Red Bull’s Max Verstappen took victory in the sprint race at the United States Grand Prix ahead of Lewis Hamilton and Charles Leclerc. The Ferrari driver’s determination to challenge Verstappen for the lead at the start ended up costing him. Verstappen forced Leclerc tight to the inside, with a move on the margins of acceptability, and that compromised the Ferrari’s entry to Turn One and allowed Hamilton to pass as they exited the corner down the hill towards Turn Two and the high-speed Esses. Verstappen said: “It was quite tight (at Turn One) but luckily there is a lot of space so that helps. After that, we could do our own pace and I had a bit of fun at the end pushing a bit more.”. Verstappen has qualified only sixth for Sunday’s grand prix after having a pole position lap deleted for exceeding track limits but said on Friday that his lower starting position might make the race more fun. Verstappen said: “Starting P6 is a bit different to today but it makes it more interesting and hopefully we can make a few overtakes and get the win.”. Hamilton was much faster than Leclerc, who in turn had for much of the race a comfortable advantage over his pursuers.

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