Verstappen wins to close in on Piastri and Norris

Oscar Piastri and Lando Norris were put under more pressure by Red Bull’s Max Verstappen winning the American Grand Prix.

Lewis Hamilton and Charles Leclerc from Ferrari were the other two drivers in the top five spots, Norris and Piastri finishing second and fifth.

With only five races left, Briton Norris cut Piastri’s championship lead to 14 points, while Verstappen reduced his deficit to 40 points for the Australian.

Verstappen, who won the sprint on Saturday, had a dominant lead at the first corner, putting a stranglehold on the race, which he has now won seven times, totaling total control.

When questioned about his chances of winning the title, the four-time champion responded, “For sure, there is a chance.” All we need to do is try to deliver these weekends until the weekend. We’ll make every effort possible. I’m very excited right up until the very end of it because it’s exciting.

Norris was largely defeated by Leclerc’s use of a different tire strategy for the majority of the grand prix.

The main moments of an unfavorable grand prix were:

Verstappen and Norris were the only riders in the front row, hoping that McLaren’s consistently strong race performance would allow them to challenge the Red Bull driver, who had already triumphed in two of the previous three races and had already beaten McLaren in each of them.

However, Norris’ hopes of winning quickly vanished as Leclerc jumped into second place at the first corner using the extra grip of the soft tires, which he was the only driver in the top 10 to choose them for the start, with everyone else using mediums.

Verstappen grew his lead after a collision between Mercedes’ Kimi Antonelli and Williams’ Carlos Sainz in the early virtual safety car period. After the stewards determined that the Spaniard was “predominantly to blame,” the stewards forced the Spaniard to leave the race and later issued a five-place grid penalty for the Mexico City Grand Prix on Saturday.

Hamilton was present throughout Norris’ unsuccessful attempt to pass Leclerc. At Turn 12, at the end of the long back straight, Norris had to fight back on the outside, but never really tried to get a pass.

Verstappen continued to advance as he built his lead until just before lap 22 when he stopped for new tires, fitting the medium compound.

Norris waited another 10 laps before coming back behind Ferrari when he stopped to fit the soft tires.

Within four laps, Leclerc had already surpassed the Briton, who came second.

He was soon on the radio telling him that his tires were gone, but once more he was unable to pass.

Will Joseph, Norris’ race engineer, instructed him to slow down and restart after a few laps to cool his tires.

With five laps left, Norris completed the task. He briefly made it past Turn One before Leclerc cut back and reclaim the spot.

After a half-lap, Norris went for the position once more in Turn 12, dummying Leclerc and making the move stick.

Norris never learned whether he could have defeated Verstappen during the conflict with Leclerc, but he had a much better afternoon than Piastri.

The Australian struggled to control Hamilton in front of him all weekend, despite fending off Mercedes’ George Russell for fifth overall.

Verstappen has scored 23 points in the championship leader’s first-place race at this grand prix with his victory in Saturday’s sprint following Piastri and Norris’ initial collision.

Yuki Tsunoda of Red Bull placed seventh, rising from 13th to 11th on the first lap before benefiting from the Sainz-Antonelli incident to win a strong grand prix.

Damon Hill, the 1996 world champion, appeared on Radio 5 Live.

Another masterclass, another masterclass. Verstappen is persistent.