Max Verstappen earns “the boss ruling everyone” praise from F1 rival after US GP

Max Verstappen has been hailed as “the boss ruling everyone” by one of his F1 rivals following his dominant performance at the 2025 United States Grand Prix.

The Red Bull driver produced another impressive display at the Circuit of the Americas to claim his third win in four races, continuing his late-season charge in the championship.

Verstappen now sits just 40 points behind McLaren driver Oscar Piastri with five races to go.

The Dutchman’s latest triumph has earned praise from Sauber’s Nico Hulkenberg.

Hulkenberg praised Verstappen for “showing his class” and said “he’s the boss ruling everyone at the moment.”

“It’s just incredible, what he does, together with Red Bull,” Hulkenberg told Viaplay.

“He’s just showing his class, he’s showing that he’s a four-time world champion, that he’s the boss ruling everyone at the moment.”

Hulkenberg shines at COTA

From a personal perspective, Hulkenberg enjoyed a return to form at the US GP.

Remarkably, before Austin, Hulkenberg hadn’t scored points since his podium finish at Silverstone.

Rookie teammate Gabriel Bortoleto has continued to have the upper hand, particularly in qualifying.

Hulkenberg starred in sprint qualifying, securing fourth on the grid.

However, Oscar Piastri’s ambitious switchback on the first lap caught Hulkenberg out, ending his race on Lap 1.

He made it into Q3 in grand prix qualifying before converting it into a points finish.

Hulkenberg got ahead of Haas’ Ollie Bearman, who had to recover from a spin after an incident with Red Bull’s Yuki Tsunoda.

Reflecting on his race, Hulkenberg said: “I’m really happy to finish the race with points. We’ve shown great pace all weekend, right from FP1. With the incident in the sprint yesterday, we didn’t get the chance to show what we could do, so it felt great to have another shot today.

“The race was clean, well executed on multiple fronts, and we were determined to make the most of it. The whole team deserves this result for the work they’ve put in. Now onto Mexico!”