2025 F1 Round 19, United States Grand Prix Sprint: Both McLarens collide and retire on first lap, reshaping title fight

In the early hours of October 19, China Standard Time (UTC+8), the United States Grand Prix Sprint at Round 19 of the 2025 F1 season took place at the Circuit of the Americas. Verstappen (Red Bull) held on to the lead to win the Sprint for the third year in a row, while Yuki Tsunoda (Red Bull) climbed from 18th on the grid to seventh, bringing home 2 valuable points.

The two McLarens at the centre of the title battle, however, suffered a nightmare outcome, with both retiring in a multi-car incident at Turn 1 on the opening lap. Verstappen thus reduced his deficit to championship leader Piastri to 55 points and his gap to Norris, second in the standings, to 33 points.

This was also Verstappen’s 13th Sprint victory since the format was introduced in 2021.

Starting 18th, Tsunoda deftly navigated the first-lap chaos to jump straight to seventh, then maintained a steady pace to hold the position and add 2 valuable points to Red Bull’s tally.

Piastri, who started third, fought for the line side by side with Norris, who had started second, at Turn 1: Norris went slightly deep into the corner, and as Piastri cut back to the inside, Hülkenberg (Sauber) and Alonso (Aston Martin) were already closing in on that side.

As a result, Piastri and Hülkenberg collided, with the impact then sending Piastri into the left rear of Norris’s car. Norris stopped on the spot, Piastri retired with right-front suspension damage, and Alonso was also forced out by damage. A large amount of debris littered the track, prompting an early safety car deployment.

With both McLarens out, victory seemed to be Verstappen’s for the taking, but it was not so straightforward. After the restart on lap 6, he set the fastest lap in an attempt to pull away, but Russell (Mercedes) remained within DRS range and launched an attack at Turn 12, at the end of the long straight, on lap 8.

Russell made a late-braking lunge from behind, briefly moving ahead of Verstappen, but could not slow the car enough and ran off the track. Verstappen therefore retained the lead and crossed the line first, 0.395 seconds ahead.

Sainz (Williams) took third with a determined drive from seventh on the grid. Both Ferraris scored points but were unable to threaten Sainz.

Leclerc made a “stupid mistake” in the high-speed section and was passed by Hamilton at Turn 12. Hamilton finished fourth, while Leclerc held off Albon (Williams) to finish fifth.

On lap 16, Stroll (Aston Martin) collided with Ocon (Haas) at Turn 1, with both retiring. The incident brought out the safety car again, with the race running to the chequered flag under safety car conditions.

After running off the track at Turn 15 and rejoining ahead of Antonelli (Mercedes), Bearman (Haas) was judged to have gained an advantage and handed a 10-second time penalty, dropping him to 15th. Antonelli consequently moved up to eighth and claimed the final point.

As in the previous year, the entire field chose medium tyres for the start. In addition to the high track temperatures, the large amount of debris scattered by the multi-car incident immediately after the start put extra strain on the tyres. Qualifying took place at the same circuit early on the morning of October 19, China Standard Time (UTC+8).