Verstappen relief as Red Bull 'old times' return

Max Verstappen joked that it felt like Red Bull returned to "old times" after a dominant display in the F1 sprint at the United States Grand Prix. 

Verstappen started the F1 sprint from pole position and never looked at threat from Lando Norris, who had moved into second from fourth on the grid at the first corner. 

The three-time world champion quickly got himself over a second ahead of his title rival, who ended up finishing third after a poor final lap at the Circuit of the Americas. 

It was a cruise to victory for Verstappen, who has won every sprint race this season and now leads the F1 drivers' standings by 54 points over Norris. 

Whilst only a sprint, the result marked the Red Bull driver's first P1 in a race since winning the sprint at the Red Bull Ring during the Austrian Grand Prix weekend. 

"It was not too bad, feels a bit like old times," joked Verstappen. "I'm very happy with today. I think, of course, if you look at the whole race, Ferrari was also very quick. 

"But I think for us, finally, we're racing again. Normally in the race, we're always looking back behind us. But now we could just do our own race."

Since the introduction of the sprint races in 2021, Verstappen has won 11 of the 16 sprints to have taken place. 

He has been very vocal in the past against the sprint race format, triggering a comical response when asked why he performs so well in them.

"Probably because I don't like it!" laughed the 27-year-old.

"It's, of course, always a very hectic weekend like this, to get the car in the right window. 

"But luckily, the times that we had a sprint, I think the car was in a good window. So yeah, there's a bit more pressure on delivering but, luckily, it's working out for us."