United States GP: Gloves off as tensions rise in F1 title fight?

With tensions simmering in the 2025 F1 drivers' championship fight, the upcoming United States Grand Prix is set to be a pivotal battleground as the title race hots up.

Are McLaren’s rules set for biggest test?

McLaren’s constructors’ championship celebrations in Singapore were overshadowed by rising tensions in the F1 drivers’ title battle following opening lap contact between Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri.

Norris’s punchy first-lap overtake at Turn 3 proved critical to him scoring a podium that ultimately secured McLaren back-to-back constructors’ titles, but also meant that he closed the gap on Piastri for the third straight race.

The move angered Piastri, who was left questioning whether McLaren’s papaya rules - designed to maintain equality and fairness - had been broken.

It was the latest intra-team controversy inadvertently created by McLaren micro-managing almost every aspect of the the battle in a bid to keep the peace, with some contentious precedents set along the way.

While McLaren have insisted that nothing will change from their side, the dynamics on-track between Piastri and Norris will be under the microscope as their battle for supremacy in the world championship continues to hot up.

Norris showed in Singapore that he is willing to get his elbows out. How Piastri responds will be fascinating to watch, given the Australian is under increasing pressure with his teammate enjoying momentum on his side.

With just six races remaining and only 22 points separating the McLaren pair, the risk of Piastri and Norris butting heads again will only become more likely. Now that the gloves are seemingly off, McLaren face their biggest test.

Can Max Verstappen keep catching McLaren?

One man certainly hoping for more McLaren infighting and drama is Max Verstappen.

After claiming stunning back-to-back victories in Italy and Azerbaijan, the Red Bull driver once again closed the gap to Piastri and Norris by finishing ahead of the McLaren duo in Singapore.

Verstappen, who was runner-up at Marina Bay, is 63 points off Piastri and 41 behind Norris with 174 points left up for grabs.

Red Bull appear to have made genuine improvements to their car, which Verstappen is utilising to keep himself in title contention, even if the prospect of becoming world champion for a fifth time remains an incredibly tall order.

Verstappen and Red Bull have a strong recent record at the Circuit of the Americas, which should suit the RB21 more than Singapore, meaning the Dutchman will likely be a factor at the front once again this weekend.

All Verstappen can do is control his own performances and keep applying pressure to McLaren in the hope that errors, misfortune - or a combination of the two - creep in. To give himself a proper fighting chance, Verstappen will know that he really needs to win in Austin.

Could Mercedes go back-to-back?

Mercedes arrive in the United States having enjoyed an upswing in form and momentum, with George Russell collecting a shock victory last time out in Singapore.

The win marked only the second of Russell and Mercedes’ campaign, and came as a surprise to the team, who had been expecting to struggle on a hot track that wasn’t expected to suit the W16.

Russell’s victory followed up a second place in Azerbaijan, while Kimi Antonelli registered his second straight top-five finish to confirm a personal performance turnaround.

Mercedes have not won back-to-back races since the Austrian and British grands prix last year, but to have any chance of one of their drivers standing on the top step of the COTA podium, they will first need to have an understanding as to why they were so competitive in Singapore.

Significant points hauls at the last two rounds have lifted Mercedes into second place in the constructors’ championship and given them a 27-point buffer over nearest rivals Ferrari.

What now for Ferrari?

Ferrari’s struggles show no sign of ending, with difficult and underwhelming weekends that started with promise at the last two events in Azerbaijan and Singapore.

The Italian outfit arrive at a track where they won 12 months ago. This time around, they look nowhere near like challenging for wins, with even podiums coming hard to find of late. Ferrari have gone five races since the last time they recorded a top-three finish in Belgium.

Lewis Hamilton, meanwhile, is on the cusp of setting an unwanted Ferrari record that has stood for 43 years.

If the 40-year-old Briton cannot finish on the podium at COTA - one of his best circuits - he will surpass Didier Pironi’s record for the most grands prix upon joining Ferrari without a top-three finish. Hamilton has gone 18 grands prix without a podium finish for the Scuderia.

Ferrari’s season of failure has seen F1’s most successful team look more likely to finish fourth in the constructors’ championship than second, with a resurgent Red Bull now on the verge of overhauling them, while the prospect of a winless campaign grows ever more likely with each passing race.

Return of the sprint

This weekend’s United States Grand Prix sees the sprint format return for the first time since before the summer break in July.

With two more sprint weekends to follow in Brazil and Qatar, the additional points on offer could play a significant role in deciding the outcome of this year’s world championship.

Hamilton won the first sprint of the season in China on what remains his best performance so far in Ferrari colours, before Norris claimed victory in a rain-hit Miami sprint. Verstappen was victorious last time out at Spa after slipstreaming past Piastri on the first lap of an otherwise tedious race.

Piastri is the only championship contender without a sprint race win this year, while Verstappen holds the record for the most sprint wins with 12 since the format was introduced in 2021.

The nature of the sprint format will add another variable into the mix at three of the remaining six weekends, with teams only having a sole hour of practice to fine-tune their set-ups before the competitive action begins.