Verstappen Dominates 2025 US GP

Red Bull’s Max Verstappen dominated the 2025 United States Grand Prix to further cut his title deficit.

Verstappen led from lights to flag for his seventh victory of the season across sprints and Grands Prix as Lando Norris twice passed Charles Leclerc for second in a race-long scrap, which was ultimately settled on lap 51 into turn 12.

Lewis Hamilton, Oscar Piastri, George Russell, Yuki Tsunoda, Nico Hulkenberg, Oliver Bearman and Fernando Alonso rounded out the top ten.

In the drivers’ standings, Piastri’s title lead over Norris was trimmed to 14 points, whilst Verstappen’s win saw him cut his gap to Piastri down to 40 points.

Across in the constructors, McLaren are already champions but behind the Papaya, Mercedes sit second ahead of Ferrari and Red Bull with the latter trio now split by just ten points.

At lights out, Verstappen made a clean start but Leclerc opted to start on three-laps old soft tyres which allowed him to sweep round the outside of the first corner to pass Norris for second, who had opted for medium tyres unlike the Ferrari driver.

Piastri meanwhile cleared Russell for fifth as further back, Sauber’s Gabriel Bortoleto spun Williams’ Alex Albon at turn 12.

Tsunoda meanwhile leapt from 13th to tenth on the opening lap before he passed Bearman on lap 3 for ninth after the Brit had been passed by Williams’ Carlos Sainz a lap earlier.

Sainz’s race however ended on lap 6 after he dived up the inside of Mercedes’ Andrea Kimi Antonelli at turn 15, only for the Italian’s front left tyre to make contact which sent the Mercedes spinning whilst Sainz suffered race-ending right suspension damage.

The Virtual Safety Car consequently was deployed for two laps whilst Sainz’s car was removed and debris removed from the track.

Post-race, stewards adjudged Sainz as the driver at fault for their collision despite the fact that he successfully made the same manoeuvre on Bearman on lap 2, with the Spaniard having subsequently accused Antonelli of having “closed the door more abruptly” than he had anticipated.

Up front, Verstappen comfortably controlled the race out in front whilst Leclerc mounted a resilient defensive drive to keep Norris at bay, yet Norris managed to eventually clear the Monegasque with the aid of DRS into turn 12 on lap 21 for second.

Leclerc in response pitted on lap 23 for medium tyres but Norris stayed out until he made his stop at the start of lap 33, which saw him re-join on the soft tyre behind Leclerc.

Further back once the frontrunners all pitted, Tsunoda erratically made a late-braking move at turn 14 on lap 34 which forced Bearman wide over the inside gravel, and left the Brit spinning across turn 15 and he soon lost eighth to Hulkenberg as he cleaned his dirty tyres.

Up front, Verstappen cruised to his seventh win of the season across sprints and Grands Prix ahead of Norris who opted to save his tyre after an initial attack, in a move which saw him snatch second from Leclerc with an inside move into turn 12 on lap 51.

F1 now head to Mexico for the 2025 Mexico City GP next weekend across 24-26 October as the season continues to approach its conclusion.

Position	Driver	Team	Laps	Time
1	Max Verstappen	Red Bull	56	1h 34m 00.161
2	Lando Norris	McLaren	56	+ 7.959
3	Charles Leclerc	Ferrari	56	+ 15.373
4	Lewis Hamilton	Ferrari	56	+ 28.536
5	Oscar Piastri	McLaren	56	+ 29.679
6	George Russell	Mercedes	56	+ 33.456
7	Yuki Tsunoda	Red Bull	56	+ 52.714
8	Nico Hulkenberg	Sauber	56	+ 57.249
9	Oliver Bearman	Haas	56	+ 64.722
10	Fernando Alonso	Aston Martin	56	+ 70.001
11	Liam Lawson	Racing Bulls	56	+ 73.209
12	Lance Stroll	Aston Martin	56	+ 74.778
13	Andrea Kimi Antonelli	Mercedes	56	+ 75.746
14	Alex Albon	Williams	56	+ 80.000
15	Esteban Ocon	Haas	56	+ 83.043
16	Isack Hadjar	Racing Bulls	56	+ 92.807
17	Franco Colapinto	Alpine	55	+ 1 Lap
18	Pierre Gasly	Alpine	55	+ 1 Lap
19	Gabriel Bortoleto	Sauber	55	+ 1 Lap
RET	Carlos Sainz	Williams	5	Suspension