Friday’s program at COTA consisted of a single free practice session (the sprint-format weekend reduces running time), and McLaren showed strong early pace. Lando Norris topped the times in the only practice hour, with Oscar Piastri also comfortable inside the top runners, a reminder that McLaren arrived in Texas with race pace to match their championship form. The session wasn’t drama-free; the condensed timetable left teams with little margin for error ahead of sprint qualifying. 

Sprint qualifying (the session that decides the grid for the sprint) produced one of the weekend’s closest fights. Max Verstappen put in a late lap to take the sprint pole, edging Lando Norris by a few hundredths. Oscar Piastri completed the front three in McLaren's satisfying show of pace. Nico Hülkenberg and George Russell were notable names completing the top five in sprint qualifying. Given the value of sprint points and the chance to reset momentum, Verstappen’s late-session bite was hugely important for Red Bull’s weekend plan

The 19-lap sprint on Saturday unfolded into an incident-packed mini-race that reshaped the weekend.

At Turn 1 on lap one, a big contact eliminated both McLarens from serious contention: Oscar Piastri and Lando Norris were involved in a collision, itself triggered in part by contact with Nico Hülkenberg, and both cars retired. That instant ended McLaren’s hopes of scoring sprint points and handed Verstappen a massive on-track advantage heading into Sunday. The remainder of the sprint included further collisions late in the distance (Lance Stroll’s heavy impact with Esteban Ocon), and the race finished behind the safety car after a late stoppage. Verstappen crossed the line ahead of George Russell and Carlos Sainz to take the sprint win and the valuable sprint points. 

The net effect: while Verstappen collected maximum sprint points and momentum, McLaren walked away nursing damaged cars and a lost opportunity to extend their championship leads. The sprint’s first-corner melee became the story of the day and set up a tense recalibration for Sunday. 

After the sprint, teams quickly pivoted to the main qualifying session for the Grand Prix grid. Verstappen’s confidence carried over. He produced the lap that netted him pole for the race, putting him ahead of Norris and Charles Leclerc in Q3. Championship leader Oscar Piastri, by comparison, struggled to find the same rhythm and could do no better than sixth on Sunday’s grid. The contrast between the Red Bull and McLaren runs underlined that, despite McLaren’s season-long strength, Red Bull remained lethal over a single perfect lap. 

Sunday’s Grand Prix played out as a measured, well-executed victory for Verstappen. From pole, he managed the start, controlled pace, and avoided incidents while others fought through traffic, made strategy calls, and tried to extract advantage from tire windows.

Lando Norris, recovered from his sprint retirement, put in a composed drive to salvage second place for McLaren after the weekend’s earlier disaster, while Charles Leclerc converted strong race pace into a podium for Ferrari. Oscar Piastri fought through to fifth after his sprint retirement; his result limited the damage in terms of championship points but fell short of a maximum recovery. The top five on the day read: Verstappen, Norris, Leclerc, Lewis Hamilton, and Oscar Piastri. 

There were tactical subplots, too: pit-stop timing, tire degradation management on COTA’s abrasive surface, and the aftermath of sprint incidents that forced some teams into remedial setup changes overnight. A couple of penalties and post-race stewarding notes (including a penalty to Haas’ Oliver Bearman in the sprint) were minor footnotes but didn’t alter the podium order on Sunday. 

This was the most load-bearing consequence of Austin: the points swing tightened the drivers’ table and subtly reshaped constructors’ arithmetic.

Drivers’ championship: Going into the weekend, Oscar Piastri and Lando Norris had been leading the championship battle (McLaren’s pair were separated by a slim margin). After McLaren’s double hit in the sprint and Verstappen’s double success (sprint and race), the leaderboard tightened but remained extraordinarily close at the top. Formula 1’s official standings after Austin showed Lando Norris sitting with 357 points, Oscar Piastri on 356, and Max Verstappen on 321. That leaves Verstappen trailing the McLaren duo by mid-30s points, but his momentum and recent form mean he’s unquestionably the team to watch heading into the final rounds. 

Constructors’ championship: McLaren remains comfortably in front in the constructors’ fight, their season consistency giving them a large buffer (McLaren is listed at 678 points). Behind them, the order looked tightly packed: Mercedes, Ferrari, and Red Bull jockeying for positions in the midfield of the table with single-digit or low-double-digit gaps separating them. Austin’s results closed and opened small margins that will matter in the final sprint of races. Red Bull’s pace and Verstappen’s weekend will help close the gap to Ferrari and Mercedes, but McLaren’s lead remains the defining story of the constructors’ season. 

The United States Grand Prix was a microcosm of this season: high speeds, tiny margins, dramatic incidents, and a title fight that refuses to be settled early. Verstappen’s clinical weekend, turning single-lap speed into two wins, tightened the title race and set the stage for a tense run to the chequered flag in the remaining rounds. McLaren still leads both championships thanks to a season’s worth of brilliance, but Austin proved that momentum can swing quickly and spectacularly in Formula 1.

If you like drama, Austin delivered it, and with a points table this close, every session will be must-watch from here on out.