United States Grand Prix - Sprint Race LIVE: Max Verstappen cruises to another win in a star-spangled performance in Texas - a mammoth eight seconds ahead of Lewis Hamilton in second

Be sure to come back here tomorrow, when we'll bring you live coverage of the United States Grand Prix.

Have a great rest of your evening!

No one has ever won this race on this track if they've started in a position that isn't the front row.

Verstappen is starting in P6 tomorrow, but after this season and this speed, you wouldn't put it past him to provide a similar performance.

Despite the time penalty, Russell manages to finish in the final points place for Mercedes

1. Verstappen

2. Hamilton

3. Leclerc

4. Norris

5. Perez

6. Sainz

7. Gasly

8. Russell

9. Albon

10. Piastri

11. Ocon

12. Ricciardo

13. Alonso

14. Tsunoda

15. Hulkenberg

16. Bottas

17. Zhou

18. Magnussen

19. Sargeant

20. Stroll (ret.)

It was a wide gap between the Mercedes and the Ferrari.

But Leclerc had a close finish for third between himself and Lando Norris, who came home in P4.

Well, for everyone back in Europe that's about to go to bed, the good news is that this race didn't provide any real excitement to get your adrenaline up and now you can sleep soundly

It's nearly an eight second gap between Verstappen and Hamilton

The Aston Martin reported issues with his brakes, leading the team to bring the car in for the day

It's astounding really. Somehow, Sainz's tires have great speed on the straights - but he's getting eaten up in the corners.

But it's not enough of an issue for him to end up losing position to the Mercedes.

Barring a collossal car failure or an act of God, Max Verstappen will easily pick up another eight points that he really does not need

The Ferrari was a sitting duck on the back straight as Russell had the better tires and DRS, but Sainz was able to outrace him (for now).

Coming back on the front straight, Russell was able to bully his way into the lead at turn 1 but Sainz had the better exit and took the position back

Those soft tires has seen him drop from P4 to P6 as the gamble might not be paying off for him

The Aussie's gone off the track too many times for the stewards' liking

It's unchanged from before - the only difference is now Max's lead is larger

1. Verstappen

2. Hamilton

3. Leclerc

4. Sainz

5. Norris

Lewis continues to drop back behind the Dutchman

Oh wow, what a shock, I don't think anyone could have possibly seen this coming

It's a day of struggle for Russell as he gets his with a penalty after passing Piastri off-track

'Max has gone off quite a few times' is the message Hamilton relayed back to his paddock.

Meanwhile, the stewards are investigating a possible off-track overtake that George Russell completed over Oscar Piastri

Both Pierre Gasly and Oscar Piastri have been seen wobbling all over the track as they try to find the grip on these tires. Complaints of wind have been coming in.

Everyone but Sainz has gone for medium compound tires - with Sainz going for softs.

1. Verstappen

2. Hamilton

3. Leclerc

4. Sainz

5. Norris

Piastri was able to park his car at the apex of the first turn off the back straight, but he went too deep coming out of it and Perez moves into P6.

Meanwhile, Lewis Hamilton is the only man in DRS range of Max Verstappen

The Red Bull had a great run off the back straight, but Piastri used his teammate Norris as a buffer to prevent losing a spot.

Within the first lap, the Briton is already back up to P8 - where he would have started if not for a penalty

The Red Bull forced the Ferrari deep to the inside on the pit exit, giving Verstappen a great exit out of Big Red (Turn 1).

Meanwhile, there's contact between Piastri and Sainz that might need to be looked at.

The sprint is off here at the Circuit of the Americas outside of Austin, Texas

Logan Sargeant is last to the grid in his home grand prix as we're almost set to start this 19 lap sprint

Verstappen leads the way as everyone gets heat in their tires

It's a bit cloudy in Texas this afternoon, unusual for this race

Unlike years past, this race will not decide starting position for tomorrow's full race.

Instead, that was handled yesterday - with Charles Leclerc taking pole, Lando Norris joining him on the front row, and Max Verstappen falling back to sixth

Eight points will go to the winner of this race. While Verstappen's already won himself the driver's title, there's still plenty of reason for racers to try and get the most out of this race

During SQ1, Russell was on the racing line and impeding a flying lap from Charles Leclerc.

The stewards gave him a three-place grid penalty - moving him down from P8 to P11.

Alex Albon, Pierre Gasly, and Daniel Ricciardo all moved up as a result.

After an exciting qualifying, this is how the grid is set to lineup:

1. Max Verstappen, Red Bull

2. Charles Leclerc, Ferrari

3. Lewis Hamilton, Mercedes

4. Lando Norris, McLaren

5. Oscar Piastri, McLaren

6. Carlos Sainz, Ferrari

7. Sergio Perez, Red Bull

8. Alex Albon, Williams

9. Pierre Gasly, Alpine

10. Daniel Ricciardo, AlphaTauri

11. George Russell, Mercedes

12. Fernando Alonso, Aston Martin

13. Esteban Ocon, Alpine

14. Lance Stroll, Aston Martin

15. Zhou Guanyu, Alfa Romeo

16. Nico Hulkenberg, Haas

17. Kevin Magnussen, Haas

18. Valtteri Bottas, Alfa Romeo

19. Yuki Tsunoda, Alpha Tauri

20. Logan Sargeant, Williams

This should be a lot of fun - and a great way to prepare before one of the more exciting races on the F1 calendar!