There were some new bits of tarmac to worry about on the Austin track and Red Bull had some bit of kit on their car that other teams were worried about, not the FIA though. We were back after an unusual wee holiday mid-season.
Sprint Qualifying is always hyped up but not really worth the interest. Obviously both Saubers were out at the bottom, then Albon, who did a magnificent 360 degree spin at the end of his hot lap, Ocon and Piastri, whose fastest lap time was deleted after running wide and exceeding track limits, were out in the first session.
The second Qualifying session saw little grumbles from cars and drivers, all starting to trip over each other. Perez could only manage 11th, Alonso 12th, Lawson (replacing Ricciardo) 13th and then Gasly and Stroll. Both Haas were straight through to the final session at their home track. Alonso suffered with a lap time deletion and was dropped to 15th.
In the third session, the other Williams of Colapinto also spun. It was uncertain who would take pole, any driver from at least four teams could have taken it. In the end Verstappen took it on the last possible lap, ahead of Russell. Behind them was LeClerc, Norris (who needs the Sprint points), Sainz, Hulkenberg, Hamilton (who won't be happy sandwiched between two Haas), Magnussen, Tsunoda and Colapinto.
The next day, for the Sprint itself, Albon started from the pits and the Qualifying order was somewhat jumbled from all the deleted times.
There were plenty of battles off the line; Norris quickly made it up to second, with LeClerc and Russell battling behind. Verstappen held his lead. Things were quiet for a couple of laps and then the two Ferraris started to battle, dangerously so. Russell caught back up with Norris and started to demand his place back.
Halfway through teams were beginning to get concerned about tyre wear; the Mercedes seemed to suffer the most with Russell losing places to both Ferraris. Piastri was awarded a 5 second penalty for forcing Gasly off the track, with such a short, well, Sprint, it seemed to take an enormous length of time for the stewards to make this decision.
It looked like the main interest in the last couple of laps would be whether the Ferrari or Mercedes team mates would take each other out. However, as the last lap started, Norris locked up and Sainz got past. As it was looking like he could take the place back, he slid off again. LeClerc held a massive drift as Verstappen rounded the corner ahead of them to win.
The podium was completed by Sainz then Norris, who will be kicking himself. Tyre wear could potentially be a massive factor, alongside track limits in the main race. LeClerc was ahead of the two Mercedes, then the two Haas, who ran a quiet race. The top ten was completed by Perez and Piastri.
To round off the event, it was left to Sting to present some funny, large metal cards. The FIA really can't decide how to celebrate and reward these races that aren't races without it seeming like the anti-climax it is.
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