Max Verstappen wins at COTA and reignites the title fight in Formula 1

Starting from pole position, Max Verstappen defended well at the start, in his own all-or-nothing style, and thus blocked the launched start of Charles Leclerc.

With softs at the start, Leclerc got off to a great start and overtook Lando Norris, then held off the McLaren driver for 20 laps. This was, by the way, the most intense and prolonged duel of this race, with Norris trailing the Monegasque for most of the race.

The papaya pilot prevailed in the end, overtaking Leclerc towards the end on lap 52. It was the move that saw the Briton finish 2nd. At that point, first place was out of reach, with Verstappen holding a reassuring lead of almost 10 seconds.

Max Verstappen, in control on COTA: the victory reignites the fight for the title!

For the Dutchman, it was a race without great emotions. The title champion was in control, the only delicate moment being at the start, when Leclerc appeared dangerously close to him in the “rear-view mirror”.

It was the perfect weekend for Verstappen, who also took victory in the sprint race. With a total of 33 points, Max closed in on world leader Oscar Piastri, ranked only 5th today, unable to overtake Lewis Hamilton.

With 5 Grands Prix and two sprint races remaining, the battle for the title has officially been relaunched and is being fought in 3!

40 pointsthey remained between Piastri (346) and Verstappen (306). Between them, Lando Norris, with 332 points

TOP 10 final: Verstappen, Norris, Leclerc, Hamilton, Piastri, Russell, Tsunoda, Hulkenberg, Bearman, Alonso

Running of the United States Formula 1 Grand Prix

• LAP 47/56: Norris was 2.3 seconds behind Leclerc, who defended himself superbly against the Briton. There are 6.8 seconds between the leader Verstappen and the Ferrari driver.

• LAP 34/56: Red Bull also answers Max Verstappen's call to the pits. Better shift than Norris, under 3 seconds.

• LAP 33/56: Lando Norris pits first, but the change is not the fastest: 3.8 seconds.

• LAP 32/56: among the drivers in the top 5, Oscar Piastri (McLaren) and Lewis Hamilton (Ferrari) also entered for changes. Meanwhile, Verstappen remains 10 seconds ahead of Lando Norris.

• LAP 29/56: entered the pits to receive the medium tires, Leclerc dropped out of the top 5, but started to climb. He just passed Yuki Tsunoda for sixth place.

• LAP 21/56: Norris has finally overtaken Leclerc and the chase for Max Verstappen now begins. But the Dutchman built up a comfortable lead of 10 seconds.

• LAP 12/56: Verstappen has a 3.5 second lead over leading chaser Charles Leclerc. Norris is more than a second behind the Monegasque.

• LAP 9/56: the race was resumed as normal.

• LAP 7/56: yellow flag, virtual safety car. Carlos Sainz, eighth, tried to pass Kimi Antonelli, but hooked the Mercedes driver. The Williams driver went out of the scheme, having to abandon. The virtual safety car is in effect.

• LAP 4/56: Lando Norris forces a second place recovery. Charles Leclerc, on soft tires this early in the race, is holding out for the moment, but the pressure is mounting.

• LAP 1/56: Charles Leclerc moved up a position at the start, to 2nd place. He also attacked Max Verstappen, without success.

• 22:00 – The training tour has started.

Hadjar will start from 20th place, Stroll from 19th // photo: X @ F1

What happened in the sprint race on COTA

The two McLaren drivers left the race at the first corner after being involved in a race incident that also involved Fernando Alonso and Nico Hulkenberg. This mass collision occurred after Norris did not have the best start from second position and he and Piastri were tied in the braking zone for the first turn.

Norris, who was on the inside, went hard into the first corner and Piastri tried a cutting maneuver to overtake coming out of the corner. The Australian's trajectory proved too aggressive, however, as he collided with Hulkenberg, who in turn hit Alonso as they were both on the inside of the corner.

After contact with Hulkenberg, Piastri completely lost control of his car and collided with his teammate Norris, both of whom were eliminated from the sprint at that point. In addition to them, Alonso also dropped out, and all this chaos led to major changes in the standings.

The standings of the drivers after the sprint on COTA

1. Oscar Piastri 336 points

2. Lando Norris 314

3. Max Verstappen 281

4. George Russell 244

5. Charles Leclerc 177

6. Lewis Hamilton 130

7. Kimi Antonelli 89

8. Alexander Albon 73

9. Isaac Hadjar 39

10. Carlos Sainz 38

11. Nico Hulkenberg 37

12. Fernando Alonso 36

13. Lance Stroll 32

14. Liam Lawson 30

15. Esteban Ocon 28

16. Yuki Tsunoda 22

17. Pierre Gasly 20

18. Gabriel Bortoleto 18

19. Oliver Bearman 18

20. Franco Colapinto 0

21. Jack Doohan 0

Team standings at the moment in Formula 1

1. McLaren 650 points

2. Mercedes 333

3. Ferrari 307

4. Red Bull 300

5. Williams 111

6. RB 72

7. Aston Martin 68

8. Sauber 55

9. Haas 46

10. Alpine 20