Lewis Hamilton won the United States Grand Prix to help his Mercedes team seal its fourth consecutive constructors’ championship.
Sebastian Vettel was forced to settle for second while Max Verstappen nicked the final place on the podium from Kimi Raikkonen on the last lap.
However Verstappen almost instantly after the chequered flag, was handed a five-second penalty as the stewards deemed his move on Raikkonen illegal. It drops Verstappen to fourth and promotes Raikkonen to third.
Hamilton closes within touching distance of his fourth drivers’ championship, after beating Sebastian Vettel by 10.143s seconds to claim his eighth win of the season.
Vettel passed poleman Hamilton on the run-up to the first corner on the opening lap. But it took just seven laps for the British driver to re-pass Vettel, as Hamilton threw his Mercedes down the inside of Vettel in the braking zone of Turn 12.
The victory was never in doubt for Hamilton from that point bar a nervous first pitstop which saw Hamilton emerge just under a second ahead of Vettel.
Hamilton opted for a one-stop strategy along with his team-mate Valtteri Bottas and the Ferrari of Raikkonen. Meanwhile, Vettel and Verstappen were on a two-stop.
Vettel climbed back into second place with three laps to go, with Verstappen aiming to follow the German onto the podium.
He passed Bottas and then sneaked past Raikkonen down the inside of Turn 17, however, the stewards believed he gained an advantage by putting all four wheels off the track.
Daniel Ricciardo was in the mix for a podium place until an engine issue curtailed his charge on lap 16. His fourth retirement of the season.
Esteban Ocon finished in sixth place for the second consecutive race. Carlos Sainz Jr was seventh on his Renault debut, ending the race just two seconds behind Ocon.
Sergio Perez pipped Felipe Massa to eighth place by half a second. The Brazilian was on a two-stopper while Perez made a solitary pitstop.
In tenth was Daniil Kvyat, his first points since May. Lance Stroll ended the race in 11th ahead of Stoffel Vandoorne, rookie Brendon Hartley and Romain Grosjean.
Marcus Ericsson was on for 13th place before colliding with Kevin Magnussen at Turn 12 while being lapped by Vettel.
Ericsson received a five-second penalty, ending the race in 15th ahead of Magnussen.
Fernando Alonso was on for his first points since Hungary before suffering his ninth retirement of the season. Nico Hulkenberg managed just three laps while Pascal Wehrlein’s race ended after five laps due to damage obtained on the opening lap.
