F1 US Grand Prix LIVE: Sprint race results and standings as Lando Norris drops places on last lap
F1 live updates from the Circuit of the Americas as Norris looks to close the gap to Verstappen
Lando Norris risks losing ground to Max Verstappen in his bid to be crowned world champion after seeing his rival take pole position for Saturday’s sprint race in the United States.
Norris, who trails Verstappen by 52 points heading into the concluding six rounds of the campaign, will line up three places behind Verstappen for the 19-lap dash after he qualified a disappointing fourth at Austin’s Circuit of the Americas.
Verstappen has not won since the Spanish Grand Prix, nearly four months ago, but he pulled out an impressive lap in the closing seconds to beat Mercedes’ George Russell to top spot by just 0.012 seconds.
Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc will line up from third, one place ahead of Norris, with Lewis Hamilton seventh.
Follow live updates from the United States Grand Prix with The Independent
F1 US Grand Prix: Carlos Sainz, after finishing second..
“They were fun battles, a good sprint. A lot going on, towards the end I was struggling with the tyres. We made it stick into turn one, it was a fun one!
“It’s encouraging to see for tomorrow we have a chance. For qualifying, our car is not in the best place.”
F1 US Grand Prix: Lando Norris, who finished third...
“It was a good race, I’m pretty happy with how things ended up. I thought I could hand on to second, my front tyres were completely finished.
“Disappointing end but happy with the race result, good amount of points.
“Today was a good start, good first corner. I did the most I could, we don’t have the pace on Max or the Ferraris.”
F1 US Grand Prix: Max Verstappen wins the sprint race!
Verstappen wins by 3.8 seconds!
Carlos Sainz takes second, while Lando Norris holds onto third from Charles Leclerc!
5-8: Russell, Hamilton, Magnussen, Hulkenberg
Norris and Leclerc were so close to touching in the final sector!
But a big win for Verstappen, who extends his lead in the championship from 52 points to 54 points!
F1 US Grand Prix: Final lap! (Lap 19/19)
Carlos Sainz has taken second place from Lando Norris!
Norris locked up at turn 1 on the final lap - and Norris drops to third!
Can he hold off Leclerc now?!
F1 US Grand Prix: Norris under pressure! (Lap 18/19)
Two laps remaining and Carlos Sainz now has DRS on Lando Norris - he’s 0.8 seconds behind!
Charles Leclerc also has DRS on his team-mate Sainz... should be a dramatic finish!
Top-8: Verstappen, Norris, Sainz, Leclerc, Russell, Hamilton, Magnussen, Hulkenberg
F1 US Grand Prix: Verstappen extends his lead (Lap 15/19)
Verstappen’s lead is now 2.2 seconds - it looks like he’s got the sprint win wrapped up!
Norris, in second, looks safe with seven points as Leclerc trails by 1.3 seconds.
Top-8: Verstappen, Norris, Sainz, Leclerc, Russell, Hamilton, Magnussen, Hulkenberg
F1 US Grand Prix: Oscar Piastri receives a penalty (Lap 12/19)
The McLaren - now in 12th - gets a five-second penalty for forcing Pierre Gasly off track.
A fair call. It was overly aggressive by the Aussie at turn 12.
F1 US Grand Prix: Russell continues to drop off (Lap 11/19)
Charles Leclerc now takes fourth place from George Russell coming out of turn 12!
Russell: “My front left is toast!”
Russell has dropped from second to fifth!
Top-8: Verstappen, Norris, Sainz, Leclerc, Russell, Hamilton, Magnussen, Hulkenberg
F1 US Grand Prix: Carlos Sainz takes third place (Lap 10/19)
Russell is struggling now and Sainz takes third place, with great traction in that Ferrari!
Can Sainz catch Lando?!
Top-8: Verstappen, Norris, Sainz, Russell, Leclerc, Hamilton, Magnussen, Hulkenberg
F1 US Grand Prix: Norris slowly closing the gap to Verstappen (Lap 10/19)
OK, so now the pace is coming to Lando Norris.
George Russell behind him has dropped way off - 1.6 seconds - and Norris is now 1.3 seconds off Max Verstappen.
Will he have enough time? Over halfway through the sprint race now...
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