Max Verstappen has retained the lead of the Drivers’ Championship after beating his title rival Lewis Hamilton to victory at the United States Grand Prix.
Verstappen started the race from pole position, but lost out to Hamilton on the run into Turn 1, with the Mercedes driver taking the lead.
The Dutchman followed the seven-time world champion closely throughout the first stint before opting to pit early on lap 10 for fresh Hard tyres.
Hamilton soon responded as Sergio Perez in the second Red Bull also made an early stop while running in third place.
In the second round of stops, Verstappen pitted much earlier than Hamilton, allowing Hamilton to charge down the now 18-time grand prix winner.
However it wasn’t enough, with Hamilton crossing the line 1.3 seconds behind Hamilton. Perez was third, over 40 seconds down on his team-mate.
Leclerc stars as Ferrari gain on McLaren
Charles Leclerc produced a standout performance to finish in fourth place at the Circuit of the Americas, ending the race 24 seconds in front of fifth-place Daniel Ricciardo.
Valtteri Bottas, who took a grid penalty this weekend after installing a fresh internal combustion engine, recovered to sixth. He made a late move on Carlos Sainz, who was struggling with front wing damage which was picked up in a battle with Ricciardo.
Lando Norris was eighth, which sees Ferrari gain on McLaren in the Constructors’ Championship fight.
Yuki Tsunoda performed strongly for AlphaTauri and was ninth on the road, scoring his first points since the shortened Belgian Grand Prix earlier this year.
Alpine suffers a double retirement
It was a tough event for Alpine as both Fernando Alonso and Esteban Ocon were forced to pull into the garage and retire from the race, ending the team’s long-lasting streak of point-scoring finishes.
Both cars joined Pierre Gasly as non-finishers, with the Frenchman being the first of the trio to retire shortly after his first pit stop.
Kimi Raikkonen had a spin late on in the race in the first sector, while at the opening corner of the race, Lance Stroll was spun around by Nicholas Latifi.
F1’s next venture will be to Mexico City in two weeks’ time, as Red Bull and Max Verstappen look to further make a claim for championship glory this year.
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