Max Verstappen wins again in Austin, closes in on McLaren duo in title race

Max Verstappen won the U.S. Grand Prix for the fourth time on Sunday. The reigning world champion led at the Circuit of the Americas in Austin, Texas, from start to finish and gained ground on the championship leader Oscar Piastri and his McLaren teammate, Lando Norris.

Norris finished second in the race with Ferrari driver Charles Leclerc finishing third. Piastri came in fifth place. Despite this, he still leads the championship standings with 346 points. Norris is second with 332 points. Verstappen now has 306 points due to a third victory in the last four races.

Verstappen came into Austin on a roll, having won the Italian and Azerbaijan Grands Prix and finished second in Singapore behind George Russell. Over the past four races, he has rapidly closed the gap to the two McLaren drivers. On Saturday, he continued that momentum by winning the sprint race, as both Piastri and Norris failed to finish.

Starting from pole on Sunday, the reigning world champion immediately pulled clear. Lando Norris lost second place to Charles Leclerc, who had started his Ferrari on soft tires. Their fight gave Verstappen the space he needed to extend his lead.

Norris struggled for several laps before finally overtaking Leclerc. The Ferrari driver had pitted earlier and briefly reclaimed second place after Norris’s stop, but the McLaren driver retook the position on softer rubber. By then, Verstappen was comfortably ahead. Piastri, meanwhile, couldn’t get past Hamilton and watched as both Verstappen and Norris widened the gap.

It was a perfect weekend for Verstappen, who secured pole twice and won both races. With five rounds remaining, the Dutchman from Limburg has firmly re-entered the championship fight.