#F1: @Max33Verstappen cruises to 68th-career victory at #USGP. #UnitedStatesGP

Verstappen US GP Victory – Reigning world champion Max Verstappen cruised to victory at the US GP to complete a solid weekend in Texas ahead of McLaren’s Lando Norris who came home second to make in-roads into team-mate Oscar Piastri’s championship lead as Charles Leclerc completed the top three for Ferrari.

 

 

Verstappen led comfortably from start-to-finish to take his 68^th-career win and closes in to 40 points behind championship leader Piastri in the World Drivers’ Championship standings and 26 behind Norris.

 

Norris is now only 14 points behind Piastri as the Formula 1 circus heads to the Autodromo Hermanos Rodriguez next weekend.

 

When the 56-lap US GP began, pole-sitter Verstappen got a brilliant getaway into turn one to cover Norris as Leclerc was feisty. he ran very wide into the opening corner and he gets Norris. Behind them, Piastri was quick off the line and managed to squeeze between Russell and Hamilton – which was a brave move. He overtook Russell but had to yield to Hamilton who had the racing line.

 

The beginning of the second tour saw Verstappen’s lead at 1.581 seconds over Leclerc with Norris third, Hamilton fourth, Piastri up into fifth, Russell and Antonelli in sixth and seventh respectively, Bearman eighth as Sainz and Tsunoda completing the top ten runners.

 

Sainz made his way around Bearman at turn 15 to jump into eighth place whilst Yuki Tsunoda on the main-straight also made his way by the Haas driver to take ninth place.

 

On the opening tour, Williams’ Alexander Albon was tagged into a spin by Aston Martin’s Lance Stroll at the start causing the double-waved yellow.

 

The fifth lap saw Verstappen’s lead at 3.550 seconds over second-placed Leclerc (the soft tyre starter) who was having Norris and Hamilton right behind for company.

 

The McLaren looked fast in race trim. Norris needed to find a way past Leclerc, or risk overheating his medium tyres. The gap was at half-a-second, and they were losing sight of Verstappen as a result of this battle.

 

The Dutchman has over three seconds ahead of the field.

 

Piastri was having Russell behind for company in the fight for fifth as the latter almost clipped the McLaren.

 

Replays showed Mercedes’ Antonelli suffer a spin at turn 15 after being tagged by Williams’ Carlos Sainz who was trying to find his way ahead of the Silver Arrow as the virtual safety car was deployed.

 

Albon got rid of his harder tyres and bolted on a set of mediums on the eighth tour. The VSC was still on, as that contact between Sainz and Antonelli was noted by the stewards.

 

Antonelli had fallen to last place as a result of that clash.

 

The VSC ended, and off they went. Verstappen led by just under three seconds from Leclerc, who would have welcomed that reprieve to cool his soft tyres with open arms. Norris remained in-front of Hamilton and Piastri, who lost half-a-second somewhere behind the VSC deployment.

 

On the tenth tour – Thanks to the tangle, Sauber’s Nico Hulkenberg and Aston Martin’s Fernando Alonso were promoted into the top 10. Tsunoda was up to seventh, but he was behind Russell.

 

None of the top six were in DRS range at this stage – it was just too hot out there to push and remain in the dirty air for lap after lap.

 

Third-placed Norris was also struggling with his front-left – Those on the hards were not finding much grip, nor pace. Mediums and softs looked to be the best way to go in the blistering 46-degree track temperatures.

 

Norris was sitting 1.5 seconds behind second-placed Leclerc as the battle began to intensify again, the latter’s softs were holding on really well. Piastri was over two seconds behind Hamilton in the battle for fourth place.

 

On the 13^th lap – Verstappen was looking in solid form. He had a four second lead on Leclerc, so was out of undercut range. Norris having cooled his tyres has just got a push on and was trying to get back within DRS range of Leclerc in-front.

 

“Piastri seems slow,” reported Russell from sixth. He was 1.5 seconds behind the McLaren man on lap 14.

 

“He’s struggling with his front left,” Russell was told.

 

Leclerc was watching his mirrors closely – because Norris is coming quick. The McLaren man was back within DRS range of the Ferrari. And if he doesn’t clear him soon, Verstappen would be well be clean and gone.

 

But Leclerc was defending so well. he had not put a foot wrong, but his rear tyres are starting to look a little worn.

 

On lap 15, Verstappen’s lead increased to over five seconds of Leclerc as the latter had a charging Norris attempt to go around the outside of the Ferrari into turns 12 to 19 but Leclerc managed to keep the McLaren behind.

 

On the 17^th tour – Leclerc being forced to defend meant Verstappen was pulling away here to a comfortable six seconds and counting. Norris had dropped back to recharge his battery, behind them – Hamilton was starting to join the battle but Piastri had dropped way off the back of the Ferrari.

 

And that meant Russell might sniff a chance in the battle for fifth place.

 

Battery changed, Norris was all over the back of Leclerc’s Ferrari again. But the Monegasque driver was having none of it. How long can his soft tyres last was the question? Bortoleto had already pitted and got rid of his C4’s.

 

With DRS assistance around the outside on the back straight on the rundown to turn 12, Norris had another look around the Ferrari of Leclerc into turn 13 and 14 – but the Briton could not find his way ahead of the SF-25.

 

Verstappen’s lead on lap 20 was at nine seconds over the battling Leclerc and Norris, Hamilton and Piastri followed in fourth and fifth respectively as Russell held sixth.

 

Norris was hit with a black-and-white flag for exceeding track limits three times and on lap 21, with DRS assistance the Briton finally made his way around the Ferrari of Leclerc on the run to turn 12 left-hander and made the move stick to take second place.

 

On the 22^nd lap – Verstappen had a 10.8 second lead over Norris. So, let’s see what tyre life the Briton had. And Norris had free air to work with. Behind – Piastri had been nursing his tyres and playing the longer game.

 

Leclerc after holding up team-mate Hamilton for a lap with no team orders in play – pitted from third for a fresh set of the C3 mediums and came out in ninth behind Hulkenberg.

 

On lap 24 – Verstappen led Norris by 10.8 seconds, and Hamilton was a further three seconds back. Piastri was holding fourth place, also three seconds back.

 

Lap 25 – Leclerc was the only top runner to pit at this stage of proceedings – but he was also the only top 10 starter on the softer rubber.

 

The Monegasque driver was three seconds behind Hulkenberg, who was running eighth and could be on for points today after the disappointment of yesterday’s Sprint race.

 

No one else at the front had made any in roads on each other last time around.

 

Lap 26 – Leclerc on his newer medium tyres and with DRS assistance down the back straight on the run to turn 12 made the move on the inside of Hulkenberg to move up into eighth place as he had Bearman next in his sights.

 

Out-front – Norris had not made any gains on race leader Verstappen as the gap reached over 11 seconds.

 

On lap 27 – Up front – Verstappen said his tyres were “becoming tricky”.  As he was told by race engineer Giampiero Lambiase that the conditions were changing out there.

 

Leclerc on the 29^th lap made his way ahead of Bearman on his progression up the field to move up into seventh place.

 

Red Bull tell Verstappen to extend if he can as they are looking at the “alternative strategy.” The suspicion was now that everyone who started on mediums will try and go for a one stop onto the softer compounds. Quite the contrast to the first few laps, when tyre wear seemed high and a two-stop seemed the likely strategy. It was because everyone wants to avoid the harder tyre now.

 

Leclerc on lap 30 breezed his way past Tsunoda through the turns 12, 13 and 14 sequence to move up into sixth as the latter pitted for a set of softs to come out in 11^th place behind Lawson.

 

On lap 31 – Fifth-placed Piastri stopped for his set of softs along with Bearman, Alonso and Lawson as they all put on the red side-walled compound and emerged in seventh, ninth, 14^th and 15^th respectively.

 

Hamilton pitted from third on lap 32 for his set of the C4’s and came out in sixth place behind Hulkenberg.

 

Thanks to Verstappen nursing his tyres, Norris had eaten two seconds out of his lead. It now stood at 9.8 seconds at this stage.

 

On lap 33 – Second placed Norris pitted for his set of softs and came out in fourth place behind Leclerc as race leader Verstappen was told to box next time round.

 

Replays showed Norris suffer a long front-left lock-up into turn 12 before his pit-stop.

 

Race leader Verstappen pitted for his set of the C4’s and came out comfortably out-front as Russell and Hulkenberg also made their stops – Russell emerged in fifth place behind Piastri and Hulkenberg in ninth behind Bearman.

 

On lap 35 – Everyone had now pitted. Verstappen was leading from Leclerc, Norris, Hamilton and Piastri. But the yellow flags were out for Bearman, who had suffered a spin whilst battling Tsunoda for seventh place.

 

The replays showed Bearman made a late lunge, got on the grass, which spun the Haas driver round. Somehow Tsunoda avoided the spinning VF-25 entry.

 

The question was did Tsunoda move under braking? The stewards noted the incident.

 

Lap 36 – Verstappen led by 6.7 seconds from Leclerc, who had Norris 1.7 seconds behind. Hamilton was quite a bit further back, with Piastri and Russell well-spaced behind them.

 

Tsunoda was holding seventh place ahead of Hulkenberg, Bearman dropped a place to the German after his spin. Albon was tenth and in-front of Alonso courtesy of an early stop, but he might have to stop again.

 

On lap 37 – The Leclerc-Norris battle was once again back on the cards for second place – Norris was 1.3 seconds back from his Ferrari rival, on softer tyres. Leclerc was on mediums, but they were older – 14 laps old.

 

The 38^th tour saw Albon pit again, which released Alonso into tenth. A black-and-white flag was issued to Bortoleto as well. Norris had one too – so if he exceeded track limits once more, he would receive a five-second time penalty.

 

Lap 39 – Verstappen’s lead was at 6.8 seconds and was deliberately minding these soft tyres at this stage as behind them Norris was in DRS range of Leclerc.

 

On the 40^th tour – Norris was eight tenths behind Leclerc. This is a fun battle and could have ramifications in the Championship battle with team-mate Piastri struggling in fifth place.

 

Three points extra for finishing second not third for Norris would be the motivational boost he needed.

 

Lap 41 – Norris reported to say his tyres were gone. They were only 14 laps old – he had to put on an old set of softer tyres on, a set that already had six laps on them. And he could not get back to within a few tenths of the Ferrari.

 

Race leader Verstappen was told about Norris’ complaints about his tyres.

 

On lap 42 – Norris was bluffing as he dropped back from Leclerc to cool his tyres. So, the McLaren driver was 1.3 seconds back on the Ferrari, which bought Leclerc some breathing space.

 

Verstappen was still nursing his tyres out-front, he was not scampering down the road but instead making sure his softs would last to the end.

 

Lap 43 – Verstappen’s lead was almost seven seconds as he headed towards his third win in the last four races.

 

Replays showed third-placed Norris sliding around, with a line of blisters starting to appear on his front-left tyre.

 

On the 44^th tour – Norris was genuinely struggling. The Briton was not just cooling his tyres; he was falling back. Leclerc was now 2.4 seconds down the road and looking comfortable on his medium compounds. he might even keep an eye on Verstappen in-front, in case his softer compounds start to go off the cliff.

 

Lap 45 – “I know the car feels ***** right now,” Norris was told. “But your pace is really strong.”

 

The McLaren driver was 2.7 seconds back on Leclerc at this stage, with Ferrari seemingly making a great strategy call by starting their man on the C4’s.

 

With ten laps remaining – Verstappen’s lead was at 6.635 seconds over Leclerc with Norris third, Hamilton fourth, championship leader Piastri fifth, Russell sixth, Tsunoda seventh, Hulkenberg eighth, Bearman ninth as Alonso rounded out the top ten.

 

Lap 48 – Norris was starting to close back up to Leclerc in the battle for second place.

 

Further back, Lawson and Stroll were all over the back of Alonso in the fight for the final points place.

 

On the 49^th tour – Norris was now just 1.1 seconds behind Leclerc, so he could have DRS again in a lap.

 

Leclerc was on 26 lap old medium tyres whilst Norris was on 22 lap old softs. A little further back, Russell was eating into the gap to fifth-placed Piastri, which was down to 2.9 seconds.

 

Lap 50 – Leclerc switched from attack to defence mode, so Verstappen’s lead grew to over 7.7 seconds. And that was because Norris had DRS.

 

On lap 51, Norris made a move on the inside of Leclerc with DRS on the main-straight into turn one – but the Briton ran too deep allowing Leclerc to retake the place back.

 

On the back straight – Norris with DRS range made a move on the inside of the Ferrari into turn 12 to jump into second place.

 

Lap 52 – Leclerc was encouraged to “keep the pressure on” and reminded that Norris had that black and white flag for track limits.

 

But Leclerc was already falling back rapidly, his tyres were looking to be lacking grip.

 

Lap 53 – Verstappen took advantage of the fight behind to increase his gap – which was at 8.6 seconds as he headed towards his fifth win of the campaign.

 

Behind him – Norris behind was already 2.4 seconds in-front of Leclerc.

 

And further back, Russell’s charge had faded away and he had not closed up any closer to Piastri in the battle for fifth place.

 

Verstappen crossed the line to take the US GP victory for the fourth time in his F1 career by 7.959 seconds over Norris as Leclerc completed the top three and a further 15.373 seconds down.

 

Hamilton suffered a front-right puncture on the final lap limping home in fourth just ahead of championship leader Piastri who settled for fifth in a difficult weekend for the Australian.

 

Russell finished sixth in the classification and in-front of Tsunoda who was seventh and Hulkenberg who took eighth.

 

Bearman and Alonso completed the final points places.

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2025 US GP – The Top Three

 

 

2025 US GP Winner – Max Verstappen, #1, Oracle Red Bull Racing, Honda-RBPT, RB21 – (25 Points):

“It was an unbelievable weekend for us. I knew the race would not be super straightforward. The whole race, the pace between myself and Lando was super close. But in that first stint I could eke out a gap and that’s what I managed to the end.”

 

2^nd Place – Lando Norris, #4, McLaren Formula 1 Team, Mercedes, MCL39 – +7.959s -(18 Points):

“It took long enough! No, it was a good battle with Charles, he fought hard. Charles drove a good race, was good fun, good battles. Had to take second, not a lot more we could have done today.”

 

3^rd Place – Charles Leclerc, #16, Scuderia Ferrari, SF-25 – +15.373s – (15 Points):

“I was a little bit worried when I saw I was the only car [in the top 10] on the softs at the beginning, I knew it was a risky move. We tried the soft to get into free air, which was tough with two cars in front. I had fun in the car, I enjoyed it.”

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Formula 1 MSC Cruises United States Grand Prix 2025 Race Results Classification (56 Laps)

Pos.	No.	Driver	Team	Laps	Time / Retired	Pts.
1	1	Max Verstappen	Red Bull Racing	56	1:34:00.161	25
2	4	Lando Norris	McLaren	56	+7.959s	18
3	16	Charles Leclerc	Ferrari	56	+15.373s	15
4	44	Lewis Hamilton	Ferrari	56	+28.536s	12
5	81	Oscar Piastri	McLaren	56	+29.678s	10
6	63	George Russell	Mercedes	56	+33.456s	8
7	22	Yuki Tsunoda	Red Bull Racing	56	+52.714s	6
8	27	Nico Hulkenberg	Kick Sauber	56	+57.249s	4
9	87	Oliver Bearman	Haas F1 Team	56	+64.722s	2
10	14	Fernando Alonso	Aston Martin	56	+70.001s	1
11	30	Liam Lawson	Racing Bulls	56	+73.209s	0
12	18	Lance Stroll	Aston Martin	56	+74.778s	0
13	12	Kimi Antonelli	Mercedes	56	+75.746s	0
14	23	Alexander Albon	Williams	56	+80.000s	0
15	31	Esteban Ocon	Haas F1 Team	56	+83.043s	0
16	6	Isack Hadjar	Racing Bulls	56	+92.807s	0
17	43	Franco Colapinto	Alpine	55	+1 lap	0
18	5	Gabriel Bortoleto	Kick Sauber	55	+1 lap	0
19	10	Pierre Gasly	Alpine	55	+1 lap	0
NC	55	Carlos Sainz	Williams	5	DNF	0

 

https://www.formula1.com/en/results/2025/races/1271/united-states/race-result

 

Click here for the 2025 Formula 1 World Driver’s (Top 10) and Constructor’s Championship Standings

 

Round 20 of the 2025 FIA Formula One World Championship returns to the famous Autodromo Hermanos Rodriguez in Mexico City, Mexico for the Formula 1 Gran Premio De La Ciudad De Mexico 2025 from Friday October 25-Sunday October 27.