Lewis Hamilton wins the US Grand Prix ahead of Nico Rosberg

Hamilton got away cleanly at the start - an area of weakness for him on a number of occasions this season - while Rosberg was overtaken by Daniel Ricciardo. An alternate strategy for Rosberg saw him run third during the middle of the race before the retirement of Max Verstappen ironically helped the German get ahead of Ricciardo.

Rosberg managed to pit under the Virtual Safety Car and rejoin in second place, but with both Mercedes drivers pitting at the same time it negated any advantage his strategy would have given him compared to Hamilton and the defending champion eased to victory having rarely looked troubled all afternoon.
At the scene of his title triumph last year, Hamilton’s victory could reignite his hopes this season as the win saw him close the gap to Rosberg to 26 points with three races remaining.

Ricciardo came home third but will rue his team-mate’s retirement as costing him a chance of second place. Red Bull had the pace to keep a Mercedes at bay if ahead on track, and Ricciardo was doing exactly that throughout the middle stint before pitting for medium tyres to run to the end of the race. Rosberg was still likely to pit again but managed to do so without losing the position when the race was neutralised by the Virtual Safety Car.

Verstappen was the cause having lost drive exiting the Turn 11 hairpin and crawled round the majority of the rest of the track before stopping on the outside of Turn 18 by a marshal post. The car was stuck in gear, however, and needed a crane to lift it behind the barrier, resulting in the VSC.

It was an unfortunate stoppage for Verstappen who was in the fight with Ricciardo and Rosberg for second place before a pit stop error cost him time. The Dutchman came in a lap after his team-mate had made his second stop but the team hadn’t called him in and he was delayed while his pit crew fetched the tyres.

Verstappen’s error should have benefitted both Ferraris but Kimi Raikkonen - running fourth on the road - then pulled away from his final stop with the right rear wheel gun still attached