Written by Ria Ann Sam, Edited by Vyas Ponnuri
Formula 1 returned after a month-long break in Austin, Texas (United States), with a sprint race. While the Ferraris topped free practice, Max Verstappen started at the head of the field and won the sprint race, ahead of Carlos Sainz and Lando Norris.
Oscar Piastri was the surprise exit after sprint qualifying, starting down in 16th after his lap was deleted for exceeding track limits at turn 19. This was also Liam Lawson’s debut as a full-time Formula One driver, after replacing Daniel Ricciardo in the RB.
Verstappen got off to a superb start off the five red lights, fending off George Russell. Both Ferraris also got off to a good start but Lando Norris turned heads when he gained two places within the first lap. Fernando Alonso went off track and dropped down to 16th place.
A couple of laps in and both Charles Leclerc and Carlos Sainz were scrapping away on track, and this fight would go on for the rest of the race. By lap six, Carlos would surge past his teammate.
Despite starting from 16th, Piastri would make his way up to 13 by lap seven though he would later earn a five-second penalty for going off the track and gaining an advantage.
On lap 10, Carlos Sainz overtook George Russell, who was then sandwiched between the two Ferraris. By the end of the lap, Charles Leclerc would pull off a “carbon copy” move like his teammate at turn 15, squeezing out Russell to take fourth.
Meanwhile, Yuki Tsunoda battled Sergio Perez and was successful for a couple of laps, however, the Mexican eventually overtook him. As soon as his battle with Perez ended, Tsunoda was under pressure from Oscar Piastri and the two would fight battle over multiple laps.
Piastri emerged victorious at the end of lap 16. Despite losing out on those two places, Tsunoda showed why he deserved a seat with Red Bull in the future; he fought well and hard, and also kept a level, calm head when arguing why he shouldn’t have to give his place up to Piastri.
By lap 18, the race amped up in excitement by another notch. Sainz was in DRS range against Norris; with his teammate closely trailed in DRS range too. It was a question of who could manage their tyres and avoid any costly mistakes.
Unfortunately, it was Norris who cracked under pressure, locking up on the final lap, giving his old teammate the chance to overtake him. Norris and Leclerc nearly took each other out on the run down to turn 15, but just managed to hang on to their respective positions to finish third and fourth respectively.
Surprisingly, both Haas drivers finished in the top eight, behind Russell and Hamilton, giving the team some much-needed points. Elsewhere, Perez, Piastri, and Tsunoda finished ninth, tenth, and 11th, respectively.
During the post-race interviews, Sainz mentioned that he “enjoyed the exciting sprint;” it was indeed action-packed and thrilling for sure!
Verstappen too appeared pleased during the interviews saying he is back where he wants to be, having won 11 out of 16 sprint races in Formula One so far, including four sprints out of four in 2024.
Formula One will be back around the Circuit of the Americas for qualifying later on Saturday, at 17:00 track time (23:00 BST). Do make sure you tune in to what is set to be another exciting session!
Comments