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November 14, 2025
Max Verstappen surged back into the 2025 Formula 1 title fight with a dominant F1 US GP victory as Lando Norris overcame Charles Leclerc in a tense duel for second.
Starting from pole position, the reigning world champion led every lap of the 56-lap race, showcasing exceptional pace and tyre management to secure his fifth win of the season.
Verstappen’s flawless race execution put immense pressure on championship leader Oscar Piastri and his McLaren teammate Lando Norris, as the Red Bull driver narrowed his deficit to 40 points with just five races remaining in the season.
From the outset, Max Verstappen rocketed off the line to maintain his lead into Turn 1, immediately asserting control over the race.
Behind him, the battle for the chasing positions unfolded intensely as Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc and McLaren’s Lando Norris jostled for second place.
Norris, who had a slow start and dropped to third behind Leclerc at the start, was determined to reclaim his position and began mounting pressure on the Ferrari driver.
Meanwhile, Oscar Piastri managed to overtake Mercedes’ George Russell and settled into fifth place during the early phases of the race.
On Lap 7, Carlos Sainz made contact with Kimi Antonelli’s Mercedes while attempting an overtake on the inside at Turn 15, triggering a Virtual Safety Car.
While Antonelli was able to resume his race, Sainz parked a couple of turns later with a damaged Williams front, ending his promising chances of a points-finish.
After the race resumed on Lap 10, Verstappen steadily extended his lead while managing his tyres to avoid overheating, a critical factor on the hot Texas circuit.
Meanwhile, Leclerc held the upper hand in battle for second, frustrating Norris’s attempts to pass which required the McLaren driver to employ strategic patience.
However, Norris got the black and white flag for exceeding track limits on Lap 13, 15 and 19 respectively, putting him under pressure to not be too overeager in his challenges against Leclerc.
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The Briton managed to finally find a way past the Monesgaque at the outside of Turn 15 before Ferrari opted to call him in for a switch to Mediums, rejoining in ninth position.
The second Ferrari of Lewis Hamilton followed Norris in third with Russell and Piastri in fourth and fifth, respectively.
Piastri started struggling with his tyres after abandoning McLaren’s strategy call to run on Softs until the end of the race but pitted on Lap 31 to avoid Russell’s undercut, dropping him to seventh.
Leclerc had clawed his way back to fourth as Norris opted to pit for Softs on Lap 33 after a big lock-up at Turn 15, promoting Russell who was yet to stop to second before effectively relinquishing the position back to Leclerc.
Meanwhile, Verstappen’s impeccable tyre and pace management allowed him to carve out a 10-second lead after a well-timed single-stop on Lap 34 to change from mediums to softs, making it difficult for rivals to close the gap.
As the race approached its final ten laps, Norris found himself behind Leclerc pushing aggressively for an overtake on the faster tyres but soon reported a lot of wear, forcing him to bid his time for a cool off.
On Lap 51, Norris made a dive up the inside of Leclerc at Turn 1, but outbraked himself and Leclerc was able to retake the place.
Norris finally made a move on Leclerc at Turn 12 to take second place, and proceeded to quickly open up a gap of over a second.
At the front, Verstappen maintained a lead of 8.6 seconds all the way to the checkered flag to seal a dominant F1 US GP victory ahead of Norris and Leclerc.
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Lewis Hamilton put in a solid race for Ferrari in fourth followed by Oscar Piastri who clawed his way back to finish fifth which was detrimental to the 2025 Formula 1 title fight, his championship lead over Norris now reduced to just 14 points.
Behind the top five, George Russell delivered a steady performance to finish sixth for Mercedes, followed by Yuki Tsunoda in the second Red Bull.
Nico Hulkenberg impressed with a solid points finish for Sauber in eighth, while Oliver Bearman and Fernando Alonso rounded out the points for Haas and Aston Martin, respectively.
