Red Bull’s Max Verstappen barely held off an onrushing Lewis Hamilton to nip the seven-time defending Formula One world champion at the line and win the 2021 USA Grand Prix. Verstappen’s Red Bull teammate, Sergio Perez, finished a distant third to claim the final podium position.
Verstappen started in the pole position but Hamilton beat him off the line and held the lead for the first 14 laps with Verstappen choosing to pit on the 10th lap and retaking the lead when Hamilton pitted on the 14th lap. Verstappen pitted again 15 laps later to cede the lead to Hamilton and then Hamilton returned the favor when he pitted on Lap 37. From that point, Hamilton had to make up eight seconds on Verstappen and made up all of that by the final lap but was unable to pass Verstappen on the last lap.
With the victory, Verstappen now extends his lead to 12 points – 287.5 to 275.5 – over Hamilton in the driver’s championship.
2021 USA Grand Prix Top 10 Finishers
1] Max Verstappen Red Bull
2] Lewis Hamilton Mercedes
3] Sergio Pérez Red Bull
4] Charles Leclerc Ferrari
5] Daniel Ricciardo McLaren
6] Valtteri Bottas Mercedes
7] Carlos Sainz Jr. Ferrari
8] Lando Norris McLaren
9] Yuki Tsunoda AlphaTauri
10] Sebastian Vettel Aston Martin
