US Grand Prix: Max Verstappen lands hammer blow in F1 rivalry

Max Verstappen driving the Red Bull Racing RB16B Honda during the F1 Grand Prix of USA. Photo / Getty

Max Verstappen has extended his lead in the Formula 1 world championship to 13 points after a dramatic United States Grand Prix on Monday morning.

Red Bull took the honours on the back of an early pit stop gamble — which paid off massively.

The race got off to a hot start with Hamilton jumping Verstappen off the line — but the early drama was all undone a few laps later when Red Bull pulled the rug our from under Hamilton with their first stop.

Hamilton got close enough to have a nibble at his championship rival in the final laps, but Verstappen never really looked like coughing up the lead.

Aussie Daniel Ricciardo finished fifth after a heated battle with Ferrari's Carlos Sainz.

Sainz accused the Aussie of a "dirty" move late in the race when the pair made contact.

Ricciardo's P5 has seen him cut the gap to Sainz on the championship standings.

Ricciardo is now 18 points behind the Spaniard in the fight for seventh in the championship standings.

McLaren teammate Lando Norris finished eighth and has now dropped behind Sergio Perez in the championship race.

Red Bull had two men on the podium with Perez finishing third.

Hamilton admitted after the race, Red Bull were simply too strong across the weekend.

"Firstly congratulations to Max, he did a great job today," Hamilton said before the podium celebrations.

"It was such a tough race. Got a good start and gave it absolutely everything but at the end of the day they just had the upper hand this weekend."

Red Bull boss Christian Horner told Verstappen on the team radio after the victory: "Sheer class Max, that was classy. What a drive. What a drive".

He admitted after the race he was beyond nervous about the team's early stop strategy that ultimately decided the race.

Verstappen won the race by just 1.3 seconds.

The crucial moment may have been lap 54 when Hamilton was bizarrely 0.5 seconds slower, despite being on a charge with the fresher tyres.

The championship now heads to Mexico in two weeks time — a venue that has traditionally been friendly to Red Bull.