Lando Norris added 6 points to his championship total as he finished P3 in the F1 Sprint at the United States Grand Prix.
Starting 4th, the Brit had a great first lap. He got up the inside at turn 1, passing Leclerc. With Russell going a touch wide, the McLaren driver took advantage and claimed 2nd position down the hill into turn 3.
From there, the 24-year-old could keep in touch with Max Verstappen early on. The gap hovered at 0.8s to 1.5s.
However, that gap slowly started to grow. Initially Norris had to defend from Russell, but his tyre degradation was worse as the race went on versus his championship rival.
The Ferraris came at him in the closing laps, leading to a lock-up at turn 1. Sainz made his way by for P2.
After a second lock-up at turn 12, he defended very aggressively into turn 15 against Leclerc. They almost made contact in the process but the Ferrari driver avoided it.
Speaking afterwards, Norris was satisfied with the result as he explained his fronts were toast at the end in the battle against the Ferraris.
“Yeah, I mean it was a good race. Honestly, I’m pretty happy with how things ended up.
“Yeah, it was a tough one, I thought I could maybe hang on to 2nd, but Carlos did a good job.
“My front tyres were completely finished, so there was not a lot I could do, whether I stayed straight or defended or not. I’m pretty sure I would have lost the position to Carlos, so disappointing end, but I’m happy with the race results and a good amount of points.”
Looking back to the start, Norris gained two spots. He defended his record on first laps as well..
“No, there was a few races [where] the starts were bad, but otherwise they’ve been good, and today was a good start again and a good first corner.
“Yeah, I did the most I could. I don’t think we have the pace on Max or the Ferraris. But yeah, therefore I’m happy to finish 3rd.”
