McLaren’s Lando Norris grabbed the lead from Ferrari’s poleman Charles Leclerc on the dash to the first corner, and pulled clear out front as Verstappen worked his way forward from sixth on the grid.
Hamilton grabbed second from Leclerc on lap six, as Verstappen did likewise a few laps later before triggering the first pitstop cycle. That allowed Verstappen to undercut Hamilton, who ran long on his first stint.
Verstappen caught Norris at half distance and passed him with ease on softer tyres. Hamilton was a man on a mission in the closing stages, and benefited from running on medium tyres to the finish, to catch and pass Norris for second.
Hamilton then charged after Verstappen, but he remained just out of reach.
2023 F1 US Grand Prix results
| Cla | Nº | Driver | Car / Engine | Laps | Time |
| 1 | 1 | Max Verstappen | Red Bull/Honda RBPT | 56 | - |
| 2 | 44 | Lewis Hamilton | Mercedes | 56 | -2.225 |
| 3 | 4 | Lando Norris | McLaren/Mercedes | 56 | -10.730 |
| 4 | 55 | Carlos Sainz Jr. | Ferrari | 56 | -15.134 |
| 5 | 11 | Sergio Pérez | Red Bull/Honda RBPT | 56 | -18.460 |
| 6 | 16 | Charles Leclerc | Ferrari | 56 | -24.662 |
| 7 | 63 | George Russell | Mercedes | 56 | -24.999 |
| 8 | 10 | Pierre Gasly | Alpine/Renault | 56 | -47.996 |
| 9 | 18 | Lance Stroll | Aston Martin/Mercedes | 56 | -48.696 |
| 10 | 22 | Yuki Tsunoda | AlphaTauri/Honda RBPT | 56 | -1'14.385 |
| 11 | 23 | Alexander Albon | Williams/Mercedes | 56 | -1'26.714 |
| 12 | 2 | Logan Sargeant | Williams/Mercedes | 56 | -1'27.998 |
| 13 | 27 | Nico Hülkenberg | Haas/Ferrari | 56 | -1'29.904 |
| 14 | 77 | Valtteri Bottas | Alfa Romeo/Ferrari | 56 | -1'38.601 |
| 15 | 24 | Zhou Guanyu | Alfa Romeo/Ferrari | 55 | - |
| 16 | 20 | Kevin Magnussen | Haas/Ferrari | 55 | - |
| 17 | 3 | Daniel Ricciardo | AlphaTauri/Honda RBPT | 55 | - |
| - | 14 | Fernando Alonso | Aston Martin/Mercedes | 49 | - |
| - | 81 | Oscar Piastri | McLaren/Mercedes | 10 | - |
| - | 31 | Esteban Ocon | Alpine/Renault | 6 | - |
How the 2023 F1 US Grand Prix unfolded
Polesitter Leclerc led the charge to Turn 1 but Norris made the better start and snatched the lead. Leclerc just held second from Ferrari team-mate Sainz and Hamilton, with Verstappen gaining a spot to run fifth from Oscar Piastri’s McLaren.
Norris pulled well clear of DRS range of Leclerc by lap two, but Hamilton was all over Sainz for third. Further back, the slow-starting George Russell (Mercedes) and Sergio Perez (Red Bull) passed Esteban Ocon, whose Alpine suffered sidepod damage after a collision with Piastri on the opening lap and retired a few laps later. Piastri was also wounded and would retire.
Hamilton DRS-ed passed Sainz into Turn 12 on lap four, and Verstappen followed suit a lap later at the same spot. Hamilton caught Leclerc and blasted past him on lap six to take second, but Norris was over 3s up the road at this point.
Verstappen cruised up to the rear of Leclerc and made a forceful move at Turn 12 on lap 11, with both cars briefly going off the track before Max made the move stick a corner later.
Verstappen pitted from third on lap 17 for more medium tyres, consigning himself to a two-stop strategy. That triggered a reaction from Norris a lap later, who opted for hard tyres, but Hamilton stayed out to lead, while Leclerc didn’t stop but Sainz did, like Verstappen going for mediums.
Hamilton suffered a big lock up at Turn 11 just after one-third distance and lost time on his old rubber. He pitted on lap 21, rejoining on hards after a tardy 3.6s stop.
Leclerc led Russell, with Norris the first of the stoppers, 2.5s ahead of Verstappen – who had undercut some 3s from his advantage. Norris passed Russell, who pitted straight after.
Leclerc pitted from the lead on lap 24, reinstating Norris as leader over Verstappen by 2.3s. Hamilton was third, ahead of Sainz, Perez and Leclerc, who rejoined on hards.
Norris locked up and ran wide at Turn 11 just before half distance, which allowed Verstappen to close right up.
Verstappen passed Norris for the lead on lap 28 at Turn 12, with Lando going for the cutback rather than put up a defense into the corner, but resistance was futile either way.
Norris pitted on lap 35 for a second set of fresh hards after just a 17-lap stint, which handed Verstappen a lead of 6s over Hamilton. But Verstappen stopped a lap later, going on to hards, and rejoining 1.5s ahead of Norris.
Hamilton led Perez and Leclerc on the road with 20 laps remaining, with Verstappen running in fourth from Norris, Russell and Sainz. Hamilton pitted on lap 39 for fresh mediums, just as Verstappen passed Leclerc at Turn 1. Norris passed Leclerc for second at Turn 12 and closed to within 1.2s of Verstappen. Meanwhile, Hamilton was 6s further back.
Hamilton lost vital time behind Leclerc on lap 43 before passing him at Turn 12, and was now 3.8s behind Norris, who had fallen well away from Verstappen. Hamilton caught Norris with eight laps to go and swept past him at Turn 2.
Verstappen was 5s clear at this point but Hamilton carved into his lead in the closing stages, as Max struggled with a brake issue. Verstappen clung on to win by 2s.
Behind Norris, Sainz passed one-stopper Leclerc for fourth with six laps to go. Perez also demoted Leclerc from fifth with a few tours remaining.
Leclerc limped home in sixth, ahead of Russell – just 0.3s behind at the finish – and Pierre Gasly (Alpine). Fernando Alonso started his Aston Martin from the pitlane after the team reverted to older-spec parts and charged up to ninth until a floor problem put him out, handing the spot to team-mate Lance Stroll.
Yuki Tsunoda claimed the final point for AlphaTauri, and doubled it by putting on softs and claiming fastest lap.
2023 F1 US Grand Prix fastest laps
| Cla | Nº | Driver | Car / Engine | Time | Delay | Lap |
| 1 | 22 | Yuki Tsunoda | AlphaTauri/Honda RBPT | 1'38.139 | 202.231 | |
| 2 | 3 | Daniel Ricciardo | AlphaTauri/Honda RBPT | 1'39.366 | 1.227 | 199.734 |
| 3 | 63 | George Russell | Mercedes | 1'39.393 | 1.254 | 199.680 |
| 4 | 44 | Lewis Hamilton | Mercedes | 1'39.582 | 1.443 | 199.301 |
| 5 | 11 | Sergio Pérez | Red Bull/Honda RBPT | 1'39.737 | 1.598 | 198.991 |
| 6 | 18 | Lance Stroll | Aston Martin/Mercedes | 1'39.908 | 1.769 | 198.650 |
| 7 | 14 | Fernando Alonso | Aston Martin/Mercedes | 1'39.954 | 1.815 | 198.559 |
| 8 | 4 | Lando Norris | McLaren/Mercedes | 1'39.985 | 1.846 | 198.497 |
| 9 | 1 | Max Verstappen | Red Bull/Honda RBPT | 1'40.028 | 1.889 | 198.412 |
| 10 | 55 | Carlos Sainz Jr. | Ferrari | 1'40.034 | 1.895 | 198.400 |
| 11 | 10 | Pierre Gasly | Alpine/Renault | 1'40.412 | 2.273 | 197.653 |
| 12 | 27 | Nico Hülkenberg | Haas/Ferrari | 1'40.925 | 2.786 | 196.648 |
| 13 | 16 | Charles Leclerc | Ferrari | 1'41.025 | 2.886 | 196.454 |
| 14 | 2 | Logan Sargeant | Williams/Mercedes | 1'41.238 | 3.099 | 196.041 |
| 15 | 23 | Alexander Albon | Williams/Mercedes | 1'41.371 | 3.232 | 195.783 |
| 16 | 20 | Kevin Magnussen | Haas/Ferrari | 1'41.506 | 3.367 | 195.523 |
| 17 | 24 | Zhou Guanyu | Alfa Romeo/Ferrari | 1'41.879 | 3.740 | 194.807 |
| 18 | 77 | Valtteri Bottas | Alfa Romeo/Ferrari | 1'41.972 | 3.833 | 194.629 |
| 19 | 81 | Oscar Piastri | McLaren/Mercedes | 1'42.705 | 4.566 | 193.240 |
| 20 | 31 | Esteban Ocon | Alpine/Renault | 1'44.789 | 6.650 | 189.397 |
