2025 United States Grand Prix Race Review

Linus O'Howell
Oct 20
3 min read

Vintage Verstappen Closes in with Dominant Victory around COTA

It was the Max Verstappen show all weekend long as the 4-time World Champion dominated from lights to flag to take victory and maximum points around the Circuit of the Americas! Lando Norris eventually made the move when it mattered to finish in second, whilst Charles Leclerc rounded out the Podium after an impressive defensive display!

The Biggest Talking Points

As the lights went out, Max Verstappen got a good enough start to remain in the lead out of Turn 1, whilst Charles Leclerc was able to dispatch Lando Norris for second! George Russell had a difficult start, losing 2 places to both Lewis Hamilton and Oscar Piastri, and a yellow flag was then brought out as Alex Albon spun around following contact with Gabriel Bortoleto! A little bit later on, a Virtual Safety Car was called due to an incident between Carlos Sainz and Andrea Kimi Antonelli! Ultimately, this move was more on Sainz than it was Antonelli, and it ruined both guys’ afternoons (Carlos literally retired just a couple of corners later)!

Most of the focus of this Race was firmly around the battle for second between Charles and Lando, with Norris really struggling to clear the slower Ferrari! Eventually, after multiple attempts, Lando was finally able to clear Charles before the breaking zone, and we then got a close scrap between Leclerc and his teammate Hamilton! After the first round of pit stops, Leclerc was back ahead of Norris due to a much earlier stop, and we then got some more carnage at the start of Sector 3 as Oliver Bearman and Yuki Tsunoda came very close to colliding, with Bearman spinning off and losing a place to Nico Hulkenberg as a result! This was a really close call for both drivers! Honestly, the only real overtaking in this Race came from either Lance Stroll or Kimi Antonelli, with both guys pulling off some nice moves, and we managed to get one more in the final few laps as Lando Norris repassed Charles Leclerc for an important P2! It’s crazy to think that we haven’t really spoken about the Championship leader once, but that’s simply because Oscar Piastri was absolutely nowhere, finishing 5th after a serious lack of pace! Worrying times for the young Aussie!

The Standout Drives in the Race

I’ve given out two 10’s for the 2025 United States Grand Prix, and the first one is obviously for Max Verstappen! This was literally a perfect weekend from Max, a Perfect 40 in my ratings, and Verstappen now finds himself “only” 40 points off the Championship lead! He couldn’t, could he?! The other driver I’ve given out maximum points to is Charles Leclerc, and I’ve been tossing and turning over this, but I do think it’s fair! Ferrari haven’t been great recently, they started this weekend terribly, but Leclerc did everything he could today, and I don’t think losing the place to Norris is worthy of a downgrade! Elsewhere, Lando Norris did what he could to get back to second, whilst both Nico Hulkenberg and Oliver Bearman scored good points respectively (Nico especially)!

Drivers Who Had a Shocker

I’ve only given out one 1 for this Race, and that is unfortunately for Carlos Sainz! This was a real shame for Carlos as he was having a pretty brilliant weekend up to this point, and whilst I totally got why he went for the move, it ultimately cost him big time! Otherwise, I think Gabriel Bortoleto was pretty slow; he’s had a really poor weekend, whilst I have to mention that Alpine’s Race pace was absolutely horrendous!