Verstappen wins big in Austin as Piastri and Norris crash out!

Max Verstappen has won the Sprint race in Austin, ahead of George Russell in P2 and Carlos Sainz in P3. Lewis Hamilton and Charles Leclerc rounded off the top 5.

Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri were taken out in a Turn 1 crash, prompted by earlier contact with Nico Hulkenberg.

On lap 5 the race with resumed with both McLaren drivers as well as Fernando Alonso out of the race.

George Russell from P2 mounted an assault on Verstappen's lead which culminated in a fruitless overtake attempt where the British Mercedes driver ran the Red Bull driver wide at Turn 12.

Charles Leclerc and Lewis Hamilton were fighting each other for P4, with the Briton overtaking the Monegasque when the race returned to green flag conditions after the McLaren double DNF.

Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri's race ending contact. Photo: RacePictures.

As of lap 9, Verstappen was able to extend his lead and remove Russell from DRS range, albeit, not without difficulties. The Dutchman complained of the ride of his carly, particularly in the rear.

Verstappen kept a firm grasp on the lead of the race which remained static during the following laps.

However, a late crash involving Lance Stroll crashing into Esteban Ocon's Haas going into Turn 1 would neutralise the race, until the chequered flag, since the remaining laps would not suffice for the recovery teams to remove the cars from the track on time to resume the race.

You can have a look at the F1 Drivers' Standings here. Verstappen managed to cut Piastri's lead by a whopping 8 points bringing the gap down to 55 in the title fight in the Sprint race alone.

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