MIND THE GAP

Max and Lando turn up the title heat on Oscar

- BY DANIEL MOXON

MAX VERSTAPPEN took another chunk of points out of his McLaren rivals with victory at the United States Grand Prix.

But Lando Norris pulled off a late overtake to finish in second place and limit the damage.

The Dutchman started on pole and led throughout with a vintage Verstappen performance as the Red Bull ace barely broke sweat in the hot Texas sunshine.

Norris looked set to settle for third after Charles Leclerc got the better of the Brit at the first corner and spent much of the rest of the race slowing him down.

But Norris overcame his frustration and made a daring move stick with four laps to go to earn three crucial extra points.

McLaren CEO Zak Brown said: "Had we got past Leclerc earlier on, maybe we would have given Max a race... but we didn't.

"We'll dust ourselves off from a less-than-stellar weekend and go again in Mexico." While Lewis Hamilton is still without a grand prix podium with Ferrari, he also showed strong pace to beat Oscar Piastri (below) to fourth.