Max Verstappen was won the United States Grand Prix, his 50th victory, after a strategic duel with Lewis Hamilton and Lando Norris.
The Dutchman started sixth on the grid behind polesitter Charles Leclerc, but it was Norris who go the best start, capitalizing on second on the grid being on the inside line into Turn 1 to easily seize the lead. The McLaren driver flexed his muscle early, sprinting to a 1.9s advantage at the end of the first lap.
Sainz moved up to third behind Leclerc, with Hamilton and Verstappen trailing, but it was clear early that the Ferrari drivers didn’t have the pace for the podium battle.
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Hamilton made two easy passes on Sainz and then Leclerc on laps four and six to put himself 3.2s behind leader Norris, with Verstappen following him up to third place on lap 11, barging Leclerc off track at Turn 12 in the process.
Hamilton slowly crept up on Norris until, on lap 15, he snuck in under 2s, but it was Verstappen who pulled the pit stop trigger first.
A one-stop strategy was thought possible on Sunday afternoon, but Red Bull Racing committed early to two stops for the Dutchman, hauling him in on lap 16 for another set of mediums.
Norris was forced to respond on the following lap, taking the hard tire to keep the one-stop option alive. The gap between them dropped to 4.8s between them.
Mercedes was determined to do something different and left Hamilton out in the lead, but a lockup on lap 19 cost him seconds and made clear his rubber was done. The Briton was forced to pit on lap 20, giving him a small tire offset for the rest of the race.
Verstappen was on a gradual but unstoppable march on Norris with the faster tire. By lap 26 he was within 1s — aided by some small lockups by the Briton — and on lap 28 he made a dive from a long way back into Turn 12 to take the lead.
By now it was clear Norris had stopped too early to make it to the end without a second tire change, with no driver having gone more than 21 laps on the hard compound to that point.
McLaren responded with the only tool left available to it, stopping Norris in an undercut attempt on lap 34. Red Bull Racing responded on the following tour, keeping Verstappen in the lead. With both on the same hard tire, the battle against Norris was won.
The race wasn’t settled yet, however, with Hamilton on a charge with fresher medium rubber thanks to his earlier offset.
The Briton roared up to the back of his compatriot on lap 48 and ambitiously attempted to take him side by side through the technical final sector, with Norris deftly fending him off. Norris covered a big dive down his inside into the first turn, but he didn’t have the grip to prevent Hamilton reverting to the wide line and getting the better exit.
By the second corner, Hamilton was ahead and hunting down Verstappen. The Dutchman had complained of braking issues all race, and his lead was dropping fast in the final five laps.
With two laps to go, Hamilton got within 3s, and the margin fell another second on the final lap.
Some lapped traffic ensured Hamilton’s progress was slowed, and he ran out of laps to see the strategy through. Verstappen claimed an unexpectedly fraught victory by 2.2s.
“The whole race I was struggling a lot with the brakes,” he said. “I couldn’t really have the same feeling as yesterday. That made my race a bit tougher today.
“It’s of course incredible to win my 50th grand prix here — very proud of course. We’ll just keep on trying to push for more.”
Hamilton was buoyed by Mercedes fielding the outright second fastest car of the weekend on his way to an emphatic second-place finish.
“The team did an amazing job this weekend [with] so much work to bring this upgrade here. I came here fighting. I felt great. I’m really happy with this result.”
Norris was disappointed not to hold second after his sizzling start but was satisfied to finish on the podium at a circuit he’d earlier forecast would be unkind to his McLaren car.
“Just not enough today,” he said. “I’m happy. It was a good race from my side.
“We’re getting there, progressing every weekend. Just some more steps needed.”
His 15 points propels McLaren to a seven-point lead over Aston Martin for fourth in the constructors standings.
The two-stopping Carlos Sainz finished fourth after being ordered past teammate Charles Leclerc on lap 50, the pole-getting Monegasque having gambled and lost on a one-stop strategy.
Leclerc’s old tires left him vulnerable to Sergio Perez, who snatched fifth from him with three laps to go, limiting the damage done to second in the drivers championship to eight points, his hold on second ahead of Hamilton now down to 22 points.
George Russell finished seventh, the Briton all afternoon lacking the pace of his second-placed teammate.
Pierre Gasly finished eighth ahead of ninth-placed Lance Stroll, who rose a remarkable 11 places from pit lane after the team hauled him off the grid to revert to an old aerodynamic kit following Aston Martin’s double Q1 elimination.
Yuki Tsunoda ended the race 10th for the final point and with a bonus point for fastest lap after a late stop for softs.
