Piastri (346 points) was a distant fifth on Sunday, allowing Norris to pull within 14 points with five grand prix races to go
Max Verstappen with the US GP winner’s trophy on Sunday. Pic/Getty Images
Red Bull’s Max Verstappen raced to his third victory in four races at the Formula 1 United States Grand Prix, while McLaren’s Lando Norris took a huge chunk out of teammate Oscar Piastri’s championship lead by finishing second.
Piastri (346 points) was a distant fifth on Sunday, allowing Norris to pull within 14 points with five grand prix races to go.
Verstappen is also closing in on the championship leader with his late-season charge. The Dutchman now trails Piastri by 40 points in third place, and has put the McLarens on notice about his title credentials.
“It was an unbelievable weekend for us. We’ve caught up [to Piastri] a lot. The chance [to win the title] is there. We just need to try to deliver these kind of perfect weekends until the end of the season,” said four-time world champion Verstappen.
While the Dutch driver built a 10-second lead by the halfway point, it was Norris and Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc slugging it out for second place, which the Briton sealed with a late overtake.
“It was a good battle with Charles. We’ll have to take second. No more we could have done today,” said Norris.
Meanwhile, Piastri’s day never got going. The Australian started sixth and quickly made up a spot in the first few corners, but was stuck there for the rest of the race.
Piastri’s lead is rapidly shrinking under pressure. He hasn’t won since the Dutch GP (August 31) and hasn’t finished on the podium in the last three races.
“I’d still rather be where I am than Norris and Verstappen, but obviously this weekend was not what I wanted or expected,” said the disappointed Australian driver.
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