It might not have yielded any points, but Liam Lawson can be content with a top-10 finish in Formula One’s United States Grand Prix sprint race.
The Kiwi added another chapter into his impressive record at Austin’s Circuit of the Americas, moving from 15th to ninth over the course of the 19-lap affair.
And while he wasn’t able to finish in the points – with sprints rewarding the top eight instead of the top 10 – Lawson can take a moral victory by finishing clear of Racing Bulls teammate Isack Hadjar, who took 12th.
The bulk of Lawson’s overtakes came at turn one on the opening lap, where three cars were forced to retire with damage, including both McLaren cars.
Lawson, though, was able to avoid any pile-up and climbed from 15th to 11th, before making up an extra position just shy of halfway through the race.
The Racing Bulls driver moved up one more place after the chequered flag, when Ollie Bearman, who crossed the line eighth, was hit by a 10-second time penalty for leaving the track and gaining an advantage.
Looking to complete a late season heist to win a fifth straight world championship, Max Verstappen led from start to finish to bank eight points, aided by the McLarens’ woes.
Since the introduction of sprint races, Verstappen has won every shortened affair in Austin.
That victory sees Verstappen bank another eight points to eat into Piastri’s advantage at the top of the standings, now down to 55.
Fresh from his victory in Singapore, George Russell crossed the finish line in second, while Carlos Sainz completed the podium in third.
In a chaotic start to the race, neither McLaren cars made it through turn one, Oscar Piastri was clipped by the Sauber of Nico Hulkenberg, and then in turn veered into teammate Lando Norris.
Amidst the pandemonium, Lawson climbed from 15th to 11th, while Hadjar fell from 12th to 17th, leaving Yuki Tsunoda as the real winner when he rose from 18th to seventh and into a share of the points, where he would finish.
Lawson, though, appeared to suffer damage to his front wing after he couldn’t avoid tangling with one of the Ferraris in the turn one incident.
It wasn’t until lap five that the safety car returned to pit lane to restart the race, despite driver requests for a red flag to clear the debris.
Resuming in 11th, Lawson was in range of Mercedes’ Kimi Antonelli, as he pushed out of Drag Reduction System (DRS) range of Haas’ Esteban Ocon.
Antonelli didn’t have Lawson in his mirrors for long, when he got around Alpine’s Pierre Gasly, which left the Kiwi targeting the Alpine to move up a place.
One lap later, Lawson did just that and made use of his DRS to move up into the top 10, making use of the extra speed and then braking late into turn 12 to get around Gasly.
With three laps to go, another tangle between Ocon and Lance Stroll saw another safety car, even as the Aston Martin driver attempted to continue with three wheels.
However, that meant the race would finish behind the safety car and brought arguably the most eventful sprint race in Formula One’s history to an end.
There will be two more sprint races to conclude the 2025 season, in Brazil and Qatar at the start of November and December respectively.
The 20 drivers will return to the grid later on Sunday morning for grand prix qualifying, before the race itself at 8am on Monday (NZT).
Did not finish: Esteban Ocon (Haas), Lance Stroll (Aston Martin), Oscar Piastri (McLaren), Lando Norris (McLaren), Fernando Alonso (Aston Martin)
Alex Powell is a sports journalist for the NZ Herald. He has been a sports journalist since 2016.