Max Verstappen won the US Grand Prix in Austin, Texas, holding off his hard charging rival Lewis Hamilton in a contest that was decided by the two sets of strategists on the pit wall.
It means that the Dutchman has extended his lead in the Drivers’ Championship by 12 points with five races to go.
Sergio Perez, Verstappen’s teammate, claimed the third podium spot. However, in truth, this will just be a race between the two main protagonists, and the rest of the field were merely bit part players.
Verstappen had started on pole position ahead of Hamilton, but the Englishman got the better start and squeezed into the lead at the first corner.
However, any hopes that he could pull away were dashed as Verstappen stayed within a second of him, and both drivers recognised that the Red Bull was the faster car.
And that was proved when Verstappen pitted first in a classic undercut move, and made so much ground on his out laps that, by the time Hamilton himself took on fresh tyres, he had a six second lead.
It was the second sets of new tyres that proved decisive. Verstappen again pitted first and Mercedes took the gamble of leaving Hamilton out for eight extra laps, hoping that on the fresh rubber and in the heat, his superior grip towards the end would enable him to overhaul his rival.
The gamble almost worked. He closed to within a second and a half, but could get no closer. Verstappen’s rear tyres produced just enough power in the overtaking zones to keep the seven-time world champion at bay. Given the difficulties of passing on a circuit such as this, it was always going to be a tall order for Hamilton to pull off an overtake manoeuvre, even had he got close enough.
The teams now head to Mexico for next weekend where Red Bull are again expected to be strong. Mercedes need to work out what happened to the pace advantage they supposedly had going in Austin went. They only have a few days to come up with answers.