The fourth sprint of the 2024 F1 season at the Circuit of the Americas was filled with far more drama than anticipated, even in just 19 laps.

Lando Norris stormed out of fourth place at the start and quickly moved up to second, leaving George Russell and Charles Leclerc in the dust. Max Verstappen stayed comfortly in the lead.

The battle behind Norris continued, with Charles Leclerc attempting to overtake George Russell but failing to succeed.

McLaren's second driver, Oscar Piastri, who started P16 after having his fastest lap in yesterday’s sprint qualifying invalidated for exceeding track limits, managed to gain two positions, moving up to fourteenth.

Fernando Alonso went wide right after the start, losing two places, while Nico Hulkenberg, who had an impressive sixth-place start, dropped to ninth after a head-to-head battle with Yuki Tsunoda.

After Leclerc’s failure to get ahead of Russell, the first few laps saw a battle of the Ferrari’s with Carlos Sainz trying to get in front of the Monegasque driver, which ultimately happened on lap 5.

On lap 8, Hulkenberg took revenge on Tsunoda and overtook him for the last point-scoring position.

Sainz managed to pass Russell on lap 9, securing a provisional spot on the podium, and his teammate followed suit, overtaking the Mercedes driver a lap later.

Norris then closed the gap to Verstappen, reducing it to 1.5 seconds, but soon struggled to match the Dutchman's pace and shifted his focus to the Ferraris, who were closing in behind him.

As the Ferrari drivers gradually closed in on Norris, his teammate Oscar Piastri was handed a 5-second penalty for forcing Pierre Gasly off the track on lap 1.

Yuki Tsunoda then made sure to grab the spotlight, refusing to let Sergio Perez pass him easily as they battle for the 2025 Red Bull seat.

The Mexican eventually got ahead of Tsunoda on lap 14, but the Japanese driver still had to deal with Piastri, managing to keep him behind for quite a while.

Pierre Gasly received a black-and-white flag on lap 17 after violating the track limits multiple times.

As the race was winding down, both Ferrari drivers closed in on Norris, with Sainz within DRS range of him.

However, perhaps feeling the pressure of needing crucial championship points, Norris locked up his front left tyre going into Turn 1, allowing Sainz to slip past him easily.

Max Verstappen dominated the Austin sprint race from start to finish, maintaining his perfect 100% win rate in the 2024 sprints.

Carlos Sainz clinched an impressive second place, while Lando Norris had to settle for third, losing crucial points in the championship fight against Verstappen.

Charles Leclerc finished fourth, followed by the Mercedes duo of George Russell and Lewis Hamilton in fifth and sixth, respectively.

Kevin Magnussen finished seventh for Haas, with his teammate Nico Hulkenberg just behind in eighth, securing the final points-scoring position.