The 2025 United States Grand Prix provided us with a dominant display from Max Verstappen and more Championship drama as the McLaren Drivers collided once again. Here’s how it all unfolded.
The Chronicle Headlines
- Lando Norris led the way in the one and only practice session for the United States Grand Prix. He set a time of 1:33.294.
- It was announced that the United States Grand Prix at the Circuit of the Americas will remain on the F1 calendar until 2034.
- Oscar Piastri and Lando Norris collided and subsequently crashed out on the opening lap of Saturday’s Sprint Race.
- Max Verstappen won the Sprint Race with George Russell in second and Carlos Sainz in third.
- Max Verstappen claimed his 47th career Pole Position for Sunday’s Grand Prix.
- Max Verstappen went onto to convert this into victory – his third win in the last four Grand Prix.
- Oscar Piastri now has only a 14 point lead over Lando Norris at the top of the Championship.
- 10 Points now separate Mercedes, Ferrari and Red Bull in the fight for P2 in the Constructor’s Championship.
United States Grand Prix Free Practice
The sole practice session of the weekend was a pretty standard affair. While the drivers refamiliarized themselves with the Circuit of the Americas, the crowd were able to get their eye in on the wave of new liveries carried by many of the teams up and down the grid.
Charles Leclerc, Esteban Ocon and Carlos Sainz had less than ideal sessions. All three drivers suffered from some kind of technical issue. Be it trouble shifting gears, sticking brakes or an entire suspected gearbox issue in the case of Sainz, it wasn’t ideal for any of them.
Out in front, Lando Norris set the fastest lap time of the session. But it was Nico Hulkenberg who stood out from the pack. The Kick Sauber driver snuck into P2 at the end of practice, just 0.255 seconds away from P1. Piastri, Alonso and Verstappen rounded out the top five.
United States Grand Prix Sprint Race
Max Verstappen lined up in Pole Position for Saturday’s Sprint Race with Championship rival Lando Norris alongside him in second. As the most successful driver in the Sprint format since it was introduced back in 2021, the odds seemed stacked in Verstappen’s favour, despite McLaren’s strengths.
Nico Hulkenberg has qualified superbly in P4, with Alonso in an impressive P6 and both Williams drivers inside the top ten.
Turn 1 Calamity
Championship drama unfolded immediately as the lights went out for the Sprint Race. Heading into the iconic first corner of the Circuit of the Americas, Oscar Piastri looked like he’d complete a move on teammate Lando Norris. But the Australian driver backed out of the move as his rival went wide heading into turn one. As Norris came back into the picture, Piastri was squeezed across to the left hand side of the track into the unfortunate innocent bystander that was Nico Hulkenberg – himself attempting to not make contact with Aston Martin’s Fernando Alonso.
“This year’s luck meter? Flatline. Recharging for 2026!” – Fernando Alonso
The Spaniard hit the German who drove into the Australian who spun his British teammate around in an impressive display of the domino effect. What was ultimately a lap one, turn one racing incident took out the two leading contenders in the Championship and Fernando Alonso. Hulkenberg somehow managed to limp on, despite Yuki Tsunoda driving round part of the lap with his Hulkenberg’s front wing stuck under his car.
Verstappen Vs Russell
When the Safety Car returned to the pits following the opening lap melee, Russell was the driver able to keep in touching distance with Verstappen. Reinvigorated perhaps following his win in Singapore or from his contract extension with Mercedes, the British driver looked to have the bit between his teeth as he took the fight to the man in front.
With around ten laps to go, the Mercedes driver made a bold overtaking attempt on the Red Bull down into T12. A lunge down the inside reminisce of the infamous Daniel Ricciardo manoeuvres of old, it didn’t fail to bring a giddy smile of child like joy to all who witnessed it. While it didn’t work, it was fantastic to see from Russell and kept Verstappen on his toes.
Stroll Vs Ocon
Not to be outdone, Lance Stroll decided to make an overly ambitious – but rubbish – overtaking attempt on the Haas of Esteban Ocon up into T1. Coming from a very long way back, it came as a surprise to nobody – bar perhaps Ocon, who was minding his own business – that the Canadian promptly ploughed into the side of the Frenchman, wiping them both out of the Sprint. To add insult to injury, Stroll then foolishly attempted to drive his heavily damaged car back to the pits, only to pull over by the side of the track a few corners later. One has to wonder if any of the equations adorned on Aston Martin’s car for this weekend were calculating the probability of a move like that succeeding.
Opportunities Aplenty
Out in front Max Verstappen won the Sprint Race, cutting Oscar Piastri’s Championship lead down to just 55 points. Having started in fifth, Russell was satisfied with his P2 result when all was said and done. It was a great outing for Williams meanwhile with Carlos Sainz keeping both Ferrari drivers at bay to secure P3 with teammate Albon in P6.
Ferrari looked to be onto something in the Sprint, particularly with Lewis Hamilton. Had it not been for the late safety car, a podium would have been on the cards for the seven time World Champion. Yuki Tsunoda capitalised on the opening lap chaos, sneaking handily into the points and finishing in P7. Antonelli made a late charge through the field to steal P8 and the final point of the Sprint away from Ollie Bearman.
United States Grand Prix Qualifying
With set-up adjustments made and cars repaired, it was then time to qualify for Sunday’s Grand Prix.
Q1 & Q2 Drama
A tough weekend got tougher for the Racing Bulls of Isack Hadjar who span and crashed out of Q1 around T6. Alex Albon also suffered from a case of bad luck. The Thai driver pushed a little too hard on his final fast lap as he attempted to get into Q2. Track limits caught him out and he found himself lining up on the grid in P19.
Tsunoda meanwhile blamed Lawson in part for his Q2 exit. The New Zealander was apparently driving slowly to deliberately get in the way of the Japanese Driver. The stewards felt differently and no action was taken.
“I’ve absolutely no idea what he’s talking about,” – Liam Lawson
Battle for Pole
Max Verstappen followed up his Sprint Race victory by claiming his seventh Pole Position of the 2025 Season. It’s also his third in the last four Grand Prix. The Dutchman managed this despite missing out on his final run for the line at the close of the session, due primarily to traffic. That fact must sting a little for McLaren’s Lando Norris who did get one last chance to topple the Four-Time Champion. But, as has been the case lately, he was unable to and had to settle instead for P2. The last time Norris was on Pole was back in Belgium.
Leclerc continued Ferrari’s improving form with a P3 result. The Monegasque won from fourth on the grid in 2024. George Russell and Lewis Hamilton completed the top five. Oscar Piastri, however, could only manage to get into P6 in a surprising twist. Antonelli, Bearman, Sainz and Alonso completed the top ten. The stage was now set and all that was left to do was to go Grand Prix racing.
The 2025 United States Grand Prix
Max Verstappen began from Pole Position at the start of Sunday’s Grand Prix and from there, never looked in doubt of taking victory. A great move by Charles Leclerc propelled the Ferrari ahead of McLaren’s Lando Norris and while they fought, Verstappen simply stretched his legs out front. One could have been forgiven for thinking the clocks had been wound back to 2023, such was the domination by the Dutchman. Fortunately for fans, there were a few interesting elements to the Grand Prix behind to keep our attention.
Charles Leclerc Vs Lando Norris
Ferrari continued as they have done for the majority of 2025 – in an awkward no man’s land where they’re both competitive and not in the same breath. Moving past Lando Norris in style on the opening lap, it was always going to be a challenge for Leclerc to stay ahead of him – simply because of the capabilities of the McLaren car vs that of the Ferrari. Despite this though, and much to the chagrin of Norris, Leclerc put up a stellar fight that lasted for the majority of the Grand Prix.
Try as he might, Lando simply couldn’t find a way past Leclerc. The Monegasque put on a superb display of defensive driving that we’ve seen a number of times before, against both Verstappen and Hamilton to name but two examples.
A set of degrading tyres ultimately proved to be his downfall and Norris was able to easily blast past him on the backstraight aided by DRS. By this point however, barring any major ruckus, there was no chance of Norris being able to then take the fight to Verstappen. Norris would finish almost eight seconds behind him in second with Leclerc holding on to third.
Piastri’s Tough Weekend in COTA
Despite being able to overtake George Russell at the start of the Grand Prix, Oscar Piastri would not be able to progress any further up the field and had to settle for fifth come the end of the United States Grand Prix. Ahead of him, Lews Hamilton was in a race of his own. But an issue in the closing moments, a suspected puncture, meant that Piastri was able to close the gap down to just over a second by the time they crossed the finish line. One or two more laps and Piastri could have stolen P4. It was Hamilton’s best result since Silverstone and he has now become the first driver in history to score more than 5000 points in Formula 1.
“My mentality hasn’t changed, and it certainly won’t now. I’m just trying to do the best job I can every weekend and naturally, the results will take care of themselves.” – Oscar Piastri
This weekend marked the third consecutive weekend Piastri hasn’t been on the podium. Prior to that, he’d only not made it onto the rostrum twice this season. Can the Australian turn things around in Mexico?
Points, Penalties and Bad Luck
Elsewhere, Carlos Sainz would receive a five place penalty for the Mexican Grand Prix for making contact with Kimi Antonelli into Turn 15 on Lap 7. The penalty adds even more pain to absolutely zero gain as Sainz’s overtake attempt also resulted in him becoming the sole retiree from the Grand Prix as a consequence of the contact.
Yuki Tsunoda had his best weekend at the United States Grand Prix since Miami with both a P7 in the Sprint and the Grand Prix. He’s now tied with Esteban Ocon on points down in P16. Ocon’s teammate, Bearman repeated his magic trick from Singapore by finishing again in P9. One anomalous element though was the curious lack of any reaction from the stewards to the incident between the pair of them. Battling hard into T14 and T15, the former went for the overtake, only for the latter to move under braking. This move forced Bearman to take avoiding action over the grass, spinning around in the process as he shot back across the track. Somehow, he didn’t hit anything and despite the replays of the incident, the race stewards didn’t even make note of it. Baffling.
By finishing in eighth, Nico Hulkenberg scored his first points since his podium in Silverstone. Fernando Alonso claimed the last point on offer in P10, after craftily holding off Liam Lawson in the final phase of the Grand Prix. Hadjar finished in P16 in what was a rare bad weekend for the rookie.
Still, could be worse.
Colapinto Vs Alpine
Meanwhile, there was a storm in a tea cup brewing at the rear of the field. Fighting over what was P17 and P18 with teammate Pierre Gasly, rookie Franco Colapinto believed that he was faster than his experienced teammate and wanted to get past him. When the instruction to hold station came over the team radio then, the Argentine was not a happy bunny.
“What? Hold positions? Why? He’s (Gasly) slow!” – Franco Colapinto
With Verstappen coming up behind to lap the pair of them and Bortoleto also hunting them down, for position, Colapinto defied team orders and overtook Gasly. Unsurprisingly, it didn’t go down well with the team who’d instructed both drivers to manage their cars to ensure both could make it to the end of the Grand Prix.
“As a team, any instruction made by the pitwall is final, and today we are disappointed that this didn’t happen. It’s something we will review and deal with internally.” – Steve Nielsen, Alpine Managing Director
Remaining defiant though, Colapinto defended himself post-race.
“I think it was the right thing to do,” – Franco Colapinto
With no word yet on a contract renewal for Colapinto for 2026, the incident offers an insight into the situation at Alpine. Neither driver nor the team are where they want to be and frustrations are understandable. Perhaps Colapinto’s boldness indicates he’s not worried for his seat with the team or believes he needs to prove what he can do behind the wheel, no matter what. Regardless, the situation remains that had Colapinto finished in third in the Grand Prix, he would still have remained in last place in the Driver’s Championship. Was it worth Alpine replacing Jack Doohan with Franco Colapinto? That conclusion can surely draw itself.
Can Verstappen Win the 2025 F1 Championship?
As has become the norm for most of the Grand Prix in 2025, the United States Grand Prix was not a classic. The potential was there at times but barring any major disruptions, there wasn’t much that was going to make it memorable – save perhaps for the performance from one man – Max Verstappen.
Heading into the weekend of the Italian Grand Prix, Verstappen was 104 points away from Piastri at the top of the Championship. Now that gap is 40 points. As Formula 1 departs from Austin, there remains potential for the final fives races of the season.
“The chance is there.” – Max Verstappen
With Piastri under threat, Norris is certainly in danger, just 26 points away from the Flying Dutchman. If Verstappen can claw back the remaining points and win his fifth World Championship, he’ll have come back from the biggest points deficit in history to win. What’s more, in a Championship that Fred Vasseur not inaccurately described as a “Qualifying Championship” earlier in the year, perhaps the danger of Verstappen is exactly what Formula 1 needs to keep us glued to our screens.
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Formula 1 returns for the Mexican Grand Prix on October 26th.
Feature Image: Red Bull Content Pool