F1 2025 United States Grand Prix Sprint Race starting grid with penalties applied

Verstappen, Norris, Piastri, socials — Photo: © IMAGO

United States GP Sprint

F1 2025 United States Grand Prix Sprint Race starting grid with penalties applied

The first of two races this weekend gets underway today

Sam Cook Digital Journalist

Sports Journalist who has been covering motorsport since 2023

Saturday 18 October 2025 08:55

The first race of this weekend's United States Grand Prix gets underway TODAY (Saturday, October 18), before attention switches to the main event on Sunday in Austin.

The grid is set following Friday's sprint qualifying session which saw Max Verstappen claim pole position ahead of his two McLaren championship rivals.

Lando Norris had to settle for second, while championship leader Oscar Piastri will start the race from third, with a tantalising first corner showdown between the three championship protagonists on the cards.

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Nico Hulkenberg put in a fantastic performance in the Sauber to qualify up in fourth, while George Russell rounds out the top five.

Ferrari were once again left ruing what might have been, following a dismal performance in which Lewis Hamilton could only manage eighth, and Charles Leclerc qualified down in 10th.

Verstappen holds the all-time record for sprint race wins in F1, with 12 since the shorter races were added to the schedule back in 2021, and he will be the favourite to claim a lucky 13th at the Circuit of the Americas on Saturday and close that gap to the McLarens in the championship even further.

Here is the starting grid for the US GP sprint race on Saturday.

F1 2025 United States Grand Prix Sprint Race starting grid

Position	Driver	Team
1	Max Verstappen	Red Bull
2	Lando Norris	McLaren
3	Oscar Piastri	McLaren
4	Nico Hulkenberg	Sauber
5	George Russell	Mercedes
6	Fernando Alonso	Aston Martin
7	Carlos Sainz	Williams
8	Lewis Hamilton	Ferrari
9	Alex Albon	Williams
10	Charles Leclerc	Ferrari
11	Kimi Antonelli	Mercedes
12	Isack Hadjar	Racing Bulls
13	Pierre Gasly	Alpine
14	Lance Stroll	Aston Martin
15	Liam Lawson	Racing Bulls
16	Ollie Bearman	Haas
17	Franco Colapinto	Alpine
18	Yuki Tsunoda	Red Bull
19	Esteban Ocon	Haas
20	Gabriel Bortoleto	Sauber

What time is the F1 race on today?

Lights out for the first race of the weekend is today (Saturday, October 18, 2025) at 12:00pm local time (CDT), before attention switches to qualifying for the main race later on Saturday at 4pm.

Find the race start times converted to your local time zone below:

United States Grand Prix 2025 Session Times

Sprint Race - Saturday, October 18 2025

Location	Time
Local time (CDT)	12pm Saturday
British Summer Time (BST)	6pm Saturday
Central European Summer Time (CEST)	7pm Saturday
United States (EDT)	1pm Saturday
United States (PDT)	10am Saturday
Australia (AEDT)	4am Sunday
Australia (AWST)	1am Sunday
Australia (ACDT)	3:30am Sunday
Mexico (CST)	11am Saturday
Japan (JST)	2am Sunday
South Africa (SAST)	7pm Saturday
Egypt (EEST)	8pm Saturday
China (CST)	1am Sunday
India (IST)	10:30pm Saturday
Brazil (BRT)	2pm Saturday
Singapore (SGT)	1am Sunday
Saudi Arabia (AST)	8pm Saturday
Turkey (EEST)	8pm Saturday
United Arab Emirates (GST)	9pm Saturday

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Written by

Sam Cook - Digital Journalist

Sam Cook is a talented young sports journalist and social media professional who now specialises in Formula 1, having previously worked as a football journalist and a local news reporter for a variety of different brands.

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F1 Max Verstappen Lando Norris Oscar Piastri Nico Hulkenberg United States Grand Prix