Max Verstappen defied Lewis Hamilton to win a cat-and-mouse United States Grand Prix at a sizzling Circuit of the Americas in Austin.
Verstappen has been on easy street this season, but the triple world champion was made to fight for the 50th win of his career – becoming only the fifth driver to reach a half-century.
Indeed, at one stage, Hamilton dared to dream of ending a losing streak which stands at 686 days and counting.
Yet, as so often been the case this year, Verstappen’s speed in his all-conquering Red Bull machine came to the fore.
He moved ahead of Lando Norris on lap 28 of 56 to all but seal the win. Hamilton might bemoan a questionable strategy decision which saw him lose 10 seconds to Verstappen in the opening round of pit stops. But in reality, he probably did not have the pace to stop the Dutchman from claiming his 15th wins from the 18 rounds so far.
He crossed the line an agonising 2.2 sec behind Verstappen with Norris hanging on to the final spot on the podium.
Hamilton could count himself unfortunate to drop from third to fourth at the start. The seven-time world champion enjoyed a decent getaway, but he was blocked by Norris under braking allowing Sainz to sneak through. Norris had seen off pole-sitter Leclerc with a lunge at the first bend to assume top spot.
As Norris set about building a lead – already two seconds clear of Leclerc at the end of the second lap – Hamilton set about passing both scarlet cars.
First up was Sainz. Hamilton used the tow to latch on to the back of Ferrari on the 210mph drag to Turn 12, and, assisted by DRS, drew alongside Sainz before sliding underneath the Spaniard.
On the following lap, Verstappen, who started in sixth after his pole lap in qualifying was chalked off for exceeding track limits, relegated Sainz another place when he made his move at the same corner.
Hamilton has won six times across the Pond – with five of those victories here in Austin – and the 38-year-old required only two laps to swat Leclerc aside for second.
Deeper on the brakes at Turn 12, Hamilton sailed round the outside of the Monegasque at the left-hander, with Norris now three seconds up the road.
Behind, and Verstappen was not finding it as easy to make progress.
He was stuck behind Leclerc for an additional five laps before finally making his move on the Monegasque. He trailed Norris by seven seconds, and Hamilton by four.
In the Mercedes garage, Prince Harry cut a pensive figure as he gnawed at his fingernails. The Duke of Sussex has been something of lucky charm for Hamilton.
He was a guest of Mercedes when Hamilton secured his second title in the 2014 season decider in Abu Dhabi, leading the congratulations to his fellow Briton on the radio.
Verstappen was the first in for new rubber at the end of lap 16 with Norris stopping the next time round.
But Hamilton stayed out. Were Mercedes attempting a one-stopper? Hamilton did not seem convinced.
Asked if he could complete another five laps on his current set of tyres, Hamilton replied: “I am not sure, man. It is pretty tough.”
Hamilton then locked up before his race engineer Peter Bonnington was back on the intercom to inform Hamilton that Verstappen – who on new tyres had just lapped three seconds faster than the Briton – was now likely to gazump him when he eventually stopped.
“No s***, man,” yelled Hamilton. “I am struggling out here.”
On lap 20, in came Hamilton, and a slow front-right tyre change added to his woes by costing him a needless second. When Hamilton emerged from the pits, he had dropped to third, five seconds adrift of Verstappen.
“I came out so far behind,” he said with a hint of dejection.
When the opening stops were completed, Norris led Verstappen by 2.4 sec with Hamilton 7.5 off the lead.
By virtue of taking on another set of mediums, Verstappen had to stop again, but Norris and Hamilton – now both on the hards – could, if their rubber allowed, go all the way to the end.
Hamilton, failing to make any inroads and sensing his best chance of ending a 22-month winning streak had faded, expressed his frustrations.
“You have given me a hell of a gap to close,” he said.
On lap 28, Verstappen dived underneath Norris for the lead at Turn 12. Norris had a nibble back at the Red Bull heading into the ensuing right hander, but he failed to make it stick.
The question now was whether Norris, and indeed Hamilton – now less than five seconds off the lead – could make their tyres last.
The answer arrived on lap 34 when Norris dived in for a fresh set of boots. Verstappen followed in on lap 35, and despite, a slow left-rear tyre change, retained his position ahead of Norris.
Three laps later and Hamilton was in, changing to the faster medium compound. Hamilton had the bit between his teeth and within 10 laps he was crawling all over the back of Norris’ McLaren.
Norris slung his McLaren to the inside on the entry to the first corner in a move to stop Hamilton, but the older Brit gained better traction out of the corner to slingshot by in his Mercedes.
Verstappen was five seconds ahead and Hamilton started to reel his old nemesis in only to run out of laps. Sainz took fourth ahead of Sergio Perez with Leclerc sixth and George Russell seventh for Mercedes.
Norris 'not comfortable' despite setting pace in Belgium practice
Lando Norris admitted he was "not comfortable" despite being fastest in the Belgian Grand Prix second practice.
McLaren finished first and second on Friday, with Norris finishing just 0.215 seconds ahead of team-mate Oscar Piastri.
Max Verstappen finished third, but despite an impressive performance, his 10-place grid penalty will affect his result.
Norris finished second in the Hungarian Grand Prix last week, behind Piastri, in a race overshadowed by a radio spat between the Brit and the pit wall.
Having put that behind him, even after a confident practice session on Friday, Norris is not willing to rest on his laurels with Red Bull showing their threat.
"Red Bull are very quick at the minute," Norris said. "So, tricky, but I've just not felt very comfortable today with the car.
"So hopefully I just wake up [on Saturday] and feel a bit more comfortable with it. But we'll try and improve a few things and see again.
"I know it looked good on the timesheets, but I've not felt super comfortable in just going out and doing it. So, hopefully, I can just get in a bit more of a rhythm and feel a bit better out there."
Meanwhile, Lewis Hamilton finished in 10th after struggling to match the pace set in the second session.
Mercedes have been credited for their improvement in recent weeks, with Hamilton winning at Silverstone before finishing third at Hungaroring last Sunday.
However, he was also left disappointed on Friday and said he was hoping for the forecast rain over the rest of the weekend to give the team more of an edge.
"It was a pretty bad day," Hamilton said.
"I don't really know what to say! Obviously, it's been feeling great in the past couple of races, but it just felt completely different today.
"We worked on it. The first session was not great, but then in the second session we made some changes, and it started off great, and then when I got to the soft tyre I just couldn't improve and there were a bunch of balance issues we had through the lap.
"It was better through this session, but everyone else went even better. So, to be 1.2s behind is not great.
"If it rains, then that opens it up a little bit and, hopefully, we can do a better job. I think the car should be better in the wet than it is in the dry."
Perez '100% certain' of Red Bull stay after Belgian Grand Prix
Sergio Perez is confident he will still be at Red Bull after this weekend's Belgian Grand Prix regardless of the result.
There has been a lot of speculation over the Mexican's future in recent weeks following a series of poor results at recent races, despite him signing a two-year extension with the team just last month.
Since coming fourth at the Miami Grand Prix in May, Perez's best finish has been seventh, both in Austria and Hungary, and he failed to advance beyond Q1 in four of the last six races.
His drop in form has allowed McLaren to close the gap to Red Bull in the constructors' championship to just 51 points.
With the four-week break soon approaching, both RB driver Daniel Ricciardo and Red Bull's reserve driver Liam Lawson have been linked with Perez's seat.
However, the 34-year-old is certain he will still be competing alongside Max Verstappen when the season resumes.
"I am 100% sure," Perez said.
"Because I know basically what's in my contract and I know what the team trusts in me. And I know where is the main focus, which is on delivering on the track.
"It's no different to what it was in Hungary or [at the first race] in Bahrain or how it will be in Zandvoort or the rest of the year," Perez said.
"Every single weekend we've got to deliver the maximum, especially now that, with McLaren catching up in the constructors, it's really important to put everything together if we can achieve it.
"I'm not worried about it. Like I said, I know where I stand. That's not my concern. My only concern I have is to get my season back on track. The rest, I'm pretty chilled about."
McLaren to discuss whether to prioritise Norris over Piastri, says Brown
McLaren chief executive Zak Brown has said meetings will take place to discuss whether to prioritise Lando Norris over Oscar Piastri for the remainder of the season.
The issue arose following last week's Hungarian Grand Prix, which saw Piastri's maiden win in Formula One overshadowed by Norris' radio spat with the pit wall.
Piastri had led much of the race before a bizarre pit-stop call by McLaren allowed Norris to take the lead, but was ordered to give the lead back to his team-mate.
Norris initially refused to do so, but with three laps remaining, handed the place back to the Australian as McLaren secured a first one-two since Monza in 2021.
Piastri's win at the Hungaroring made him the seventh different winner in 2024. It is the 16th different year with at least seven winners, the first since 2012 (eight).
But one of Norris' protestations before giving the position back was his battle with Max Verstappen in the Driver's Championship.
Despite scoring his eighth podium of the season in Hungary, the Brit remains 76 points behind the three-time world champion.
Brown, who wasn't on the pit wall in Hungary but is back for this weekend's Belgian Grand Prix, said the decision would ultimately fall to team principal Andrea Stella.
He told Sky Sports F1: "That's ultimately going to be Andrea's call. We want to get through the first half of the season, see where we end up this weekend.
"I think the Constructors' Championship, while it's definitely not going to be easy, is well within reach.
"I think the challenge on the drivers' front is Max's bad days are second and third places, so (it's difficult) to make those claw backs that we're making on the constructors' that we can do because (Sergio) Perez is struggling at the moment, we also know he's capable of turning it on at any moment.
"That will be something I think we discuss over the summer break."
McLaren's recent pace and form has seen them have a driver on the podium in the last nine races, cutting the gap to Red Bull in the Constructor's Championship.
The British team have another excellent opportunity to cut the gap in Spa, with Norris' championship rival Verstappen receiving a 10-place grid penalty for Sunday's race by exceeding his engine allowance for the season.
But the Dutchman topped the first practice on Friday, with Piastri finishing 0.531 seconds behind with Norris down in ninth, 0.512secs off his McLaren team-mate.
And Verstappen's showing has left Brown refusing to rule out the possibility of the three-time world champion claiming an eighth win of the season.
"It's a tricky track with how much downforce you want versus speed," Brown said.
"You have to assume Max is on for pole, which is P11.
"It would be a big mistake to think he can't go from P11 to P1 but we have to take every advantage you can."
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