AUSTIN, Texas -- If someone had told Max Verstappen , after his home race 49 days ago, that he would be a title contender by the end of the U.S. Grand Prix, his response would have been clear.

"I would have told him he was an idiot," Verstappen said on Sunday, having completed a sprint and grand prix double at Austin's Circuit of the Americas to move to within 40 points of championship leader Oscar Piastri with five races and two sprints still to go. It confirmed what has been a growing feeling in Formula 1 recently: that the 2025 season is a three-way fight.

When you rewind back to Verstappen's home race at the end of August, it would have seemed like a foolish proposition indeed. Piastri had stood on top of the podium and it felt like a first F1 world championship was the Austr

See Full Page