F1 US Grand Prix 2024 Sprint results: Late Norris drama produces fresh title TWIST

Max Verstappen continued an impressive comeback from the autumn break at the US Grand Prix in Saturday’s sprint race, winning comfortably from pole to extend his championship lead by two points.A brilliant start from Lando Norris saw the British title challenger up into second early, where he remained for 18 of the remaining 19 laps – but his ailing tyres saw the Ferrari of Carlos Sainz pass him into Turn 1 on the final lap, with Charles Leclerc battling him shortly afterward.George Russell started the day second on the grid, but was passed by both Ferraris in the middle of the race after burning out his tyres chasing Norris, and spent the final laps defending fifth place from his team-mate Lewis Hamilton.A fascinating subplot starting this weekend is the fight for Sergio Perez’s Red Bull seat for next season, with Helmut Marko framing it as a six-race shootout between the Mexican, Liam Lawson and Yuki Tsunoda for the seat alongside Verstappen.Perez finished behind the Haas pair of Kevin Magnussen and Nico Hulkenberg, while Tsunoda in the lead VCARB finished 11th and Lawson, in his first race of the season, could only finish 16th.McLaren’s second driver Oscar Piastri had a race to forget, ending up 10th after picking up a five-second penalty.