Max Verstappen cruised to victory for Red Bull in Saturday’s Sprint race at the Formula 1 United States Grand Prix.
Taking the chequered flag at the head of the field, the Dutchman took the number one spot in a race situation for the first time since the Austria Sprint.
A 3.8s margin signed off a fine Saturday afternoon performance for Verstappen and extended his championship lead to 54 points over Lando Norris, who finished third.
Carlos Sainz took second after a feisty drive.
19 laps lay ahead of a 20-strong grid at the Circuit of the Americas with Verstappen poised to lead the field from pole.
READ MORE: Max Verstappen revels in Red Bull F1 upgrades ‘working quite well’ in Austin
The Dutchman had Mercedes’ George Russell for company on the front row with Charles Leclerc and Norris pitched up behind them.
At the other end of the grid, Williams’ Alex Albon was demoted to the very back as his team elected to make changes to the suspension and rear wing specification on his FW46.
Verstappen led away well as his rivals behind went side-by-side into Turn 1.
Norris came out of that chasing scrap well, flying into second through the first sector, with Russell, Leclerc and Sainz following behind.
Leclerc, having lost ground at the start, went wheel-to-wheel with Russell throughout the middle of Lap 1, but failed to make any headway.
Carlos Sainz wages war on Charles Leclerc
A lap later, Leclerc was at the mercy of his Ferrari team-mate and the scarlet red duo swapped positions back and forth, with favour remaining with the Monegasque driver.
Not to be outdone, Sainz lunged up the inside of Leclerc at Turn 1 to start Lap 3 in a fesity manner, but the #16 driver undercut him to remain in fourth.
Despite the scrap, the Ferraris were right in the tow of Russell, as Verstappen and Norris cleared ahead in first and second.
With 15 laps of the 19 remaining, Verstappen enjoyed a lead of just over a second, with Russell now closing down on Norris to the tune of half a second.
The Ferrari drivers were giving each other no quarter, forcing one another wide and nearly swapping paint from Turn 12 through 15.
Sainz emerged the victor on this occasion, claiming fourth.
By Lap 7, Verstappen’s lead was up to two seconds, as Norris fought to keep Russell at bay.
There was a potential scrap of hope for the McLaren driver though, as his Race Engineer Will Joseph hypothesised that Verstappen was using up his rear tyres.
Perhaps Joseph was right, as the leading margin came down to 1.4s on Lap 9.
Meanwhile, Sainz lunged on Russell at Turn 15 and made the move stick through Turn 16 to take third.
That left Russell at the mercy of Leclerc with Ferrari exhibiting a greater race pace than Mercedes, evident in the fact Lewis Hamilton was languishing four and half seconds from the top five fight.
A carbon copy move at Turn 15 saw Leclerc take fourth from Russell on Lap 10, with Sainz his next target.
“My front left is toast,” Russell cried over team radio.
Oscar Piastri has eventful fight through the pack
Further down the field, there was woe for Oscar Piastri, starting 16th after his SQ1 exit and inheriting a five-second penalty for an overzealous move on Alpine’s Pierre Gasly during his fight through the pack.
Turn 15 was the perfect place to make a move and RB’s Yuki Tsunoda used it to good effect on Lap 12 to pass Red Bull’s Sergio Perez for ninth.
But the Mexican fought back at the very next bend, sweeping around the outside of Tsunoda to reclaim the position.
Tsunoda soon found himself at the mercy of the hard-charging Piastri, but he made his RB as wide as possible through the final sector in his desperate bid to stay inside the top-10.
The RB driver went off the road during the battle to stay ahead of Piastri and rebuffed orders from his team to relinquish the place.
No further action was needed, however, as Piastri finally found a way to break down Tsunoda’s defence.
Meanwhile, out front, Verstappen was on a seemingly leisurely cruise with five laps to go, with his lead back up over two seconds.
Norris, in second, had just over a second of breathing room behind him, with the two Ferraris running nose-to-tail in thrid and fourth.
The Ferraris closed right in on Norris as the Final Lap came into play and under pressure, the McLaren driver locked up into Turn 1.
Sainz needed no extra invitation and swept into second and Norris had to contend with Leclerc behind him.
Leclerc went for a move at Turn 15, but got his Ferrari all crossed up as Norris covered him off.
Max Verstappen extends F1 Sprint winning run
Verstappen comfortably led over the line, taking the fastest lap with him to extend his 100% winning record in Sprints this year.
Sainz’s battling drive rewarded him with second place as Norris just held onto a podium.
That left Leclerc as the one to miss it in fourth, but he was well clear of Russell and Hamilton, who finished eight seconds back in fifth and sixth.
A strong performance by Kevin Magnussen and Nico Hulkenberg rewarded Haas with the final points on offer in the Sprint, courtesy of a seventh and eighth-place finish.
Just missing out were Perez and Piastri, who rounded out the top-10.
READ MORE: F1 2024 United States Grand Prix – Sprint Results
