F1 | 2023 US F1 Grand Prix Result, Sprint Race Result, Lap by Lap, Review & Summary

Yee-hah, we’re in Texas for a prime double of a Saturday sprint race and the main meal on a Sunday.  To cover both races and so much more is our 2023 US F1 Grand Prix Result Summary which covers both races and anything else of interest.

This 2023 US Grand Prix Result, Lap by Lap, Review & Summary gives you just enough to catch up with. With just a hint of cynicism, bias, opinion and colour. The perfect bite sized review for those who couldn’t be bothered, or don’t have enough time. And you get it for both the main race on Sunday and the Sprint Race on Saturday. So read on.

READ MORE:

2023 US Grand Prix Preview
2023 Qatar Grand Prix Review
2023 Qatar Grand Prix Ratings and Driver of the Year
Our 2023 F1 Calendar & Results

2023 US F1 Grand Prix Result Sprint Race Summary

Didn’t see the race live? Don’t have time to watch the whole race? Well here are the top laps where stuff happened. We write these live as we go, sort of like a minute by minute for the football, but marginally more interesting.

Setting the scene – Standard qualifying result for the sprint race with Max Verstappen taking pole, but the other cars seem closer. Ferrari look quick and in particular Charles Leclerc, Lewis Hamilton looks sharp and has a great history here, and Lando Norris is always competitive. That’s your top four and the winner will come from that group.

Lap 1 – Pole sitter Max Verstappen gets away OK but so does Charles Leclerc and Verstappen pushes him almost off the track – and it’s a wide track going into the first turn. Verstappen retains first. Behind Lewis Hamilton takes advantage and steals second from the Ferrari. Further back Sainz pinches Norris’ 4th on his soft tyres (only driver to do so). No real drama or major position swapping further behind.

SAFETY CAR DEPLOYED

ORDER – VER HAM LEC SAI NOR PIA PER RUS GAS ALB

Lap 3 – Decent battle raging between Oscar Piastri, Sergio Perez and George Russell for 6th. Perez possibly battling for his Red Bull career after yet another underwhelming qualifying for both the sprint and main race. Perez and Russell both overtake Piastri before the lap is done. Two laps later Pierre Gasly gets by too, and no points for Piastri. But the rookie McLaren held his own for sure. By the way, five second penalty for George Russell for his move on Piastri – going wide and gaining position.

Lap 4 – At the front for  change anf there’s less than a second between Lewis Hamilton and Max Vestappen with the Mercedes looking quite good, and Hamilton is a track master. Maybe we’ll finally get the battle for first we’ve been craving for a while. Max Verstappen is on the radio complaining about driveability of his car too. Lewis radioes a bit later saying the Red Bull has run wide a few times. That was as close as Hamilton was going to get.

Lap 6 – Carlos Sainz’s soft tyres appear to be going off already and Lando Norris is all over him, but he can’t get past. He’d better hurry up as Sergio Perez is looming. Norris and Sainz swap positions and swap back on lap 8. They’re still going at it on lap 9, but the McLaren finally gets by on lap 10.

Lap 10 – Halfway point and the battle at the front is all but decided with Max Verstappen ahead by around three second and Charles Leclerc another three seconds or so behind that. With Norris in front of Sainz now, we’ll see if he can annoy the top three. Further back the Australians are putting the Down Under into Australian F1 drivers as Piastri is 10th (from 5th) and on his final warning for track limits, and Daniel Ricciardo is 13th (from 10th).

Lap 11 – Perez gets by Sainz for 5th, the Ferrari will be lucky to score points on these soft tyres.

ORDER – VER HAM LEC NOR PER SAI RUS GAS ALB PIA

Lap 13 – George Russell is right on Carlos Sainz’s tail, and he needs to get past to make up some ground for his five second penalty. Russell gets past into turn 1 on lap 14, but Sainz immediately takes him back. At least Russell didn’t turf him off this time, unlike last season’s lap 1.

Lap 15 – Max Verstappen is over five seconds in front of Lewis Hamilton, and only a mechanical failure can stop him now. And there have been very few of those this season. No real movement elsewhere in the top 10 either. One does wonder if these sprint races are worth it. We can sample the lack of racing once a weekend thanks.

Lap 17 – Lance Stroll retires from the sprint race with no brakes.

Lap 18 – George Russell is still behind Carlos Sainz, and behind him Alex Albon is trying to make up the time to steal the final point. He is six seconds behind and needs to be under five seconds.

Final Lap – Max Verstappen wins easily, nearly nine seconds in front, so at a click of half a second per lap or thereabouts. Lewis Hamilton looks best of the rest, which we’re not sure is that great a prize. Behind that Lando Norris did some damage to Leclerc’s lead, getting within a second by the end. George Russell’s penalty dropped him from 7th to 8th only.

ORDER – VER HAM LEC NOR PER SAI GAS RUS ALB PIA

2023 US F1 Grand Prix Result Main Race Summary

Didn’t see the race live? Don’t have time to watch the whole race? Well here are the top laps where stuff happened. We write these live as we go, sort of like a minute by minute for the football, but marginally more interesting.

Setting the scene – Max Verstappen takes the sprint race with a dominant win, but he doesn’t get it all his own way on the Sunday for the main race as Charles Leclerc took pole position in Friday’s qualifying. Verstappen briefly took pole but the lap was removed and he ended up 6th. Ahead is a cavalcade of rivals, all with genuine chances of staying ahead of Max Verstappen for at least 10 laps. Lando Norris produced a super lap for second, and Lewis Hamilton looks a genuine chance to win as well from third. He has form in Austin. This could actually be one of the races of the season. Or Verstappen thrashes them and takes the lead within 15 laps.

GRID (Starting Order) – LEC NOR HAM SAI RUS VER GAS OCO PER PIA

Lap 1 –  Lando Norris gets away best and takes the lead into the first corner. Sainz makes it a Ferrari 2-3 by getting in front of Lewis Hamilton. Max Verstappen gains a spot at the expense of George Russell, but he is being harassed round the first lap by Oscar Piastri who has rocketed up from 10th on the grid. Big losers from the start was George Russell who dropped from 5th to 8th, Pierre Gasly who dropped the same amount of places from 7th  and Perez who remains 9th, which won’t help.

ORDER – NOR LEC SAI HAM VER PIA OCO RUS PER GAS

Lap 2 – Lando Norris sets an early fastest lap and is 2.5 seconds in the lead heading into lap three. He looks determined to win today.

Lap 3 – Esteban Ocon appears to have a little bit of damage after first lap contact with Oscar Piastri. He is overtaken by George Russell and Sergio Perez and has a nice train behind him, including his team mate right behind and unhappy.

Lap 4 – Lewis Hamilton overtakes Carlos Sainz for third, and the Ferrari driver loses another place to Max Verstappen a lap later. For the record Verstappen is 5.5 seconds behind on lap 5 for those in a sweep for what lap he takes the lead.

Lap 6 – Lewis Hamilton is up into second place after an easy move on Charles Leclerc into the top hairpin. He is 3.2 seconds behind Lando Norris’ leading McLaren.

ORDER – NOR HAM LEC VER SAI PIA RUS PER GAS TSU

Lap 7 – Esteban Ocon retires from the US Grand Prix as relays show just how hard the contact was between him and Oscar Piastri. It was quite hard contact, which luckily for Piastri was Ocon’s left wheel into the McLaren sidepod, which is the best place to be hit if you must be hit by another driver, kin to a smack on the bottom really.

Lap 10 – Oscar Piastri has slowed with some car troubles and is out of the race. Just in case he can’t make it back to the pits a few midfield cars pit themselves in anticipation of a Safety Car. Piastri did make it back to the pits for a DNF. Maybe Piastri’s contact wasn’t so insignificant with Ocon.

Lap 11 – Max Verstappen and Charles Leclerc briefly battle for third over a few corners, and the Red Bull comes out on top and is up to third. Leclerc didn’t give it up easily, but

Lap 14 – TV cameras are showing the battle for second last and last. Is that because the driver on the move is American Logan Sargeant who has yet to spin off, or is nothing else happening.

Lap 16 – Midfield check now, and Alpha Tauri are on for some good points with their drivers in 9th and 10th, Daniel Ricciardo doing well coming back from 14th starting spot. But they’ll need to keep an eye out for the two Aston Martin behind, who have made good progress from a pit lane start.

Lap 17 – Max Verstappen is the first front runner to stop for tyres. He comes out 9th in between two potential new team mates for 2024. Lando Norris pits a lap later and drops to 4th. Carlos Sainz is in too. So is Sergio Perez, but no one seems to care. Lewis Hamilton has yet to pit, and a radio message hints that he could be on a one stop race compared to the two stops the recent pit stop-ees appear to be on.

Lap 20 – Lewis Hamilton struggling on his tyres and has to pit, which he does on lap 20. He lost enough time on those older tyres to lose a place to Max Verstappen, and he may need to stick to the one stop to reverse that. Futher ahead Lando Norris overtakes George Russell for second, who finally pits at the end of lap 21. He wastes no time overtaking Gasly on his return to the track. Just Charles Leclerc of the front runners to pit now.

ORDER – LEC NOR VER HAM SAI PER RIC RUS GAS TSU

Lap 24 – Charles Leclerc pits from the lead, and he could pull off a decent one stop race, but is currently 6th. Lando Norris re-takes the lead and has a 2.5 second gap to Max Verstappen.

Lap 25 – Max Verstappen gains a second in one lap with his Medium tyres compared to Lando Norris’ hard tyres. A change of lead is now inevitable.

Lap 28 – Max Verstappen takes the lead from Lando Norris who puts up a token fight for a few corner. Who knows, strategy might play out in McLarens favour, if they are close enough to the Red Bull. Norris hangs onto Verstsppen’s tail for a few laps but eventually falls back.

ORDER – VER NOR HAM SAI PER LEC RUS GAS TSU ALO

Lap 34 – Lando Norris pits from second, he drops to 6th behind Charles Leclerc. Interesting period now with strategy. Will the Ferraris and Mercedes stick to one stop or modify it somehow. Will Red Bull cover the Lando Norris pit stop, or will they be too far in front? That final question is answered on the very next lap as Max Verstappen pits. The Red Bull just comes out in front of the McLaren, which is a shame for the neutral wanting a battle, but there’s still enough laps left.

Lap 38 – Lewis Hamilton pits, so no one stop strategy here. Meanwhile Max Verstappen overtakes Charles Leclerc into the first corner at the start of lap 39 which means he now takes the lead. Half a lap later Lando Norris is past the Ferrari too and maybe we will get a battle for the lead after all. And you can’t discount Lewis Hamilton on fresher Medium tyres vs the hard tyres of Norris and Verstappen.

ORDER – VER NOR LEC HAM SAI PER ALO STR RUS GAS

Lap 41 – Sergio Perez sets consecutive fastest laps just to let people know he is still in the race. That may well be true, but is inconsequential. 

Lap 43 – Lewis Hamilton takes third from Charles Leclerc and with 12 laps to go is three seconds behind Lando Norris and five and a bit to Max Verstappen.

Lap 46 – Lewis Hamilton has set a fastest lap and is closing the gap slowly. 10 laps to go second is up for grabs, but first looks too far ahead.

ORDER – VER NOR HAM LEC SAI PER RUS GAS ALO TSU

Lap 49 – Hamilton spends lap 48 right on Lando Norris’ tail and he sweeps past the McLaren on the outside of turn two after Norris blocked him heading into braking for turn one. Sadly Verstappen is five seconds up the rod with seven laps to go.

Lap 50 – The Ferraris are very close together debating 4th place. A late, intra-team clash would be funny. But sadly for fans wanting to see a little prang and the intra-team anger that follows, Leclerc lets Sainz past easily for fourth.

Lap 51 – Hamilton is within 4.6 seconds of Verstappen, but there’s not enough time or extra speed. Carlos Sainz sniffs out the podium of Lando Norris. He needs to make up five seconds in five laps.

Lap 53 – Sergio Perez gets past the struggling Leclerc for 5th. Further ahead Hamilton is within 4.3 seconds, but that’s not enough.

Lap 55 – Hamilton within 2.9 seconds now as Hamilton crosses the line and closing fast. Is there enough time left in Hamilton and the race itself. It’s down to 2.2 halfway around the lap.

Last lap – Less than two seconds between the first two cars s they cross the line for the last lap. Can Hamilton get within a second and get DRS? No is the answer and Max Verstappen wins his 50th Grand Prix. Hamilton did well to make a race of it, falling a couple laps short of making it a very close finish. Lando Norris gets a just reward with another podium.

FINAL ORDER (Across the line)  –  VER HAM NOR SAI PER LEC RUS GAS STR TSU

Here we go through the field and highlight the very best (Great) of the race, and the plodders, the over-ambitious, the out of luck, and simply hopeless (Grape).

These points get added to our Driver of the Season scores. points for a great nomination, and -5 for the worst or grapest driver in the pack. Then it is +2 /-2 for honourable or dishonourable mentions.

THE GREAT-EST – LEWIS HAMILTON

Not the win, but two second places across the Sprint Race and on Sunday. He loves the track, and this race showed he still has the speed. A few more laps and he may have taken the win.

HONOURABLE MENTIONS

LANDO NORRIS – Decent weekend for Lando Norris with a 4th in the sprint race and he spent the first half of the race in front like someone who has done it forever. He’ll win a race soon, just not this season.

MAX VERSTAPPEN – A 50th race win, and a slightly more challenging one than usual coming from 6th place on the grid. Provided some entertainment with his grumpy radio messages with his team.

YUKI TSUNODA – A point for Tsunoda and Alpha Tauri. Not enough to move off the bottom of the championship, but welcome none-the-less.

LANCE STROLL – A couple of points for Stroll could shut people up about him for a race. Until he is a jerk next time.

THE GRAPE-EST – OSCAR PIASTRI

After sprint race win and podium at the previous race, he has a pointless weekend in Austin for the US F1 Grand Prix. Drops from 5th to 10th in the Sprint Race. Made a brilliant start to go from 10th to 6th in the main race, but there was contact with Esteban Ocon, which appears to have been fatal for his race chances as he retired reasonably early.

DIS-HONOURABLE MENTIONS

ESTEBAN OCON – The other driver in that first lap incident, but had less to lose in comparison to Piastri after his previous grand prix.

SERGIO PEREZ – WE may be a bit hard on Sergio Perez, but he is really wasting one of the best F1 cars ever produced. He loses a few more points to Lewis Hamilton in the battle for second in the Championship.

FERNANDO ALONSO – Bad qualifying sees him start form the pitlane. A very good recovery drive on the Sunday to score points from a pit lane start, until he retired with a handful of laps to go.

CHARLES LECLERC – Sixth place after taking pole is more underwhelming than he could have imagined.

Was it a good race, loads of action, tense, or just a big, fat, snooze-fest?

We rate the big race itself so we know which races to go back and watch in the off season or one to simply remember the winner for the post season quiz nights.

Note: this is for the combined races.

SEASON IMPORTANCE –  5 / 10

We’re not going to lie, we really don’t care about second place in the championship, but it was a decent race in that battle between Lewis Hamilton and Sergio Perez.

ON TRACK ACTION – 6 / 10

Enough on track moves, even towards the front to make the race interesting enough. Tyre strategy adding another element. But the end result remains the same.

ENDING 6 / 10

Lewis Hamilton catching Max Verstappen at the end was exciting enough, but realistically never quite looked like he was going to get there.

OVERALL RATING 17 / 30

A good enough race, with enough action and decent time zone to keep fans awake. The other drivers are getting closer to Max Verstappen, so maybe there’s some big races ahead.

2023 F1 Season Power Rankings

Stay tuned for our Power Rankings from the race soon as it is currently being calculated and will be ready on Monday.

Who not check out last race which includes the season ratings so far: Qatar Grand Prix and 2023 Driver Ratings.