Numerous retirements

LIVE: Verstappen remains in the lead after restart

Max Verstappen takes the sprint win in Austin. Both McLaren cars retired.(Bild: Krone KREATIV/Associated Press, APA/AFP/Jim WATSON)

Max Verstappen celebrated a start-to-finish victory in the sprint race at the Formula 1 USA Grand Prix. After 19 laps, the Dutchman, who started from pole position in the Red Bull, came out on top ahead of Mercedes driver George Russell and Carlos Sainz in the Williams. After a pile-up in the first corner with dozens of pieces of debris, at the center of which were both McLaren drivers, Saturday's race in Austin had to be stopped early with a safety car.

The key player at the start was championship leader Oscar Piastri, for whom the space next to Nico Hülkenberg and Lando Norris was simply too tight. The Australian was virtually leveraged out by Hülkenberg's right front wheel and subsequently damaged his car and that of his team-mate Norris. The incident was classified by the stewards as a conventional racing accident.

Here is the result in detail:

The key player in the starting phase was championship leader Oscar Piastri, for whom the space next to Nico Hülkenberg and Lando Norris simply became too tight. The Australian was virtually leveraged out by Hülkenberg's right front wheel and subsequently damaged his car and that of his team-mate Norris. The incident was classified as a conventional racing accident by the stewards.

"That was terrible. None of our drivers are to blame," said McLaren boss Zak Brown in an interview with Sky Sports. It was initially unclear whether the McLaren cars would be roadworthy again in time for qualifying for the main race (23:00 LIVE in the sportkrone.at ticker).

Russell attacked Verstappen
The safety car pulled out on lap 5, giving Verstappen a clear run at the front. Behind him, Russell, Sainz and the two Ferraris had kept out of everything and got into a good position. On lap 8, Russell attacked Verstappen and both spun off the track. There was no penalty. One lap later, Lewis Hamilton passed his team-mate after a driving error by Charles Leclerc.

The race came to an end behind the safety car. After an accident involving Lance Stroll and Esteban Ocon, the vehicle with driver Bernd Mayländer had to be deployed once again.

The victory reduced Verstappen's deficit on Piastri to 55 points. The defending champion is in third place behind Norris. "It took us a few laps to get a decent pace after the safety car, so we need to find out what the reason was," said Verstappen. "We need to be better in race trim tomorrow to be able to fight against the McLaren."