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Anyone labouring under the impression that it was still a two-horse race for this year’s title, between the two McLaren drivers can put that idea firmly to bed. A perfect, star-spangled weekend for Max Verstappen ended with the Dutchman claiming a dominant win in the United States Grand Prix, to go with his sprint race victory the previous day.
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What a run-in we have in store. With Lando Norris eventually claiming second place, passing Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc in the final laps, it ended up being a decent weekend for the Briton, at least relative to his team-mate Oscar Piastri, who finished fifth and still looks out of sorts. Norris now lies just 14 points behind the Australian.
But it is Verstappen who has all the momentum heading to Mexico next weekend. The Dutchman’s deficit, which once stood north of 100 points, is now down to just 40. He is closing fast.
This fifth win of the season was his simplest yet, from lights to chequered flag.
With five races of the season still remaining, plus two sprints in Brazil and Qatar, there are more than enough opportunities for Verstappen to hunt down both McLarens and claim what would be a truly extraordinary title, given all the shenanigans at Red Bull this year.
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McLaren may need to review their Papaya Rules – the so-called code by which they go racing and which is scrupulously fair to both drivers. There is bound to be a lot of chat about that this week. The only man benefiting from them right now is Verstappen. The Dutchman currently looks as if he can win anywhere. Red Bull have unlocked something in the latter part of the season and he is flying.
Verstappen is closing fast on his rivals and appears in contention for what would be a truly extraordinary title victory – Getty Images/Mark Thompson
Until recently McLaren have been telling everyone that it was simply track characteristics in Baku, Monza and Singapore which had seen Red Bull come back at them. But here we were at a normal circuit, with a big mix of corners and McLaren still had nowhere near the pace they had earlier in the season.
At least both McLarens finished this time. Their sprint race collision was not repeated, but it probably did cost them again, putting McLaren at a disadvantage because they did not have the data on plank wear and were not able to be as aggressive as they might have liked on set-up.
Norris again had trouble at the start, finding himself boxed in at turn one, allowing Leclerc, the only driver in the top 10 to start on the soft tyres, to go around the outside of him. It proved incredibly costly.
Although Norris was swiftly on Leclerc’s gearbox, he was unable to get past the Monegasque until lap 21, repeatedly trying and failing and damaging his tyres in the process. It cost him any chance of challenging Verstappen at the front. “Finally, finally,” Norris said afterwards. “It took long enough. It was a tough battle. He fought hard.”
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Norris then had to do it all over again after pitting on to soft tyres for his second stint, Leclerc having stopped earlier to switch to mediums.
Verstappen, meanwhile, was able to pull away at the front in clean air, extending his advantage to around 11 seconds at the first pit stop and coasting to the win. He claimed afterwards that his advantage was not as big as all that, and that Norris might have challenged him had he not got stuck behind Leclerc. But we will never know now. One suspects Verstappen probably had more in hand had he needed it.
There is no doubt he has the scent of blood in his nostrils now. And it is Piastri who is bleeding the most. The Australian was calmness personified in the first half of the season, barely putting a wheel out of place. Now the errors are stacking up and he has been slower than his team-mate for a few weekends now. Third in Italy, DNF in Azerbaijan, fourth in Singapore and now fifth in Austin. He finished 22 seconds behind Norris on Sunday, unable to pass the second Ferrari of Lewis Hamilton and only just in front of Mercedes’s George Russell, who summed up the Australian’s predicament rather bluntly in-race: “Piastri seems slow.”
It all puts McLaren in a tricky position. With Verstappen rapidly closing the gap, do they go all in on their lead driver despite the fact that he now seems to be slower?
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Verstappen does not have to worry about any of that. After the race finished he went as close as he has all season to declaring himself in title contention.
“It was an unbelievable weekend for us,” the Red Bull driver said. “I knew that the race was not going to be super-straightforward. I think just in that first stint we made a little bit of a difference.
“If you look at the whole race it was really close between Lando and myself, but I was able to eke out an advantage in that first stint [when he was fighting Leclerc].”
And the title? “Yeah for sure the chance is there. We just need to keep trying to deliver these weekends until the end. It’s exciting.”
10:15pm
Verstappen closes up…
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In the last five rounds Verstappen has taken 57 points out of Piastri’s advantage (at an average of more than 11 per round) and 62 from Norris at more than 12 per round. If he continues that then he will become champion in Abu Dhabi.
10:08pm
The next race…
…is in Mexico and is next week. Full session times for that here.
Friday, October 24
FP1 – 7.30pm BST
FP2 – 11pm
Saturday, October 25
FP3 – 6.30pm
Qualifying – 10pm
Sunday, October 26
Race – 8pm GMT
10:02pm
Updated constructor standings
A good weekend for Ferrari, as they are just seven points behind Mercedes.
09:54pm
Updated driver standings
14 points between Norris and Piastri. Piastri’s form has fallen… third in Italy, DNF in Azerbaijan, fourth in Singapore and now fifth in Austin. Verstappen now 40 points behind Piastri and within 26 of Norris. Five races and two sprints to go. The fight is on.
09:52pm
Leclerc on a strong podium
“I kind of knew that it was a bit of a risky move. What I had in my was to use the soft to get free air. I am very happy overall because it’s been a tough second part of the year but to be on the podium here… I’m very happy.”
09:51pm
Norris on a decent second
“It was a good battle with Charles, he fought hard. I thought we had it in an easier way when we got ahead. I expected a slightly easier second attempt to get through. I had to take second, not a lot more we could have done today. Out the box when the tyres are the freshest, then you want to push… but it’s also when the tyres get the hottest. I backed off quite a bit for a few laps, went again and it worked.”
09:49pm
Verstappen reacts
“Unbelievable weekend for us. I knew that the race was not going to be super-straightforward. I think just in that first stint we made a little bit of a difference.”
He says he thinks the McLaren’s pace, or Norris’s, matched theirs. Probably fair.
09:40pm
United States Grand Prix – Top 10
09:38pm
🏁MAX VERSTAPPEN WINS THE 2025 UNITED STATES GRAND PRIX
Sprint pole, sprint win, grand prix pole, grand prix win. Superb stuff.
Reuters/John Locher
A very slow lap from Hamilton means Piastri gains 4.1sec on the final lap… but not enough to get fourth. He thinks he had a puncture.
09:38pm
FINAL LAP
Unlikely to be any further changes of position.
09:37pm
Lap 55 of 56 – Verstappen losing time among lapping cars
He will still win by five or six seconds, though. Norris now nearly six seconds ahead of Leclerc and is on his way to cutting Piastri’s lead to 14 points. Verstappen, meanwhile, will be 40 points behind Piastri… it’s a three-way battle now, no doubt.
09:36pm
Lap 54 of 56 – Strange goings on at Alpine
Franco Colapinto looks faster than Pierre Gasly but is told to hold position. Why? They are in 17th and 18th. I know they won’t want any damage but Bortoleto is on Colapinto’s rear wing. He gets the move done, though, at turn one. And why not? He’s fighting for his future in F1 and at this team.
09:34pm
Lap 53 of 56 – Verstappen cruising to victory
He is in red-hot form at the moment and the Red Bull is there beneath him. Tsunoda obviously miles behind but that he is in the top eight is something that shows how improved the RB21 is.
Getty Images/Rudy Carezzevoli
09:32pm
Lap 52 of 56 – Top 10 and gaps
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Norris builds a bit of a gap to Leclerc.
09:30pm
Lap 51 of 56 – Norris sends it into turn one!
A long way back but Leclerc makes the instant switchback work and takes the place back. Not that he ever really lost it…
They battle through on the back straight and he is very close and has DRS. Surely a move comes here…
Leclerc moves to the middle of the track but Norris dives up the inside and gets the move done at turn 12!
Superb stuff from Norris. That could be crucial in the championship… if he can hold Leclerc at bay.
09:29pm
Lap 50 of 56 – Leclerc has a lot of battery power to deploy
Norris is using his… it only takes one small mistake, though. Russell has stopped making ground on Piastri.
09:27pm
Lap 49 of 56 – Verstappen leads Leclerc by 7.7sec
Norris now within DRS range of Leclerc on the main straight…
09:26pm
Lap 48 of 56 – Norris on a charge
Perhaps he cooled his tyres down a bit and is now charging. Another 0.8sec out of Leclerc… OK. Will he get a chance? He will be in DRS range soon. Whatever happens, it’s been a good race from Piastri.
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Russell closing in on Piastri, too.
09:25pm
Lap 47 of 56 – Norris finds pace
Another half a second out of Leclerc’s advantage, which is now down to 1.7sec.
Shutterstock/Dutin Safranek
09:24pm
Lap 46 of 56 – Verstappen leads Leclerc by 6.6sec
That has been stable for quite a while now. Norris 2.1sec behind Leclerc and doesn’t look to have the pace to get past Leclerc, though he was 0.5sec faster than the Ferrari…
09:21pm
Lap 45 of 56 – I think the top 10 will stay like this
Russell doesn’t appear to have the pace to catch Piastri. That said, Alonso is under pressure from Lawson for 10th and the final point. Norris is given the jee-up from his race engineer.
09:19pm
Lap 44 of 56 – Top 10
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A poor weekend for Mercedes. The pace not in the car, it seems. Ferrari looking strong, though. Well, relatively anyway.
09:18pm
Lap 43 of 56 – Norris on the radio…
Not a positive message.
“I’m just slow. I just don’t have the grip to run him close.”
09:18pm
Lap 42 of 56 – Verstappen leads Leclerc by 7.0sec
The race looks under control. Norris has dropped back to 2.4sec behind Leclerc now. Hamilton a further 8.8sec back and Piastri 7.3sec behind him. Not the best and most action-packed race, this one.
09:15pm
Lap 41 of 56 – Verstappen’s lead is stable at 6.7sec
Norris, though, has dropped back from the rear wing og the Ferrari. 1.7sec behind it, in fact. Hmmm. Is that the end of his hopes of second? Perhaps…
09:12pm
Lap 40 of 56 – A sub-standard weekend from Piastri
He is two positions and five points behind Norris but is 16 seconds behind. A strangely distant weekend more reminiscent of 2023 and 2024.
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He will still lead the championship if it stays like this but could do with turning things around a little.
Norris says his tyres have gone. Already? Seven laps old but they also had six laps from qualifying on them. Leclerc on mediums, which are more durable. Norris could do with second. Antonelli gets a black and white flag for track limits.
09:10pm
Lap 39 of 56 – Top 10 and gaps
09:09pm
Lap 38 of 56 – Verstappen leads Leclerc by 6.8sec
Norris has decent pace. Hamilton has the best pace of anyone at the moment. Norris edges ever closer to Leclerc in second.
09:08pm
Lap 37 of 56 – Norris now within DRS range
Again, he has a black and white flag so cannot afford to leave the track limits otherwise he will receive a five-second time penalty. That could ruin his race. Though he might have the pace to stretch a five-second gap to Leclerc.
Getty Images/Clive Rose
09:06pm
Lap 36 of 56 – Verstappen leads Leclerc by 6.9sec
Norris a further 1.1sec behind him with Hamilton 8.2sec adrift of the lead McLaren. It’s then Piastri five seconds behind him by five seconds and Russell on fresher tyres three seconds behind the Australian. The race could come together in the closing stages.
09:04pm
Lap 35 of 56 – Bearman spins
Tussling with Tsunoda for eighth, cuts across the corner and then the rear goes around. He says Tsunoda moved under braking and he is correct. He is down to ninth on dirty tyres now. Hulkenberg moves up into eighth.
Norris making good inroads into Leclerc, having been 0.8sec faster on the most recent lap. Verstappen 6.7sec ahead. This race isn’t quite over yet. But Norris will have to get past Leclerc a little more immediately this time.
09:02pm
Lap 34 of 56 – Will Piastri get out ahead of Russell?
Yes. Five seconds ahead. Everyone has now stopped so here is the new top 10 and gaps.
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09:00pm
Lap 33 of 56 – Norris comes into the pits
Switches onto the soft tyres. It’s another slow stop… 3.8sec, so will almost certainly come out behind Leclerc and Russell. Russell has not stopped, though.
4.3secs behind the Ferrari is Norris. Don’t forget he also is on a black and white flag for track limits. He locked up at turn 12 on his in-lap but at least managed to stay on the black stuff.
In comes Verstappen from the lead. 2.6sec and he comes out in the lead. Again.
08:58pm
Lap 32 of 56 – Verstappen leads Norris by 9.8sec
Good lap times by Norris. In comes Hamilton…
Getty Images/Mark Thompson
08:56pm
Lap 31 of 56 – Piastri comes in…
Russell stays out. 2.3sec the stop for the McLaren driver. Norris gets Verstappen’s lead down to within 10 seconds with another good lap. He would probably come out behind Leclerc were he to stop now.
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Piastri goes onto the soft tyres.
08:54pm
Lap 30 of 56 – Top 10 and gaps
08:54pm
Lap 29 of 56 – Piastri on the radio
He is asked whether softs from here might work? He says “difficult from here”. So on they go. Another 0.356sec gone from Verstappen’s lead, which is now down to 10.1sec…
08:52pm
Lap 28 of 56 – Norris eats into Verstappen’s lead
0.344sec that last time around to get it down to 10.7sec. I don’t think he is winning this race, though, as it stands. Leclerc nearly within DRS range of Bearman and with good pace on fresh medium tyres. Hamilton told to lift and coast… we’ve heard that before.
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Verstappen told to extend for as long as possible to look at an alternative strategy. Alternative to what, we do not know exactly.
08:50pm
Lap 27 of 56 – Norris now the fastest man on track
0.026sec faster than leader Verstappen last time around. Do that another 10 times and the gap is down to 8.2sec…
Verstappen says his tyres are “becoming tricky”.
08:48pm
Lap 26 of 56 – Pit window approaching for front-runners
As it stands Norris is taking eight points out of Piastri’s lead to leave it at 14. Verstappen taking seven from Norris and 13 from Piastri…
08:47pm
Lap 25 of 56 – Top 10
Leclerc the only one to pit so far. Verstappen’s lead is now 11.1sec.
08:46pm
Lap 24 of 56 – No great battles out there at the moment
Gaps throughout the field. Hamilton’s pace is not great compared to the top two. Neither is Piastri’s who has Russell coming back at him.
08:44pm
Lap 23 of 56 – Norris not quite on Verstappen’s pace
Leclerc has emerged from his pit stop in ninth ahead of Alonso but behind eighth-placed Nico Hulkenberg.
08:41pm
Lap 22 of 56 – Verstappen leads Norris by 10.8sec
What is the McLaren’s pace like in clean air?
Reuters/Mike Segar
Now Hamilton is coming at Leclerc and they almost touch! Leclerc told to box, though. That little squabble has allowed Norris to move three seconds ahead of them.
08:40pm
Lap 21 of 56 – Norris close to Leclerc again
Norris is so close on exit of turn 11. He will get DRS and surely get back second place this time? He gets alongside in the braking zone and makes the move stick. Norris up into second! Verstappen 10.5sec further ahead…
08:39pm
Lap 20 of 56 – Norris close…
…but not close enough. Piastri is in fifth but is six seconds behind Norris.
08:38pm
Lap 19 of 56 – Norris frustrated still
He tries a move at the hairpin but Leclerc is having none of it at all. The battle continues with the sweepers and Norris goes off track. Was he run off? Slightly. It’s a third track-limit warning as Verstappen extends his lead to nine seconds.
Getty Images/Jared C. Tilton
08:35pm
Lap 18 of 56 – Top 10 and gaps
08:34pm
Lap 17 of 56 – Verstappen checking out up front
He now leads Leclerc by 7.3sec. Norris needs to get through Leclerc quickly if he is to have any realistic chance of winning this race.
08:32pm
Lap 16 of 56 – Norris gets a second track limits warning
A time penalty will come if he keeps doing that. He drops back a bit from Leclerc and Hamilton edges slightly closer, though not quite within DRS range. Russell nearly tries a move on Piastri at the T12 hairpin but backs out. It would have been from a long way back.
08:31pm
Lap 15 of 56 – Norris closer than ever to Leclerc
Norris sticks to Leclerc in the first part of the lap. Will he be close enough into turn 12 at the end of the straight? He might be… tries the outside line which doesn’t work but then goes inside for the next corner… that doesn’t work. Leclerc is having to drive a very wide car and Norris is not in the mood for taking a risk. Wise.
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Are the Ferrari’s soft tyres going off a bit? Surely by now.
08:29pm
Lap 14 of 56 – Norris closer than ever to Leclerc
He is pushing and will have a good chance down the pit straight this time…
08:27pm
Lap 13 of 56 – Order outside the top 10
It’s Lawson in 11th and then Gasly, Bortoleto, Stroll, Colapinto, Ocon, Hadjar, Antonelli and Albon. Sainz the only retirement so far.
“Piastri seems slow,” Russell says on the radio.
08:26pm
Lap 12 of 56 – Verstappen looking comfortable
4.1sec is the lead now as Norris gets nearly into within DRS range of Leclerc for second. Norris just has to try to maximise his points here. Don’t worry too much about the win.
Reuters/Mike Segar
08:23pm
Lap 11 of 56 – Top 10 and gaps
08:21pm
Lap 10 of 56 – Verstappen leads Leclerc by 2.8sec
Norris should be more concerned with Hamilton behind than Leclerc in front at the moment. Piastri says he’s concerned about the front-left tyre…
08:20pm
Lap 9 of 56 – VSC ends
It has not worked out for Norris, who resumes racing a couple of seconds behind Leclerc. He was right behind him before. The VSC.
08:18pm
Lap 8 of 56 – VSC
Albon stops and goes onto fresh medium tyres. He is the only driver to have stopped under the VSC. So far.
08:17pm
Lap 7 of 56 – Antonelli has hit someone…
🟨Sainz has stopped by the side of the track so it must have been those two. We get a Virtual Safety Car for now. Sainz has stopped near the pit-lane entry…
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Here’s the top 10 as it stands:
💥Antonelli chopped across the front of Sainz who tried one up the inside and the pair collided. Optimistic from Sainz at turn 15. Optimistic in the extreme. “Antonelli just turned in at the end,” Sainz says on the radio. Well, there is a corner there and drivers tend to do that. Antonelli had the corner in my opinion.
08:14pm
Lap 6 of 56 – Verstappen leads Leclerc by 2.8sec
Norris has dropped out of DRS range of Leclerc for second… Piastri trying to close up on Hamilton for fourth.
08:12pm
Lap 5 of 56 – Norris cannot get past Leclerc
Hamilton trying to get past the lead McLaren in turn.
08:11pm
Lap 4 of 56 – Leclerc dropping back massively
3.3sec behind Verstappen now…
08:09pm
Lap 3 of 56 – Piastri under pressure from Russell
DRS enbled… Norris is coming back at Leclerc but needs to be patient. He looks to have better grip on this lap. They enter the section of sweeping corners at the end of the lap but he just becomes a bit detached as they round the final corner…
08:07pm
Lap 2 of 56 – Verstappen leads Leclerc by 1.7sec
Here’s the top 10 after the first lap…
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Albon is still going round and hasn’t gone into the pit lane so I assume he just ran wide/off. Reports coming in that he collided with Bortoleto.
08:06pm
🔴🔴🔴🔴🔴 The US GP is go!
Five red lights out and they are away!
It’s a good start from Verstappen who keeps his lead. Norris isn’t close enough to have a look really and tries to fend off Leclerc on the soft tyres but fails and slips back to third. Piastri up to fifth ahead of Russell so just Hamilton between the two McLarens.
🟨Yellow flags for some reason… Albon is going slowly at the back. Did he run off? Haven’t been able to see any replays of it.
08:01pm
The formation lap is go
Everyone away cleanly.
08:00pm
Starting tyre types
Mediums for all of the top 15 apart from Leclerc, on the softs. Then it’s Bortoleto and Stroll on softs, Ocon, Albon and Hadjar on hards.
07:58pm
Eyes on the prize…
Getty Images/Kym Illman
Verstappen is the man to beat, starting on pole, but can the Red Bull look after its tyres as well as the McLaren?
07:54pm
Possible strategies
Could be medium-hard, soft-medium-medium, soft-medium-soft, medium-soft. But let’s see. I think we will see a good range of them.
07:50pm
US GP – final starting grid
2. NOR 1. VER
4. RUS 3. LEC
6. PIA 5. HAM
8. BEA 7. ANT
10. ALO 9. SAI
12. LAW 11. HUL
14. GAS 13. TSU
16. BOR 15. COL
18. ALB 17. OCO
20. HAD 19. STR
07:47pm
Lando Norris speaks to Sky Sports
“I feel good, after yesterday we didn’t have the best pace but today is a different day. I’m hoping, praying a little bit that it suits us more than others.”
07:41pm
Zak Brown of McLaren speaks to Sky
“I think we can, it’s not going to be easy. I think we’ve got good race pace, hopefully, we’ll see how the strategy plays out. Don’t know if it’s going to be a one or two stop race. We just need to get through turn one and maybe [wait] for the race to come to us a bit.”
07:38pm
Actor Glen Powell is doing the grid walk with Martin Brundle
Not sure I am a fan of it. Anyway, Powell is “getting the badge in”. Twice.
07:36pm
Constructor standings
Title already done and dusted for McLaren.
07:31pm
Your track for today
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Will we see a fight into turn one? It’s always a possibility.
07:23pm
Current F1 driver standings – Top 10
Piastri very much looking in his rear-view mirrors.
07:17pm
The moment both McLaren drivers crashed out of the sprint
No points for either of them and eight for Verstappen. Really, Piastri just needs to finish behind Verstappen and he will be fine. But he is not doing a very good job of that at the moment and is in danger of losing ground to Norris, too.
07:15pm
Wonder what these two are talking about?
Things are definitely on the up at Red Bull and Laurent Mekies obviously deserves credit for that.
AP/Nick Didlick
07:06pm
Remaining races in 2025
The season will draw to a close in the next two months. It looked like we were guaranteed a new champion but Max Verstappen might have something to say about that…
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19 Oct – United States Grand Prix*
27 Oct – Mexico City Grand Prix
9 Nov – Sao Paulo Grand Prix*
22/23 Nov – Las Vegas Grand Prix
30 Nov – Qatar Grand Prix*
7 Dec – Abu Dhabi Grand Prix
*denotes sprint race
07:02pm
US GP qualifying results
Decent results for Bearman and Sainz. Albon had a shocker… had a lap time deleted. Looked like making it through to Q3 without that.
06:53pm
Some news…
Good news. A great track and a great place for a race. It’s hard to remember that F1 struggled for so long to make a lasting impression in America.
06:50pm
Good evening
Welcome to our live coverage for the 2025 United States Grand Prix from the Circuit of the Americas, or Cota, in Austin. Yesterday’s qualifying session (and the sprint race that came before it) underlined Red Bull’s resurgence, in the hands of Max Verstappen at least. Sprint victory followed sprint pole and then later in the day came the real thing: fastest in qualifying for today’s main event and by some margin: nearly three tenths of a second ahead of McLaren’s Lando Norris.
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The question keeps coming up: is Verstappen a championship threat to the two McLaren drivers? The answer has to be yes. That is not to say he is anything but a distant third when it comes to the favourites but after the McLaren drivers eliminated each other in the sprint, the gaps are now 55 points to Oscar Piastri and 33 to Norris. That is a lot to recover, but the Red Bull RB21 now appears to be a far stronger all-round proposition than it was before the summer break.
Max Verstappen is on pole and on form – Getty Images/Anadolu
Still, this race presents Norris with a potential opportunity to close the gap on his team-mate. he has been doing that since his DNF in Zandvoort, but it has been in small bites rather than big chunks. Piastri struggled throughout qualifying and ended up sixth, four places behind Norris on the front row. If they finish where they start today’s race then Piastri’s lead will be cut to just 12 points with five rounds remaining. That is a small margin.
Whilst Piastri looked so assured in the first half of the season he has struggled with mistakes large and small in the last couple of months as the chasing pack appear to have caught up with the MCL39, which was at one point comfortably the class in the field. This track usually produces good racing and action, so let’s hope we get that again. Lights out in just over an hour.
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