Formula 1: Lewis Hamilton disqualified as Max Verstappen wins 50th race at United States Grand Prix

Lewis Hamilton was disqualified from the United States Grand Prix for driving an illegal car, as Max Verstappen claimed his third consecutive victory at the Circuit of the Americas.

The seven-time world champion had finished the race second after pushing the Red Bull driver, who hung on for a milestone 50th Formula 1 Grand Prix win. Around four hours after the chequered flag had been flown, officials ruled Hamilton’s Mercedes had exceeded the permitted floor depth after an inspection found evidence of excessive wear.

The transgression meant Lando Norris was promoted to second for McLaren, with Ferrari’s Carlos Sainz upgraded to third. A busy post-race for the sport’s lawmakers also found that Charles Leclerc was guilty of the offence as Hamilton, leading to another disqualification after finishing sixth.

The infringement from Mercedes will be a blow to the team, which looked to have made up some ground on Red Bull’s season-long dominance after making key upgrades to its machinery.

“For the whole race I was struggling a lot with the brakes, I couldn’t really have the same feeling as yesterday, so that definitely made my race a bit tougher out there today,” he said in parc ferme. “It was very close until the end, then we also hit the backmarkers, the tyres were going and that all makes it a bit more difficult.

“You don’t want to destroy the tyres, but at the same time I was struggling a lot under braking. So it took some time to find at least a bit of a middle way.

“It’s incredible to win my 50th Grand Prix here. I’m very proud and we’ll keep trying to push for more.”

Lando Norris piped pole sitter Leclerc to the lead at lights out and held on to the position. Hamilton soon emerged as his closest chaser while Verstappen had to work his way up the field from sixth on the grid.

The Dutchman beat the Ferraris into third but was struggling to close in on Hamilton and Norris ahead. Instead, Red Bull decided to throw a curve ball and pitted Verstappen as first of the front-runners, swapping to another set of medium tyres.

McLaren responded and called Norris to the box, sending him back out on the hard compound, while Hamilton came in three laps later, also switching to hard tyres. Verstappen was now running superior pace and took the lead off Norris with a smooth manoeuvre through Turn 12 on Lap 28.

Not able to go with the Red Bull, McLaren were first to blink this time and called Norris to the box for a fresh set of hards.

Red Bull answered the call and a lap later Verstappen too came in for the hard compound. Although the gap to Norris had decreased, Verstappen rejoined the track ahead of the McLaren and stayed there, indeed pulling away in the later stages.

However, the attention now shifted to Hamilton who pitted later than his opponents, but swapped to medium tyres for the final third of the race. Hamilton caught up with Norris and although the McLaren driver defended for his life, Hamilton got past into Turn 1 on Lap 49 to hunt down Verstappen.

He was taking time out of the world champion, but it was too little too late as Hamilton ran out of laps and Verstappen saw the race out, less than two seconds separating them over the line.

“We were catching [Verstappen] towards the end and I was hopeful, but we needed some more laps,” Hamilton admitted post-race. “The team did an amazing job this weekend – so much work to bring this upgrade here.

Norris’ podium finish briefly looked under threat from Carlos Sainz in the final laps, but the Brit managed his pace and eventually took the chequered flag in an uncontested third. “Leading the race, I controlled it a lot, but it wasn’t enough today,” Norris conceded.

“But I’m happy, it was a good race from my side. We knew our struggles, we knew what was going to be difficult today, and it was just the tyre degradation. The pace over the first 10 laps of every stint, the pace in the beginning, was strong, I just couldn’t hold on long enough. We’re getting there, there’s progress every weekend, just some more steps needed.”

Asked about his aggressive defending against Hamilton he said: “I needed to try! I just couldn’t do it, I didn’t have enough tyres left and you saw how quickly [Hamilton] pulled away in the end.

“I always say to look after my own race, I did the best I could, tried to push and look after the tyres and it was just too difficult today. Maybe if it was a cooler track, it would have suited us a bit more, but it wasn’t. But I’m happy, the team have done an excellent job and to finish on the podium here is still better than we expected coming into the weekend.”

Sainz initially had to settle for fourth ahead of Sergio Perez who had a quiet race to fifth. Having started from pole, Leclerc was far from happy with his one-stop strategy that saw him finish sixth.

George Russell finished seventh from Pierre Gasly and Lance Stroll while Yuki Tsunoda rounded out the top 10 and secured a point for the fastest lap of the race.

The easy answer was Lewis Hamilton – but following his disqualification, it is difficult to justify. The infringement from Mercedes is a blow following new upgrades to the car – though Hamilton looked comfortable, confident and fast.

His fellow Brit, Lando Norris, following his aggressive drive for McLaren, which did not have the pace to last when out in front.

1/56: NORRIS PIPS LECLERC AT LIGHTS OUT – A great start from Norris promotes him into the lead. Leclerc fights off Hamilton who falls into fourth behind Sainz. Verstappen makes up one position into fifth while Piastri is the early gainer up into sixth.

6/56: HAMILTON UP TO SECOND – Hamilton claims the second Ferrari with a relatively straightforward move, Leclerc not daring to defend too aggressively.

11/56: VERSTAPPEN UP TO THIRD – Leclerc is doing a decent job defending here, but Verstappen takes P3 off him. Hamilton is four and a half seconds ahead with Norris another two and a half in front.

17/56: VERSTAPPEN IN THE BOX – There’s a curve ball – Verstappen is the first of the front-runners to head to the pits for fresh tyres. He gets another set of mediums, meaning he will definitely have to go for another stop. This will likely trigger a reaction here.

18/56: NORRIS IN, HAMILTON NOT – Norris enters the pits, rather adventurously swerving and almost hitting the wall. He swaps for the hard compound. Hamilton and Leclerc both stay out while Sainz stops for another set of mediums.

28/56: VERSTAPPEN CLAIMS THE LEAD – And there’s the move from Verstappen who comes out of the slipstream into Turn 12 to overtake Norris for the lead. The McLaren tries to defend on the cut-back, but it’s futile and Verstappen has the position.

36/56: VERSTAPPEN TOO IN THE BOX – Red Bull answer McLaren’s call and Verstappen stops for hard tyres. He rejoins the track ahead of Norris, but the gap has decreased.

39/56: VERSTAPPEN POUNCES ON LECLERC – The lead is back with Verstappen who capitalises into Turn 1 to claim Leclerc, still only on one pit stop. It gets worse for the Ferrari as Norris too goes past.

49/56: HAMILTON INTO SECOND – Norris drops a dive bomb, but there’s no stopping Hamilton who shoots past into Turn 1 and claims second. Verstappen is five seconds ahead.

54/56: VERSTAPPEN IN CONTROL? – Hamilton is faster, but Verstappen looks to have enough of a gap here to manage his position. There’s 3.2 seconds between them now. However, Verstappen once more complains about that brake issue.