Verstappen Sweeps Sprint And Clinches Pole In Austin; Reduces Gap To Norris, Piastri

It was a 'simply lovely' Saturday at the office for Max Verstappen in Formula One, as the four-time world champion swept the sprint session in Austin Grand Prix before claiming pole position ahead of the race on Sunday.

Having already claimed pole on the sprint on Friday, Verstappen started Saturday with a sprint race victory, helped by a collision on Turn 1 that sent both McLaren cars, as well as Nico Hulkenberg, crashing out of the race.

Capitalising on the early collision, Max took an early lead and was able to consolidate his position behind a safety car right at the beginning of the race.

In fact, Max finished the race behind the second safety car, which was deployed after Lance Stroll collided with Esteban Ocon. Max finished P1, followed by George Russell in P2 and Carlos Sainz Jr. in P3.

Verstappen's triumph in the sprint race, coupled with both McLarens getting knocked out early, meant that the Flying Dutchman has now closed the gap to Championship leader Oscar Piastri to 55 points and second-placed Lando Norris to 33 points.

Later on Saturday, Verstappen was also able to continue his momentum and secure pole position, with just one run.

With track temperatures reaching 48 centigrade, Verstappen was fastest in all-three sessions using the soft compound tyres. In Q3, he only needed one run to clock a lap time of 1:32:510 seconds. He missed the cut off to start the second flying lap at the end of the session.

Lando Norris, meanwhile, improved on his second lap to line up in P2 but his teammate and Championship leader Piastri had a dismal outing and will start in P6, behind Charles Leclerc, who will start in P3, George Russell (P4) and Lewis Hamilton (P5).

With 25 more points up for grabs for Max Verstappen in the main race on Sunday, a hypothetical repeat of fate for McLaren could see him close the gap to Piastri to just 30 points by the end of the Austrian Grand Prix.

However, team McLaren will be keen on avoiding more collisions heading into the main race, and the onus will be on Piastri to secure at least a P3, in order to sustain the commanding lead over Verstappen.