Austin (US), Oct 20: Red Bull’s Max Verstappen raced to his third victory in four races at the Formula 1 United States Grand Prix, while McLaren’s Lando Norris took a huge chunk out of teammate Oscar Piastri’s championship lead by finishing second.
Piastri was a distant fifth on Sunday, allowing Norris to pull within 14 points with five grand prix and two sprint races to go.
Verstappen also is closing fast with his late-season charge. Verstappen now trails Piastri by 40 points, and Norris by 26, in third place, and has put the McClarens on notice he intends to chase them all the way to the end of the season.
Piastri and Norris are trying to win their first career drivers championship. Verstappen is hunting his fifth in a row, and his dominant form of late has given him a real chance to get it. He also won the sprint race Saturday after the two McLarens ran into each other on the first turn and crashed out.
“It was an unbelievable weekend for us,” Verstappen said.
“The chance is there. We just need to try to deliver these kind of weekends until the end.”
Norris’ late pass of Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc for second earned the British driver a crucial position and points as he chases Piastri and hopes to hold off Verstappen over the final stretch of the season.
Verstappen started on the pole Sunday at the Circuit of the Americas and was never challenged for the lead in collecting his 68th career victory, and fourth in five years in Austin. The Dutch driver built a 10-second lead by the halfway point as Norris and Leclerc drove a furious battle for second.
“It was a good battle with Charles. He fought hard,” Norris said.
“We’ll have to take second. No more we could have done today.”
Piastri in slump as lead shrinks
Piastri’s day never got going. The Australian started sixth and quickly made up a spot in the first few corners but was stuck there for the rest of the race.
Piastri’s lead is rapidly shrinking under pressure. He hasn’t won since the Dutch Grand Prix on Aug. 31 and hasn’t finished on the podium the last three races.
“I’d still rather be where I am than the other two, but obviously this weekend was not what I wanted or expected,” Piastri said.
The series next heads to Mexico City, where Verstappen has five career victories at the Autodromo Hermanos Rodriguez.
“I think we need to be perfect until the end to have chance,” to win the championship, Verstappen said.
“We’ve caught up a lot. At the same time, the gaps (between cars) are very small.”
Ferrari’s hard fight to the podium
Ferrari is still winless on the season, but the team showed flashes with its 3-4 finish from Leclerc and Lewis Hamilton.
And it came a day after Ferrari Chairman John Elkann issued a statement saying he has “full confidence” in team principal Fred Vasseur amid persistent speculation that former Red Bull racing boss Christian Horner could take his job.
“I’m very happy,” Leclerc said.
“It was good day, especially considering the situation. The second part of the season hasn’t been easy. There are completely unfounded noise and rumours around the team. To demonstrate we can stay focused on the job and be rewarded with a podium is really nice.” (AP)
