US Grand Prix: Lando Norris loses third to Max Verstappen as Charles Leclerc wins

The race was bookended by two incidents between the title rivals, right at the start and in the closing stages.

At the first corner, Norris, who started from pole, appeared to have covered the inside line, but Verstappen went for it anyway and the two drivers both ran off the track on the exit.

Norris complained that Verstappen had forced him off and should give the place back, but the stewards did not investigate the incident.

Their battle allowed Leclerc to slip by into the lead and once there he was in total control of the race.

He quickly extended his advantage and it soon became clear that the Ferrari driver would dominate unless something went wrong.

Leclerc was 10 seconds in the lead by the time Verstappen in second place made his first pit stop on lap 25. Ferrari pulled him in a lap later and he controlled the race to the end.

Sainz ran third in the first stint, after briefly challenging Verstappen on the first lap, and Ferrari chose to use the ‘undercut’ on Red Bull.

Sainz pitted on lap 21 so by the time Verstappen stopped, the new tyres on the Ferrari had gained the Spaniard enough time that the Red Bull came out behind.

Verstappen was unable to do anything about Sainz, and had to turn his sights to Norris.

He and team-mate Oscar Piastri had a quiet first stint, running in fourth and fifth places, lacking the pace of the Ferraris and Red Bull in front of them.

But McLaren ran their drivers long to give them a tyre advantage in the second stint.

Norris stopped six laps after Verstappen and was 6.6 seconds behind when he returned to the track.

He was on the Red Bull’s tail just over 10 laps later and the two set about an engrossing battle over the next 10 laps.

Norris tracked Verstappen closely and a number of times the two ran side by side through some of the corners of the complex after Turn 12, the tight corner at the end of the long back straight.

But Verstappen positioned his car with expertise to prevent Norris ever being able to make a move at the hairpin at Turn 15.

On lap 52, Norris was closer than ever coming on to the back straight and he went for the outside as Verstappen defended the inside line.

Both cars ran off the track, Norris considerably, and the McLaren emerged ahead.

Verstappen immediately complained that Norris had overtaken by going off the track and should give the place back.

But Norris decided to press on, arguing to his team that he had been ahead at the apex.

But the stewards disagreed, and Norris was given a five-second penalty just before the end of the race. Although he had pulled away, he had not quite done enough to negate the penalty.

Sounding down, Norris told BBC Sport after the race: “That’s life. I didn’t do a good enough job.”

Asked whether he should have given the place back, he said: “Maybe that was my one and only chance.”

Piastri took fifth, while George Russell saved Mercedes’ blushes after a difficult weekend by recovering to sixth place after starting from the pit lane because of a crash in qualifying.

Team-mate Lewis Hamilton crashed on the second lap. “I have never spun especially on the second lap,” he said. “It’s devastating to not be in the race because I love this race.”