Verstappen ramps up Drivers’ Championship pressure on McLaren duo with imperious victory at COTA; Norris makes late race move on Leclerc to secure P2; Piastri continues to falter down the stretch, finishes P5
Red Bull’s second half renaissance continued in emphatic manner as their unparalleled ace Max Verstappen gave a masterclass at the Circuit of the Americas on Sunday to notch a dominant win in the United States Grand Prix and his record seventh victory in American soil. Not only did Verstappen score his third win from the last four races but the Flying Dutchman also continued to ratchet up the pressure on the McLaren duo of Oscar Piastri and Lando Norris in his effort to overhaul them in a long shot bid to retain his Drivers’ Championship crown and secure his fifth consecutive F1 title. While Verstappen still trails points leader Piastri by forty points and the second place Norris by twenty-six, both McLaren drivers and the team itself have had their issues in recent races, even as the Red Bull braintrust have greatly improved the aerodynamics of their RB21, turning it back into a fearsome on-track weapon. Crucially, Verstappen took advantage of a race-ending collision between the two Papaya pilots on the opening lap of Saturday’s sprint race en route to victory in that hors d’oeuvre, scoring 8 points from that 19-lap contest compared to a big fat zero for either McLaren driver. Both Papaya drivers survived Sunday’s Grand Prix to score points at the checkered flag, with Norris crucially overcoming a slow second pit stop by his mechanics and making a late race pass on Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc on Lap 51 of this 56-lap contest to regain second place and maximize his possible points on the day. Meanwhile, Piastri continued to falter down the home stretch of 2025 and could do no better than P5 after a mediocre Saturday Qualifying saw the young Australian title aspirant start from P6 on the gird. That spread between the two McLarens’ finishing positions saw Norris pull to within 14 of Piastri with only five more races remaining. So, the pressure will be squarely on Piastri to get it together and regain his dominant early season form when the teams head to Mexico in a week’s time. The young Aussie will need every bit of his vaunted calm, cool demeanor with teammate Norris breathing down his neck and Verstappen and Red Bull looking like they’ve regained their vintage, domineering form.
A lunge from Lando! 😮💨
This is the move that earned the McLaren driver P2 in the end, passing Charles for the second step of the podium 🥈#F1 #USGP pic.twitter.com/1YBak0Mzrt
— Formula 1 (@F1) October 19, 2025
Despite Leclerc getting demoted by Norris to third place late in the going, it was still a very good day for Ferrari overall. Leclerc easily maintained a large cushion over all other chasers behind him to secure that valuable podium position, and teammate Lewis Hamilton also drove an excellent race to improve on his P5 start and record a solid P4 result Better yet for the Scuderia, Mercedes’ George Russell slipped two positions from his starting grid spot down to a P6 finish, while Silver Arrows teammate Kimi Antonelli did not score after a costly collision with the Williams of Carlos Sainz on Lap 7. Sainz was assessed a 5-grid spot penalty for Mexico but the damage was done and Mercedes saw their lead over Ferrari trimmed to just seven points for second place in the all-important Constructors’ Championship, McLaren having already sewn up the top spot, of course.
Top 10 finishers of the USGP:
| POS. | NO. | DRIVER | TEAM | LAPS | TIME / RETIRED | PTS. |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 1 | Max Verstappen | Red Bull Racing | 56 | 1:34:00.161 | 25 |
| 2 | 4 | Lando Norris | McLaren | 56 | +7.959s | 18 |
| 3 | 16 | Charles Leclerc | Ferrari | 56 | +15.373s | 15 |
| 4 | 44 | Lewis Hamilton | Ferrari | 56 | +28.536s | 12 |
| 5 | 81 | Oscar Piastri | McLaren | 56 | +29.678s | 10 |
| 6 | 63 | George Russell | Mercedes | 56 | +33.456s | 8 |
| 7 | 22 | Yuki Tsunoda | Red Bull Racing | 56 | +52.714s | 6 |
| 8 | 27 | Nico Hulkenberg | Kick Sauber | 56 | +57.249s | 4 |
| 9 | 87 | Oliver Bearman | Haas F1 Team | 56 | +64.722s | 2 |
| 10 | 14 | Fernando Alonso | Aston Martin | 56 | +70.001s | 1 |
Complete race results available via Formula1.com.
The next round is in but a week’s time as the teams make the short trip from Austin to Mexico City. Can Verstappen continue his and Red Bull’s resurgence in the thin air at Autodromo Hermanos Rodriguez? Will Norris keep surging to close in on or even overtake his intrateam rival? Or can Piastri regain the surgical precision and sang-froid that powered him to the points lead that he is now so desperately clinging to? Hope to see you then to find out how it all shakes out!