Max roars to 'incredible' 50th win

AUSTIN, Texas — Freshly minted triple world champion Max Verstappen completed a hat-trick of Texan victories on Sunday when he claimed the 50th win of his career in a tense and strategic United States Grand Prix.

The 26-year-old Dutchman, who started sixth on the grid in his Red Bull car, worked his way through the field to take control before he came home 2.225 seconds ahead of resurgent seven-time champion Lewis Hamilton, who was disqualified hours after the race when his Mercedes car failed a technical inspection.

Verstappen, who won his third straight title last time out in the sprint at Qatar, said: "Starting from sixth position made things a little more difficult.

"Fifty wins is incredible and to do it here I am very proud. Now we keep on pushing for more."

Lando Norris, in his 100th Grand Prix, was promoted to second after Hamilton's disqualification following a thrilling race in which he had outstarted pole-sitter Charles Leclerc, who like Hamilton was disqualified for failing a technical inspection following the race.

It was Verstappen's third consecutive victory at Circuit of the Americas and brought him level with last season's record tally of 15 wins.

His runaway lead in the drivers' championship now stands at 228 points ahead of Sergio Perez.

"I think the whole race I was struggling with the brakes," added Verstappen, who was booed by sections of the crowd.

Norris commented: "Leading the race, we controlled it a lot, but just not enough today. I just couldn't hold on."

George Russell, also in his 100th race, finished seventh but was promoted to fifth following the disqualification of Hamilton and Leclerc.

The race began with 16 cars on the grid and four in the pit lane, Aston Martin and Haas having made overnight setup changes. The temperature was 29 Celsius with the track at 40 — tough for tires.

Norris, with a perfect start, took the lead from Leclerc at turn 1. However, after a series of pit stops for tire changes, the Dutchman passed Norris on lap 28 and eased clear by 3.5 seconds on lap 35 when Norris pitted for more hards.

Verstappen, however, was struggling, complaining to his team about his brakes before pitting and coming out fourth on hards.

Hamilton led again, by 7.7 seconds clear of Perez and Leclerc, with all needing to stop again.

On lap 49, Hamilton swept into second place, 5.2 seconds behind Verstappen with seven remaining — setting up a tense finale.

AFP