Max Verstappen landed on American soil from World Champion for the third time after the victory of Sprint Race on the Losail circuit. The Dutch he has nothing more to lose, but not for this reason the desire to win of Red Bull's #1 seems to be finished. After a mistake in Friday qualifying of the Spruce United States Prize, Max Verstappen redeems himself taking pole position in the Sprint Shootout and subsequently winning the latter.
Verstappen wins the United States Grand Prix Sprint Race
Fantastic start when the traffic lights go out Austin Sprint Race for Max Verstappen. The Dutch Lion defends himself tooth and nail from Charles Leclerc's attack, even going as far as almost push him off the track. Behind him, however, something appears ghost of the past, that of Lewis Hamilton.
For the first 5 laps of the Sprint in the United States, It felt like we had gone back two seasons, to that 2021 in which Verstappen and Hamilton competed wheel to wheel in every stage of the world championship. The magic soon ends when the car of the Red Bull increase your pace, leaving the seven-time world champion behind.
Verstappen, undisturbed, crosses the finish line first of the fifth Sprint Race of this 2023 season. Max, on Sunday will have the opportunity to win his 50th race in Formula 1, but to do so will have to go back up since it will start from the sixth square on the grid.
“Tomorrow's goal? Obviously win"
In the usual ones post-race interviews was asked Verstappen, if the maneuver made on Leclerc was clean, Max replies: "It was a bit on the edge. There's a lot of space in Turn 1 and that definitely helped”. Verstappen then talks about the difficulties encountered during the Sprint of the United States Grand Prix: “Hamilton remained there for a few laps to a few tenths, so I had to check the braking zones. The DRS is powerful here, once we got out of the DRS zone we set another pace".
Verstappen will start from sixth place on the grid in Sunday's race and admits: “We will need this race pace, especially starting from sixth place”. She then continues by saying: “Sit will be different compared to the Sprint, but it will make the race more interesting and I hope to have fun with some overtaking on the track”. The three-time champion doesn't mince words reveals the objective: “Obviously win".
