Max Verstappen cruises to easy victory in US Grand Prix sprint race

The Dutchman led unchallenged from pole position to chequered flag to finish nearly ten seconds clear of revitalised seven-time champion Lewis Hamilton of Mercedes. Charles Leclerc came home third for Ferrari.

It was Verstappen's third sprint race win of the season and buoyed his prospects for another triumph in Sunday's Grand Prix race when he will start from sixth on the grid after having his best qualifying lap deleted for exceeding track limits.

Lando Norris maintained McLaren's much-improved form by taking a strong fourth place ahead of Sergio Perez in the second Red Bull and Carlos Sainz in the second Ferrari.

George Russell finished seventh in the second Mercedes, but he was relegated to eighth after taking a five-second penalty, thus elevating Pierre Gasly of Alpine to seventh.

Williams Alex Albon finished ninth, just missing a point, with McLaren's Australian rookie Oscar Piastri -- winner of the previous sprint in Qatar -- 10th.

Daniel Ricciardo returned after missing five races with a broken hand and was 12th for AlphaTauri.

"The hand hasn't affected me this weekend so it's been good," said the Australian."

The main event at the Texas track is on Sunday with Leclerc starting on pole position and Verstappen chasing his 50th grand prix win from sixth on the grid.

A front row starter has always won in Austin but there would be no great surprise if Verstappen proves an exception to the rule.

"Starting P6 is going to be a bit different than today," said Verstappen, who controlled the race from start to finish and extended his unassailable lead in the championship to 213 points.

"But it makes it interesting and hopefully we can have a bit of fun out there tomorrow."

Dominant Red Bull and Verstappen have already secured both the constructors' and drivers' world championships with a fistful of races to spare.

Red Bull have also won 16 of 17 races this year.

Verstappen chopped Leclerc aggressively towards the pitlane exit on the opening uphill run to turn one, with Hamilton then forced wide over the kerbs but passing the Ferrari around the outside.

In the early laps, Verstappen and 2021 title rival Hamilton ran close enough for the Briton to have a drag reduction benefit, and perhaps dream of a first win of any sort in two years.

Then the Red Bull pulled away and it was game over.

"It was quite tight but luckily there is a lot of space going into Turn One, so that definitely helps," said Verstappen, the first driver to win three sprints in a single season.

"After that we could do our own race, control the pace a bit. I had a bit of fun at the end, pushing a bit more."