Follow Mail Sport’s live blog for the US Grand Prix from Austin, as Charles Leclerc starts from pole position as he looks for a first win this seaso, while newly-crowned world champion Max Verstappen starts sixth.
Follow Mail Sport’s live blog for the US Grand Prix from Austin, as Charles Leclerc starts from pole position as he looks for a first win this seaso, while newly-crowned world champion Max Verstappen starts sixth.
Pushed all the way but the world champion gets the job done.
Verstappen will see this out as he gets DRS after lappijg Zhou.
Hamilton has given it a really good go.
Verstappen bites back at his engineer when he tries to give him an update on Hamilton.
Those brakes causing himserious trouble now.
The gap is now down to 2.8 seconds.
Perez moves past Leclerc into fifth.
Not much prgoress for Hamilton.
Verstappen on his way to another victory now.
The gap between Hamilton and Verstappen is below five second.
Five laps to go…
It was only a matter of time.
Norris tries to hold him off but his efforts were futile.
Can the Brit trouble Verstappen now?
Hamilton is getting closer and closer to Norris. Shouldnt be long to he passes him.
Norris looks to have given up on battling with Verstappen.
Leclerc is asked if he would prefer is stick with plan C of move to plan D. He says plan C is ruining his race.
Couldn’t have gone much worse for him so far.
Verstappen is slwoly opening up a bit of a gap at the front.
Hamilton is looking good in third. He might be the biggest threat to Verstappen.
Verstappen has the lead but he’s still complaning about those brakes.
The gap to Norris is now 1.8 seconds.
He makes the move on Leclerc and he’s back in front.
Norris then does the same to go 2nd.
Leclerc still only on one stop. Ferrari’s strategy failing them once again.
1. Hamilton
3. Leclerc
4. Verstappen
6. Russell
18 laps to go…
A fine stop from McLaren for Norris.
Red Bull follow and their stop is a couyple seconds slower.
Verstappen does get out in front of Norris but there’s no gap now.
Hamilton has the lead, for now.
Verstappen is now breaking away at the front but he isn’t comfortable.
He says his brakes are a ‘piece of sh*t’. Not happy one bit.
Norris isn’t letting Verstappen get away from him. Leclerc now finds himself down in sixth.
Verstappen pases Norris to take his familiar position.
Norris questions if he exceeded track limits but he didn’t.
Hamilton is drifting away at 3rd.
It’s only looking like a matter of time until Verstappen passes Norris.
Verstappen is finding serious pace now on these medium tyres.
The gap to Norris is only just over a second.
Alonso is now up into the points after a pit lane start.
Verstappen is closing the gap on Norris at the front.
Hamilton is flying now on those fresh tires. Leclerc leads but he still hasn’t pitted.
Hamilton does now pit as he tells his team he’s struggling. Leclerc leads.
Russell 2nd. Norris 3rd. Verstappen 4th.
Hamilton now has a six second lead at the front. He’s yet to pit.
Norris goes into the pits, leaving Hamilton to take the lead.
Sainz and Perez also go in.
Norris tells his team he’s struggling with the balance of his car.
Maybe the tires are getting a little bit tired.
The gap between him and Hamilton is now under two seconds.
Hamilton is closing the gap on Norris at the front.
Alonso is making progress. He’s one place outside the points.
A good battle between the two drivers but the world champion does eventually get past to move into 3rd.
Massive problems from the McLaren driver. He’s told to retire the car.
The race has settled down now.
Zhou is the first driver into the pits as he looks for the undercut.
Hamilton passes Leclerc with ease to move behind race leader Norris.
The McLaren driver’s lead is at nearly 4 seconds.
It’s another DNF for Ocon, whose race is over.
The Mercedes driver passes Sainz and Verstapen then does the same.
The old rivals sit 3rd and 4th.
Norris is flying at the front. Nearly three seconds ahead of Leclerc already.
Russell gets past Ocon into 7th, Perez then does the same and slots into 8th.
Norris gets away quicker than Leclerc and steals the lead!
Verstappen up to fifth already.
The two Ferraris sit in 2nd and 3rd.
Leclerc leads the cars away. It’s a lovely day at the Circuit of the Americas.
The two Britons are making their 100th race start in Formula 1 at the United States Grand Prix.
Max Verstappen won perhaps the most pointless Formula One race ever staged in baking Austin last night, a 19-lap sprint that is the smallest footnote in his season par excellence.
With the Red Bull star having wrapped up his third successive title in Qatar a fortnight ago, the remainder of the calendar is something of an anti-climax, but this format especially exacerbates the predicament.
1) Charles Leclerc
2) Lando Norris
3) Lewis Hamilton
4) Carlos Sainz
5) George Russell
6) Max Verstappen
7) Pierre Gasly
8) Esteban Ocon
9) Sergio Perez
10) Oscar Piastri
11) Yuki Tsunoda
12) Zhou Guanyu
13) Valtteri Bottas
14) Daniel RIcciardo
15) Alex Albon
16) Logan Sargeant
Pit start) Nico Hulkenberg*
Pit start) Fernando Alonso*
Pit start) Lance Stroll*
Pit start) Kevin Magnussen*
Both Aston Martins and both Haas cars start from pit lane after making car changes overnight
And welcome to Mail Sport’s live coverage of the US Grand Prix.
Charles Leclerc is on pole with the race starting at 8pm.