World champion or not: Max Verstappen won’t be taking his foot off the accelerator for a moment this Formula 1 season. The Dutchman, who celebrated his third world title two weeks ago, won the sprint race of the United States Grand Prix in Austin by force majeure.

After 19 laps at the Circuit of the Americas, Verstappen was more than nine seconds faster than Lewis Hamilton (Mercedes). Charles Leclerc finished third in his Ferrari.

Verstappen’s team-mate Sergio Perez finished no higher than fifth, meaning Hamilton moved three points closer in the battle for second place in the world championship.

Qualifying for the main race in Austin on Friday turned out to be a disappointment for Verstappen when his fastest lap went up in smoke as he crossed the white line in the penultimate corner. Penalties for breaching track limits resulted in Verstappen only starting the race in sixth place on Sunday evening (9pm).

Verstappen ‘merely’ qualified fastest for the sprint race and he defended that lead with flying colors on the first lap. Hamilton and Leclerc followed closely behind the Dutchman early on.

“The start is important, it didn’t get worse,” Verstappen replied. “It was a bit tight with Leclerc on the way to the first corner, but in that corner you can drive with a lot of cars in a row. It gives us confidence to start the Grand Prix from P6.”

Behind Leclerc, Carlos Sainz played the Ferrari team game with gusto. Only the Spaniard started on the soft tires – the rest rode on the mediums – and used those tires to gather some extra information, giving his team-mate Leclerc an extra lead in the early stages.

Hamilton put pressure on Verstappen – who struggled to control the car on the bumpy track in Austin. As the British team began to complain over the radio that Verstappen had exceeded track limits, Hamilton also slowly but surely began to lose time.

George Russell, who had already received a penalty in qualifying for the sprint race and finished eleventh, received a penalty for an attempt to overtake Oscar Piastre, which ultimately cost him a place.

Piastre, a surprise winner of the sprint race in Qatar, fell further after the crash, probably due to damage to his car, and finished a poor tenth.

Verstappen could win his sixteenth grand prix of the year on Sunday evening, but as usual does not want to talk about ABC. “I have to work hard to win the main race here. It’s difficult with the track limitations. It’s hard to see, so I have to be careful with that.”