Max Verstappen extended his championship lead over Lewis Hamilton after winning a fascinating United States Grand Prix.

In a race that was dominated by strategy Verstappen kept his cool despite a late surge from Hamilton on fresher tyres to take his first win at Austin and extend his championship lead over the Brit.

Despite some drizzle on race morning, blue skies and unseasonably hot temperatures greeted a bumper crowd of 140,000 at the Circuit of the Americas for Formula 1’s first trip to the Lone Star State for just under 24 months.

Although it had been a far from smooth weekend for the current championship leader, Verstappen had managed to put his Red Bull on pole position for the ninth time this season, with Hamilton alongside his championship rival on the front row.

Perez was an excellent third on the grid, ahead of Leclerc and Sainz, with a resurgent Daniel Ricciardo sixth on the grid and out-qualifying teammate Lando Norris for the seventh time this season.

Norris was on the inside of the fourth row alongside Pierre Gasly, but the Frenchman had a brief scare on the grid after his Alpha Tauri initially failed to fire up, but after some quick work from the Alpha Tauri engineers, the team got the car ready with just under 10 minutes before the formation lap.

Turkish Grand Prix winner Valtteri Bottas had initially qualified fourth, but after taking a five-place grid penalty for a new internal combustion engine, the Finn fell to ninth alongside Yuki Tsunoda.

Sebastian Vettel, Fernando Alonso and George Russell would start at the back of the grid after all three drivers took on their fourth power unit of the season, consigning the trio to the final two rows of the grid.

At the start, Verstappen got a good getaway from pole, but Hamilton got an even better launch, with the Dutchman’s efforts to push Hamilton onto the dirty side of the track failing to pay off as he was forced to yield nearly losing second to teammate Perez on the run down to Turn 2.

Further back at Turn 1, Lance Stroll was hit from behind by Nicholas Latifi, with Latifi having to pit for a new front wing on Lap 6 because of the damage sustained in the incident with Stroll.

Ricciardo and Norris attacked Sainz on the run down to Turn 12, but despite Sainz’s best efforts, the Spaniard struggled to hold off Ricciardo’s advances, who waltzed into fifth place after the Ferrari driver went wide.

Esteban Ocon was first to pit for tyres, as the Frenchman boxed for hard tyres and a new front wing on Lap 4 after colliding with an Alfa Romeo on the opening lap.

Verstappen pitted from second on Lap 11, with the Red Bull crew getting the championship leader out in front of Sainz in fifth place and on a fresh set of hard tyres.

That became fourth after Verstappen used DRS to breeze past Ricciardo’s McLaren, with the Australian pitting on the same lap for hard tyres and rejoining ahead of Sainz, who pitted on the same lap.

Perez and Leclerc were next to pit on Lap 13, but the Mexican’s first stop was sluggish and cost him time as he exited the pits in third place, ahead of Leclerc.

Race leader Hamilton finally pitted for hard tyres on Lap 14, with Verstappen regaining the race lead as the Brit exited the pitlane, much to the delight of the Red Bull fans.

Bottas finally pitted for hards on Lap 15, with the Finn rejoining the track in 11th behind Tsunoda.

Raikkonen and Alonso went into combat on Lap 17, with the outgoing Alfa Romeo driver winning the battle for 13th place as the pair made contact on the exit of Turn 1.

With Stroll yet to stop, Tsunoda and Bottas were able to breeze past the Aston Martin on Lap 19 to move themselves up into ninth and tenth place, respectively.

However, Tsunoda couldn’t hold off Bottas for much longer, and Bottas finally got past Tsunoda for eighth despite some stout defending from the Japanese rookie.

Alonso’s charge through the packed continued after the Alpine team leader braked very late into Turn 12 to pass Antonio Giovinazzi for 11th place, but the two time World champion was told to give the position back two laps later after being told that he would be rewarded with a five-second time penalty if he didn’t yield the position.

The Spaniard tried again on Lap 25, but Giovinazzi retained the position after some tough defending from the Italian into Turns 15 and 16.

Giovinazzi’s joy was short-lived one lap after he was told to give the position back for pushing Alonso off the track, with the Alfa Romeo driver giving up the place into Turn 1.

The VSC was brought out on Lap 28 to clear some debris, with the field neutralised for a short period of time as the marshalls cleared the track. 

Verstappen led Hamilton by over three seconds at half distance, with Perez a long way back in third ahead of Leclerc and Ricciardo whilst Sainz kept Norris at bay in sixth.

Verstappen then pitted for his second set of hards on Lap 30, relinquishing the lead to Hamilton and rejoining behind Perez, who gave up second place to his team leader on the run down to Turn 12.

Sainz was next to pit for another set of hard tyres, but a troublesome right rear tyre caused the Spaniard to be held in the pits, losing him all chance of jumping Ricciardo into sixth place.

Perez finally switched to hard tyres on Lap 31, rejoining in fourth behind Leclerc, who had yet to make his second stop.

Leclerc pitted for hards two laps later on Lap 33, losing third position to Perez and only narrowly rejoining ahead of Bottas in fourth.

Bottas’s first set of hards finally gave up on Lap 35, with the Finn boxing for a fresh set of hards and rejoining in seventh behind Sainz.

Race leader Hamilton made his second stop on Lap 38 with the Brit putting on another set of hard tyres and exiting the pits in second place behind Verstappen on older hards and stuck behind Raikkonen and Tsunoda, who were fighting for ninth place.

Ocon’s dreadful race ended with 14 laps to go, with an unspecified issue forcing the Alpine back into the pits and into retirement.

Ricciardo and Sainz resumed their opening lap battle on Lap 43, with the pair making contact at Turn 14, causing the Spaniard to complain on the team radio about the Australian’s defending.

Alonso completed Alpine’s day of misery with a rear-wing issue, ending the Spaniard’s race with five laps to go.

Raikkonen’s good race fell apart after the outgoing World champion lost the rear of his Alfa Romeo into Turn 6, forcing the Finn into the gravel trap and costing him 10th to Vettel.

Although his tyres were much older than Hamilton’s, Verstappen kept his head down and increased the gap over his championship rival in the race's closing stages, with Verstappen’s efforts being rewarded with his eighth victory season and the 18th of his career.

Hamilton was a close second ahead of Perez and Leclerc, with Ricciardo holding off Bottas for fifth place.

Sainz was a disappointing seventh ahead of Norris and Tsunoda, who picked up his first points since Hungary, with Vettel giving Aston Martin something to smile about with tenth.