Max Verstappen survived an attack from George Russell to win the United States Grand Prix sprint race and make up ground on his 2025 Formula 1 title rivals as both McLaren drivers were wiped out in a multi-car clash at the first corner.
From third on the grid, Oscar Piastri got marginally the better launch compared to team-mate and second-place starter Lando Norris on the run uphill to the Turn 1 left-hander.
With no chance to overtake around the outside, Piastri instead switched back underneath Norris - who like polesitter Verstappen appeared to run slightly deep into the first corner - in a bid to get a better run off the corner.
But that brought him into the path of Nico Hulkenberg, the Sauber driver trying to defend his fourth-place starting position from Aston Martin's Fernando Alonso on the inside, who could do nothing to avoid contact with championship leader Piastri - whose pitched McLaren tagged team-mate Norris's.
Norris stopped on the spot, Piastri parked up with front-right suspension damage not long after, Alonso also retired - and multiple bits of debris meant the race was neutralised for a considerable time by the intervention of the safety car, during which McLaren CEO Zak Brown spuriously claimed Hulkenberg had "no business being where he was".
Race control declared as the sprint restarted that the Turn 1 incident had been reviewed and would not be further investigated.
That should've meant a routine victory for Verstappen when the race restarted at the end of lap five of 19, but it wasn't as straightforward from there as he might've expected.
He was fastest of all on the first full lap after the restart, but Russell kept his Mercedes just within a second of the Red Bull in the early going and launched a DRS-assisted attack into the Turn 12 right-hander at the end of the back straight on lap eight.
LAP 8/19
— Formula 1 (@F1) October 18, 2025
Russell SENDS IT on Verstappen at Turn 12, but the Red Bull retains the place! 😲⚔️#F1Sprint #USGP pic.twitter.com/gg7dSTGZ14
Russell couldn't quite get his car stopped into the corner and both drivers ran wide as a result, with Verstappen rejoining the track ahead and clearing off into the distance from there - albeit while complaining "the ride is completely f***** on the rear".
A second, late-race safety car - this time to allow the cars of Lance Stroll (Aston Martin) and Esteban Ocon (Haas) to be recovered after Stroll clattered into Ocon, also at Turn 1 - meant the final laps were run with the race neutralised.
LAP 16/19
— Formula 1 (@F1) October 18, 2025
🟡 SAFETY CAR 🟡
Lance Stroll and Esteban Ocon collide at Turn 1 - both drivers are out of the race 😱#F1Sprint #USGP pic.twitter.com/PUWBXFAX6X
Victory for Verstappen and the eight points that come with it mean he is now 55 points behind championship leader Piastri and 33 behind Norris after their non-scores.
Russell conceded after the race that his lunge had been his "only chance". He finished a strong second, with the podium completed by Carlos Sainz's seventh-place starting Williams.
Lewis Hamilton survived a scare when overtaking Ferrari team-mate Charles Leclerc for fourth by squeezing through on the inside into Turn 12. That followed a "stupid mistake" from Leclerc through the esses, which put Hamilton on his tail - though neither Ferrari seriously looked like troubling Sainz for third.
Alex Albon was sixth in the second Williams ahead of Yuki Tsunoda - who made up a remarkable 11 places from 18th on the grid on the inside line through the first corner, despite running over Hulkenberg's discarded front wing.
Ollie Bearman was set to score the final point after a resolute defence of eighth from Mercedes' Kimi Antonelli, but the Haas driver was handed a 10-second penalty for going off-track and gaining an advantage at the looped Turn 15 left-hander while battling with Antonelli.
Bearman, currently on 10 penalty points, isn't expected to receive any additional penalty points for the incident.
Sprint race results
- Max Verstappen (Red Bull)
- George Russell (Mercedes)
- Carlos Sainz (Williams)
- Lewis Hamilton (Ferrari)
- Charles Leclerc (Ferrari)
- Alex Albon (Williams)
- Yuki Tsunoda (Red Bull)
- Kimi Antonelli (Mercedes)
- Liam Lawson (Racing Bulls)
- Pierre Gasly (Alpine)
- Gabriel Bortoleto (Sauber)
- Isack Hadjar (Racing Bulls)
- Nico Hulkenberg (Sauber)
- Franco Colapinto (Alpine)
- Ollie Bearman (Haas)
DNF: Esteban Ocon (Haas), Lance Stroll (Aston Martin), Oscar Piastri (McLaren), Lando Norris (McLaren) and Fernando Alonso (Aston Martin)
