The drama for the US Grand Prix was contained in the first corner of the first lap, and the final couple of corners of the final lap. Some of the laps in between were interesting, most of them were dull, so it was all about the key moments. Sebastian Vettel surged past polesitter Lewis Hamilton to take the lead off the line but he couldn't hold off the superior pace of the Mercedes for many laps.

Towards the end of the race, Verstappen had swept through the field and was chasing Kimi Räikkönen for the final podium position. He managed to overtake on the final lap but was penalised almost immediately for gaining an advantage off track, handing the trophy back to the Finn.