Red Bull’s Max Verstappen fended off a late challenge from title rival Lewis Hamilton to win the US Grand Prix.
Verstappen’s victory, taken in impressively mature and controlled style in a tense strategic fight, extended his championship lead to 12 points with five races to go.
Hamilton took the lead at the start, lost it when Verstappen made an early first pit stop and tried an off-set strategy aimed at fighting for the win in the final laps.
The Mercedes was on Verstappen’s tail with two laps to go but it was not enough.
It was a gripping battle held in front of 140,000 at a packed Circuit of the Americas in Austin, Texas, at the end of a weekend on which Formula 1 felt like its popularity in the US had reached new levels.
Hamilton crossed the line just 1.3 seconds behind after one of the most hard-fought races of a classic grand prix season.
“That was sheer class, Max,” Red Bull team principal said over the radio on the slowing down lap. “What a drive. And it was indeed one of Verstappen’s greatest victories, under the most intense pressure from Hamilton and Mercedes.
How did the race unfold?
Verstappen started from pole position, but he lost the lead at the first corner when Hamilton made a better getaway and passed his rival on the inside.
Trailing Hamilton closely through the opening laps, Verstappen appeared to have a pace advantage and Red Bull decided that they needed to try to get the lead on track and defend it from there.
They brought Verstappen in for an early first pit stop on lap 10, leaving Hamilton and Mercedes with no choice but to try to go long and come back at Verstappen later in the race.
They could not delay their first stop as long as they wanted, because Verstappen’s team-mate Sergio Perez was within range and red Bull brought him in only two laps after the Dutchman to force Hamilton to pit.
But in the second stint the race very quickly devolved into a straight fight between Verstappen and Hamilton, as Perez rapidly fell away and had to spend the rest of the race keeping an eye on Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc, driving an outstanding race behind the big three.
Verstappen pitted again on lap 29, with 27 laps still to go, and Hamilton stayed out for a further eight laps, Mercedes trying to give him as big a tyre advantage as possible in the final part of the race.
When he resumed after his stop on lap 37, Hamilton was just under nine seconds behind. He measured his pace in the early laps of the final stint, protecting his tyres, and then unleashed some pace, closing from 8.4secs back to 3.9 in just five laps.
With six laps to go, Hamilton was just 1.5secs off the lead, but on the following lap for the first time in the final stint, Verstappen edged away by 0.2secs and victory began to look like a step too far for Hamilton.
Only with two laps to go did Hamilton get the margin under a second, but it was too late and he held on for a superb win.
More to follow
