Red Bull driver Max Verstappen has recorded another race victory in 2023 by winning the United States Grand Prix.
Having showcased his pace during Saturday's sprint, the already-crowned world champion was expected to convert sixth place on the grid into a win.
Although Verstappen did not have it all his own way in Austin, he defied issues with his brakes to finish ahead of Lewis Hamilton.
The Dutchman took a back seat during the opening stages of the race as Lando Norris overtook Charles Leclerc to lead during the first stint.
However, the challenge of the McLaren soon ebbed away and Mercedes delaying Hamilton's pit stop cost him valuable seconds during the closing phase when he was on the fresher medium tyres.
RACE CLASSIFICATION (LAP 56/56)
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Verstappen takes the chequered flag for the 15th time this season#F1 #USGP pic.twitter.com/qB6mlCmsz8
Hamilton made his way past Leclerc and Norris to give himself seven laps to chase down Verstappen, who was 5.3 seconds up the road, but he ran out of time as his great rival managed to negotiate a potentially-sticky conclusion.
Verstappen finished 2.225 seconds ahead of Hamilton to claim his 15th victory of the season, while Norris did enough to earn third ahead of Carlos Sainz Jr.
Sergio Perez and Leclerc were fifth and sixth respectively ahead of George Russell in the Mercedes who left himself with too much to do as he had to settle for seventh.
Pierre Gasly, Lance Stroll and Yuki Tsunoda completed the top 10, but Oscar Piastri and Fernando Alonso were notable DNFs on lap 16 and 50 respectively.
Hamilton has closed the gap on second-placed Perez in the standings to 19 points, while Mercedes have moved 31 points ahead of Ferrari in the Constructors' table.
Darren Plant
