United States GP: Max Verstappen has only Hamilton to fear in American sprint race

In contrast to the spectacular display in Qatar, the sprint race did not produce an unexpected winner. Immediately after the start, Max Verstappen (Red Bull Racing) closed the door on relentless challenger Charles Leclerc (Ferrari), who lost second place to Mercedes driver Lewis Hamilton. And a good thing for tension, as the British record champion came dangerously close to the leader in the early stages.

There was no attack, so the top 3 spots in the American sprint race were fixed. Charles Leclerc moved into third, but will be mainly concerned about the pace of Red Bull, Mercedes and McLaren, who will start chasing tomorrow immediately. After all, Ferrari’s Monaco starts from pole position.

His team-mate Spaniard Carlos Sainz was the only one to gamble on the red, soft tire instead of opting for medium tyres. Initially he followed Leclerc, but backlash was inevitable. Lando Norris (McLaren) and Sergio Perez (Red Bull Racing) both passed the red car. George Russell was stuck behind the Ferrari and lost a position to Pierre Gasly (Alpine) due to a time penalty.

You don’t have to lose sleep over the Grand Prix. The match starts tomorrow at 9 PM.

Sprint Race F1 Grand Prix of America 2023 Result

#	Rider	group	As a result
1.	Max Verstappen	Red Bull Racing	31:30,849
2.	Lewis Hamilton	Mercedes-AMG F1 Team	+9.465s
3.	Charles Leclerc	Scuderia Ferrari	+17.987s
4.	Lando Norris	McLaren F1 Team	+18.863s
5.	Sergio Perez	Red Bull Racing	+22.928s
6.	Carlos Sainz Jr	Scuderia Ferrari	+28.307s
7.	Pierre Casely	Alpine F1 group	+32403s
8.	George Russell	Mercedes-AMG F1 Team	+34.250s
9.	Alexander Alban	Williams Racing	+34.567s
10.	Oscar Piastre	McLaren F1 Team	+42,403s
11.	Esteban Ocon	Alpine F1 group	+44.986s
12.	Daniel Ricciardo	Scuderia Alpha Tauri	+45.509s
13.	Fernando Alonso	Aston Martin F1 Team	+49.086s
14.	Yuki Tsunoda	Scuderia Alpha Tauri	+49.733s
15.	Nico Hulkenberg	Haas F1 Team	+56.650s
16.	Valtteri Bottas	Alfa Romeo F1 Team	+64.401s
17.	Zhou Guangyu	Alfa Romeo F1 Team	+67.972s
18.	Kevin Magnussen	Haas F1 Team	+71.122s
19.	Logan Sgt	Williams Racing	+71.449s
20	Lance walks	Aston Martin F1 Team	Tnf

Photo: Georges de Coster