Verstappen and Leclerc came close at the start as the former defended his position into Turn 1. But, once he did, he pulled away from his rivals to take his third Sprint victory of the season. Hamilton overtook Leclerc on the exit of Turn 1 at the start, and while he stayed within DRS range of Verstappen early on, he had to settle for second, with Leclerc holding off Lando Norris at the end to take the final spot in the top three.
Except Carlos Sainz, all drivers had chose to start the race on Medium compound. The Ferrari driver ended up making contact with McLaren’s Oscar Piastri at the start, while the Spaniard managed to overtake Norris. George Russell made up for his three-place grid drop to go from 11th to eighth right behind Perez in seventh.
How Lenovo made the world’s first Kiss Activated F1 trophy | TOI Auto
Here are all the point scorers at the 2023 F1 United States Grand Prix Sprint –
1. Max Verstappen (Red Bull) 31:30.849
2. Lewis Hamilton (Mercedes)
3. Charles Leclerc Ferrari
4. Lando Norris (McLaren)
5. Sergio Perez (Red Bull)
6. Carlos Sainz (Ferrari)
7. Pierre Gasly (Alpine)
8. George Russell (Mercedes)
As the chequered flag arrived, Verstappen crossed the line to take his third Sprint victory of the season, with Hamilton in second – his best finish in the Sprint since Silverstone in 2021 – almost 10s behind the Red Bull driver. Leclerc held off the late challenge of Norris to take third with the McLaren driver made to settle for fourth ahead of Perez. Sainz kept Russell at bay for sixth, while Gasly crossed the line in eighth, but moved up to seventh once the Briton’s penalty kicked in.
Stay tuned to TOI Auto for the 2023 F1 United States GP race report tomorrow.