Red Bull’s Max Verstappen wins U.S. Grand Prix sprint race

Red Bull’s Max Verstappen won the United States Grand Prix sprint race Saturday to earn his first victory of any kind in nearly five months and keep McLaren’s Lando Norris from chipping away at his lead in the Formula 1 season championship.

Norris kept Verstappen in sight for 18 of 19 laps at the Circuit of the Americas after he launched from fourth to second out of the race start. But Norris made a costly mistake in the first turn of the final lap that allowed Ferrari’s Carlos Sainz to slip into second.

Finishing third instead of second cost Norris a critical point in the title chase. He now trails Verstappen by 54 points with six grand prix and two sprint races left in the season.

Verstappen is chasing his fourth consecutive title. He started Saturday from pole position and was never threatened for the lead. He won with a nearly four-second gap.

“Feels a bit like old times,” Verstappen said.

Qualifying for Sunday’s main event was later Saturday. Verstappen has won the U.S. Grand Prix the last three years but has not started the race from pole position since 2021.

The sprint victory should renew Red Bull’s confidence it has improved a car that Verstappen has alternately called “undrivable” and “a monster” at time this season.

Formula 1 returned from a four-week autumn break this week with Norris steadily chasing down Verstappen in the drivers’ championship.

The once-dominant Verstappen had not scored a victory of any kind since the Austrian Grand Prix sprint race back in June, and his last victory in a grand prix came a week earlier in Spain.

Norris has two wins and three other podium finishes in that span to close the gap on Verstappen, and McLaren has overhauled Red Bull in the constructor’s championship.

Norris suggested it will be tough for him to race with Verstappen and Ferraris on Sunday.

“I did the best I could,” Norris said after the sprint race. “I didn’t think we had the pace on Max and the Ferraris.”