Red Bull's Max Verstappen charged to his 15th win of the season and the 50th of his Formula One career at the United States Grand Prix on Sunday, when he started from sixth and then held off the Mercedes of Lewis Hamilton over the final laps at the Circuit of the Americas.
Verstappen had to work harder than usual in a season of almost complete domination by the three-time champion. But the power of his Red Bull and the right pit stop strategy calls navigated the Dutch driver to the finish line ahead of Hamilton by 2.2 seconds, even as the Mercedes was eating up chunks of time behind him over the final few laps.
“I think the whole race I was struggling with the brakes. That made the race a bit tougher. It was very close at the end,” Verstappen said. “It's incredible to win my 50th grand prix here. Very proud. Of course, we will keep trying to push for more.”
