Red Bull’s Max Verstappen will aim to continue his dominant Sprint run at this weekend in Austin. Of the 15 Sprints since 2021, the reigning World Champion has come out on all but five occasions with Valtteri Bottas having won two, and Sergio Perez, George Russell, and Oscar Piastri all having come out on top once a piece.
A win at Saturday's 2pm ET Sprint would mark Verstappen’s sixth successive Sprint win — and his eighth in two years. The Dutchman qualified on pole for the Sprints in both Miami and Austria earlier this season, while he rallied back from fourth in China to take the win.
Meanwhile, McLaren’s Lando Norris will hope he can continue to eat away at Verstappen’s 52-point championship lead over him this weekend — starting with the Sprint.
Sprints have been something of an Achilles heel for this year’s championship hopeful, who has yet to gain a position on his Sprint qualifying spot in the subsequent Sprint race in the current format. In fact, the last time Norris improved on his qualifying spot in the subsequent Sprint was back in Austria two years ago. Thankfully for Norris, he’s been in top form in recent races, winning from pole in two of the last four Grand Prix, and finishing in the top four in each.
As for Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc, who currently sits third in the championship standing, just 34 points behind Norris, Austin is another opportunity for him to finally come out on top in a Sprint. He came close in Miami, finishing second behind the 'Flying Dutchman' before a disappointing seventh-place finish in Austria. It is worth noting, however, that the Monegasque has gained positions in the last four Sprint Races.
If history is anything to go by, then another driver to keep an eye out for could be Mercedes’ Lewis Hamilton. The seven-time World Champion’s five wins at COTA are the most in the series, while last year, he rose from third to second in the Austin Sprint Race. Sprint races have been a mixed bag for Hamilton this season, finishing second in China before 16th and sixth placed finishes in Miami and Austria respectively. But given his track record, and coming off of a Fall break, perhaps the 39-year-old can conjure up something special in Texas once more.
