2023 Lenovo United States Grand Prix Race Recap،
AUSTIN, Texas — Max Verstappen led Saturday’s sprint race at the Circuit of the Americas from light to flag, fending off Charles Leclerc at the start and pressure from Lewis Hamilton in the opening laps to secure the victory.
Verstappen started the 19-lap sprint race from pole position and crossed to the inside of the track to press Leclerc on the inside at the first corner.
With Red Bull holding the position, this allowed Hamilton to take advantage of the Ferrari on the outside of Turn 1 and make a move to pass Leclerc for second in Turn 2.
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Hamilton spent the first six laps of the race less than a second behind Verstappen’s Red Bull, but was unable to keep up the pressure and ultimately slipped to 9.4 seconds behind the newly crowned champion at the finish.
Leclerc took third for Ferrari ahead of McLaren’s Lando Norris and the second Red Bull of Sergio Perez in fifth after starting eighth on the grid.
Although Verstappen’s victory was always likely from pole position, his advantage over the rest of the field suggests he will face a tougher challenge to repeat that victory from sixth on the grid at the Grand Prix of Sunday.
Ferrari’s Carlos Sainz finished seventh after a gamble on soft tires (all other drivers opted for mediums) saw him rise to fourth before being overtaken again by Norris and Perez.
Leclerc said part of the reason his teammate started on soft tires was to get tire information for Sunday’s race.
George Russell took seventh on the road for Mercedes, but dropped to eighth behind Pierre Gasly when a five-second penalty for overtaking Oscar Piastri off the circuit was applied.
Points for the sprint race are distributed to the first eight places, with first place receiving eight, second place seven, third place sixth, etc.
