Charles Leclerc wins US Grand Prix; Max Verstappen 3rd after Norris penalty

CHARLES Leclerc won his third grand prix title of the F1 season at a memorable U.S. Grand Prix on Sunday at Circuit of the Americas in Austin, Texas.

The Monaco native helped Ferrari finish the race one-two as Spaniard Carlos Sainz placed second, 8.562 seconds behind Leclerc's winning time of 1:35:09.639.

"Very happy," Leclerc said after the race. "It wasn't an easy weekend but I had the confidence in the race. We still had the upper hand, we couldn't have dreamed for better."

Leclerc also won the Monaco Grand Prix and Italian Grand Prix this year and sits third in the driver standings behind Max Verstappen and Lando Norris, who tangled late in the race in a sequence that saw Norris receive a substantial penalty.

Norris caught Verstappen and passed him for third, but he left the track to do so. The ensuing five-second penalty he received at the end of the race pushed him behind Verstappen and back to fourth place.

"It's not an easy decision, it would've come sooner," Norris said. "I tried, he also went off the track. If he goes off the track he goes in too hard, and gains an advantage. But I don't make the rules."

Verstappen -- the three-time reigning F1 champion from the Netherlands -- remains atop the driver standings, 57 points clear of Great Britain's Norris, but his grand prix title drought extended to nine straight races. Verstappen won seven of 10 to start the season.

British F1 icon Lewis Hamilton spun out around Turn 19 and was the only driver not to complete the race.

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