised everyone on the inside fully sent it as well. It looked like three cars into one!"

Max Verstappen, after winning the US GP sprint: "The start was good, then of course there was the safety. It took a few laps after the safety car to have good pace, so we need to work out what happened there.

"We need to be better in race trim to fight the McLarens. We'll have a look, we have some ideas and hopefully it'll stick a bit better tomorrow."

The lap 1 crash

Lap 19/19

So this is it - Verstappen from Russell from Sainz. Repeat from Azerbaijan's podium, amazingly.

Lap 18/19

The Bearman/Antonelli incident has been investigated - Bearman cops a 10-second penalty, which will promote Antonelli to eighth. Remember - he's very close to a ban for reaching 12 penalty points, so he'll have to hope there's none coming his way.

Meanwhile, Verstappen is trying to hurry Bernd Maylander along - but it likely won't have much effect.

"What we described was a factual version of events. No need to speculate" vibes.

Lap 17/19

Stroll and Ocon's cars are now parked up at the side of the road, so it very much looks like we won't get going again.

Verstappen will win this from Russell, Sainz, Hamilton, Leclerc, Albon, Tsunoda, and Bearman - who might have to concede a place to Antonelli.

Lap 15/19

The Leclerc safety car incident has been waved off with a no-further-investigation flag. However, Bearman has been noted for leaving the circuit and gaining an advantage ahead of Antonelli.

Tsunoda's on Albon's tail now, as the Williams has lost ground to the Ferraris.

Lap 14/19

Antonelli still has DRS on Bearman, while Tsunoda is inching closer to Albon.

Antonelli then tries to cut back on Bearman, but the Briton just about holds through the switchback corners. Good racing between them. 

Lap 13/19

Verstappen is now 2.3s up on Russell. Further down the top eight, Tsunoda is about a second clear of Bearman, who has Antonelli in his rear-view mirror.

Lap 12/19

Sainz is picking up the pace to respond to Hamilton - the gap is now 1.3s.

Hadjar passes Hulkenberg on the straight, as the German is a long way away from the heady heights of fourth. 

Lap 11/19

1.8s between Verstappen and Russell now, as the Mercedes driver's challenge has run aground. Sainz might have Hamilton for company soon as he aims to preserve fourth.

Replays show that Leclerc had gone off through the esses, hence Hamilton's move later on in lap 9.

Lap 10/19

Russell was noted for forcing Verstappen off the road, but no further investigation was deemed necessary by the stewards.

"The ride is completely **** on the rear," Verstappen reports, as he struggles with the bumps. 

Antonelli has cleared Gasly and he's now going after Bearman for the final point.

Lap 9/19

Russell's fallen out of DRS range now, so he doesn't have assistance this time. Hamilton does, however, and steams past Leclerc to clinch fourth place.

Leclerc tries the switchback in the following corners, but can't prise a way back past. 

Lap 8/19

Russell remains within a second of Russell and tries to keep the pressure on. Sainz has dropped back by 2.3s, which will give Leclerc a shot - but the Monegasque has been noted for a safety car infringement.

Russell then dives down the inside into Turn 12, but both drivers go off the road - shades of 2024 between Verstappen and Norris. We go again.

Lap 7/19

DRS is now enabled, so Russell just needs to stay within a second of Verstappen now. He's got DRS down the back straight, but he's not close enough to make a move.

Leclerc is chasing Sainz, while Antonelli looks for a move on Gasly - but can't take ninth away from the Alpine driver this time.

Lap 6/19

Verstappen hits the gas through Turn 16, but Russell is following him reasonably closely. 

Sainz is staying ahead of the the two Ferraris, who look primed to battle for fourth. 

Lap 5/19

The safety car is coming in at the end of this lap.

Lap 4/19

Debris is still being collected - we might have a couple more laps behind the safety car.

Order is Verstappen, Russell, Sainz, Leclerc, Hamilton, Albon, Tsunoda, Bearman, Gasly, Antonelli, Lawson, Ocon, Bortoleto, Stroll, Hulkenberg, Hadjar, and Colapinto.

Tsunoda got up to seventh in that start - he made a small touch with a Racing Bulls car ahead as he dived to the inside, then ran over Hulkenberg's displaced front wing.

The Red Bull driver now has got Albon ahead, as the Williams duo sandwiches the two Ferraris. Bearman is eighth.

The McLarens were side by side, as Piastri got a good getaway. Norris held the inside, went to the outside as Piastri tried to get the cutback. But the Australian just found Hulkenberg on his inside and made contact with him, then Norris - and both McLarens are out.

Alonso was also caught out by the mess ahead, and is also out of the running and was swiped by the spinning Hulkenberg.

The backmarkers line up - then it's everything to play for here in Austin...

Tyre watch

Mediums: everyone

Softs: nobody

Hards: nobody.

This has been your official sprint race tyre watch.

20 minutes until lights out

Not long until the US GP sprint race gets under way! Hopefully it's one of those "let's go for it" kind of sprint races, not a "let's just do a big train for 19 laps" kind of sprint.

I hope you feel hyped up and ready to go!

Marko: Verstappen needs help from McLaren for "not impossible" F1 2025 title

Red Bull advisor Helmut Marko concedes that Max Verstappen "needs some help from McLaren" to secure an outside-bet fifth Formula 1 title in 2025 - an eventuality he teasingly suggested was not impossible.

Verstappen sits 63 points away from Oscar Piastri's championship lead, although has an opportunity to make a small dent in that from sprint race pole at the United States Grand Prix; Piastri starts third ahead of the 19-lap race.

The ride-height approach behind Hulkenberg's excellent US GP sprint qualifying

Nico Hulkenberg's journey to a surprise fourth place in qualifying for the United States Grand Prix sprint hinted that Sauber had been aggressive with its ride heights for the 19-lap race on Saturday, as the German felt he'd hit "the sweet spot" with his set-up.

Having been concerned that his route to second in FP1 was "too good to be true", Hulkenberg looked at ease with his Sauber machinery throughout sprint qualifying.

Although he was ultimately half a second off Max Verstappen's pole lap, it was still good enough for a second-row start.

US GP sprint race grid

Main Information Additional Data Driver Info

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Main Information Additional Data 1  -  2
Cla	Driver	#		Chassis	Engine	Time	Tyres	km/h
1	M. Verstappen Red Bull Racing	1		Red Bull	Red Bull	1'32.143		215.391
2	L. Norris McLaren	4		McLaren	Mercedes	+0.071 1'32.214		215.225
3	O. Piastri McLaren	81		McLaren	Mercedes	+0.380 1'32.523		214.506
4	N. Hulkenberg Sauber	27		Sauber	Ferrari	+0.502 1'32.645		214.224
5	G. Russell Mercedes	63		Mercedes	Mercedes	+0.745 1'32.888		213.663
6	F. Alonso Aston Martin Racing	14		Aston Martin	Mercedes	+0.767 1'32.910		213.613
7	C. Sainz Williams	55		Williams	Mercedes	+0.768 1'32.911		213.610
8	L. Hamilton Ferrari	44		Ferrari	Ferrari	+0.892 1'33.035		213.326
9	A. Albon Williams	23		Williams	Mercedes	+0.956 1'33.099		213.179
10	C. Leclerc Ferrari	16		Ferrari	Ferrari	+0.961 1'33.104		213.168
11	A. Antonelli Mercedes	12		Mercedes	Mercedes	+1.875 1'34.018		211.095
12	I. Hadjar RB	6		RB	Honda	+2.098 1'34.241		210.596
13	P. Gasly Alpine	10		Alpine	Renault	+2.115 1'34.258		210.558
14	L. Stroll Aston Martin Racing	18		Aston Martin	Mercedes	+2.251 1'34.394		210.254
15	L. Lawson RB	30		RB	Honda
16	O. Bearman Haas F1 Team	87		Haas	Ferrari	+3.016 1'35.159		208.564
17	F. Colapinto Alpine	43		Alpine	Renault	+3.103 1'35.246		208.374
18	Y. Tsunoda Red Bull Racing	22		Red Bull	Red Bull	+3.116 1'35.259		208.345
19	E. Ocon Haas F1 Team	31		Haas	Ferrari	+3.860 1'36.003		206.731
20	G. Bortoleto Sauber	5		Sauber	Ferrari
View full results

United States GP sprint race - coming up in an hour!

Hello everyone, and welcome along to our live coverage of F1's sprint race at the United States GP - held at Austin's Circuit of the Americas.

We'll start by building up to the 19-lap race, and bring you lap-by-lap updates of everything that goes on once it begins - so stay tuned!

Fernando Alonso, Aston Martin Racing

Photo by: Jared C. Tilton/Getty Images