Max Verstappen has fired McLaren drivers Oscar Piastri and Lando Norris an F1 title warning shot after reducing their points lead in the United States GP.
From pole position, Verstappen was aided in the opening stages of the race by the fast-starting soft-shod Ferrari of Charles Leclerc passing Lando Norris for second place.
Norris was unable to pass the Ferrari, as Verstappen steadily built his advantage at the head of the field, pulling out to nearly 11s ahead by the time Norris finally passed on Lap 21.
Verstappen only missed out on becoming the first driver to achieve a grand chelem in both a Sprint and main grand prix on the same weekend as Kimi Antonelli took fastest lap, but the Dutchman is now just 40 points behind championship leader Oscar Piastri, who laboured to fifth.
With 141 points left up for grabs, Verstappen is now firmly in the title hunt, as he reflected on his third win in five races, fifth of the season and 68th of his career.
"For sure, the chance is there," Verstappen explained, after saying pre-weekend his chances were "50-50".
"We just need to try and deliver these kinds of weekends, now until the end, so we will try whatever we can. I think it is exciting.
"It was an unbelievable weekend for us, and I knew that the race was not going to be super straightforward.
"If you look at the race, the pace between me and Lando was really close, and that first stint is what made the difference. I could eke out a little bit of a gap, and that's what we did towards the end.
"It wasn't easy to manage the tyres on both stints, but we kept it in the lead and I'm just incredibly proud of everyone to deliver a weekend like this."
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