'Chance is there' for Max Verstappen to aim for F1 title after stunning win in US GP

Red Bull driver cuts down championship lead of Oscar Piastri after dominating weekend

Red Bull's Max Verstappen after winning the United States Grand Prix at the Circuit of the Americas. Reuters

Four-time defending world champion Max Verstappen made a decisive move in his hunt for the F1 title as he dominated the United States Grand Prix with a wire-to-wire victory.

Verstappen entered the weekend as a long-shot to win a fifth consecutive title, behind McLaren front-runners Oscar Piastri and Lando Norris.

However, Verstappen's dominating win in the race following a sprint victory where neither McLaren finished put the Red Bull driver firmly in contention to match Michael Schumacher's historic five-peat (2000-04).

“It was an unbelievable weekend for us,” Verstappen said on the podium at the Circuit of the Americas. “I knew that the race was, of course, not going to be super straightforward. I think if you look at the whole race, the pace between myself and Lando was really close. I think just in that first stint, that's where we made the difference.

“I could eke out a little bit of a gap and that's basically what we kept till the end. It wasn't easy to manage the tires for most of the stints, but we kept it in the lead and just incredibly proud of everyone to deliver a weekend like this.”

Norris finished second after winning a race-long tussle with Charles Leclerc in the closing stages as the British driver reduced teammate Piastri's championship lead to 14 points after the Australian finished only fifth.

Verstappen's 33 points from the weekend mean he has reduced his own deficit to Piastri to 40 points – from 63.

Piastri will have the most to ponder ahead of Mexico next weekend, having been beaten by both Norris and Verstappen in each of the last four races.

Leclerc claimed third with Lewis Hamilton fourth on an improved day for Ferrari as George Russell finished sixth for Mercedes.

And for the first time this season, Verstappen has the world title clearly in his sights.

“For sure, the chance is there,” Verstappen said of the title battle. “We just need to try to deliver these weekends until the end.

“We will try whatever we can. It's exciting,” he added after his third win in the last four races and 68th of his career.

Piastri said he still had full confidence in his ability to become Australia's first champion since Alan Jones in 1980.

“I'd still rather be where I am than the other two,” added the 24-year-old.

If Verstappen were to come out on top, it would be an unprecedented turnaround even taking into account changed scoring systems.

“I think watching Max driving is watching history in the making,” Red Bull team principal Laurent Mekies said.

“He surprises us every time he goes out on track. He surprises us on how much he's pushing us between a session and another, how much sensitivity he has in stuff that sometimes we can see and stuff that sometimes we cannot see.”

Sauber principal Jonathan Wheatley, who was previously Red Bull's team manager and sporting director, agreed that Verstappen could make the impossible possible.

“You can never write Max Verstappen off. What an unbelievable, dominant weekend from Max,” the Briton told reporters. “It's a pleasure to watch.

“Max Verstappen is perhaps the best driver in the world … if I was McLaren I'd be looking in my rear view mirrors.”

McLaren team principal Andrea Stella, meanwhile, said the team should relish the chance to fight for a drivers championship.

“It is a privilege to be there, we have the pace to be there. It is about execution, believing in it and we do believe,” Stella said. “We never want to lose the joy of doing that. The tension is part of the game.”