Lewis Hamilton was disqualified from second place in the US Grand Prix after running Max Verstappen’s Red Bull close for victory.
Hamilton was just two seconds behind Verstappen at the flag but his car was later declared illegal for excessive wear on the underfloor skid blocks.
Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc suffered the same fate after finishing sixth. Hamilton’s disqualification promoted McLaren’s Lando Norris to second and Ferrari’s Carlos Sainz to third.
Verstappen was measured, slowly picking off the cars in front of him and then holding on for his 50th career win. Hamilton passed Norris for second in the final laps but ran out of time to catch Verstappen for the lead.
Hamilton’s disqualification meant it was difficult to draw conclusions from a race after which, before the late technical drama, hindsight had left Hamilton and Mercedes ruing a lost potential victory had they played the strategy differently.
The skid blocks are in place to prevent teams running cars too low, which can be a potential aerodynamic advantage.
Verstappen win was hard-earned in a Red Bull that over the bumps of the Circuit of the Americas did not have its usual huge advantage on race pace over its closest rivals.
Sergio Perez climbed to fourth, while George Russell, Pierre Gasly, Lance Stroll, Yuki Tsunoda, Alex Albon and Logan Sargeant complete the top 10.
