Tactical coup in Texas: Verstappen extends his championship lead

Thanks to two early pit stops, the Red Bull driver celebrated his eighth victory of the season at the US Grand Prix. Pole man Verstappen relegated Austin record winner Hamilton to second place despite a late comeback and is now 5 points ahead of the seven-time champion, five races before the season finale, who secured an extra point for the fastest race lap.

Mercedes driver Hamilton couldn't benefit from a lightning start and was only a second behind in the end. Verstappen's teammate Sergio Perez came third on Sunday.

In the increasingly intense World Cup duel, Hamilton and Verstappen had already clashed in training. After a wheel-to-wheel duel over the entire start and finish straight, the Red Bull driver insulted the world champion in the Mercedes on Friday as a “stupid idiot” and gave him the middle finger. “It's not like we're the only ones who have touched each other in this sport. “Unfortunately, these things happen,” said the Dutchman, apparently unmoved.

A thrilling duel: Verstappen (left) and Hamilton. © ANSA / SHAWN THEW

Hamilton duped pole man Verstappen at the start and was then practically as fast as the Dutchman. Verstappen was stuck to his rear, but even with DRS he couldn't get into the position to mount an attack. The bulls acted all the more aggressively with their undercut strategy, Verstappen came into the pits for his first tire change on lap eleven and then literally flew over the hot Texas asphalt. Hamilton radioed that he was happy with his tires, but three laps later he also turned into the pit lane and came back onto the track six seconds behind Verstappen. Advantage Red Bull.

After that, little happened at the front, Verstappen's lead melted away slowly, then more and more quickly. Lap 30: Again Verstappen changed the tires earlier than Hamilton, with the aim of driving to the end on hard tires. Hamilton stayed out eight laps longer with the aim of getting the better end for himself thanks to fresher tires.

Perez, meanwhile, held on to his third place, but was too far behind to really worry Hamilton. The poker didn't work for Mercedes. Although Hamilton made up second after second on Verstappen, he bit his teeth against the heroically defending super talent until the end.

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Tactical coup in Texas: Verstappen extends his championship lead

With a tactical coup in Texas, Max Verstappen has extended his championship lead ahead of Lewis Hamilton, who was charging towards the end, and is heading for his first title in Formula 1.

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