Mercedes did the "best with what we had" in US F1 GP - Hamilton

Starting from second on the grid, Hamilton made a great start and got past his title rival into Turn 1.

Red Bull went on the aggressive to reclaim track position by stopping Verstappen early on Lap 11, before pitting again on Lap 29 to cover off any potential undercut attempt by Mercedes.

Verstappen resisted Hamilton’s fast-charging Mercedes - who was running on significantly fresher rubber having stopped eight laps later - to claim his eighth win of the season and Red Bull’s first at the Circuit of the Americas since 2013.

“It was a fun race, we had a good start,” Hamilton said. “Then he seemed to be quite close throughout on the medium tyre and then obviously they stopped extremely early. Tried to offset myself after that and was hoping it would give us a chance for fighting late on but I think track position was key today.

“I don’t know what we could have done differently, we’ll sit down and talk afterwards. The team did a great job today, it was the best with what we had. Yeah we go into at least the next two tracks for sure very strong circuits for Red Bull so it’s going to be tough, for sure.”

Mercedes has been the team to beat in recent rounds and going to Austin, many tipped it to win again - a circuit where it has only been beaten once in the turbo-hybrid era.

Hamilton believes the unusually hot temperatures might have played into Red Bull’s hands.

“I think they were quicker all weekend and on all tyres today,” Hamilton added. “Just in the heat, that’s their real strength has shone through this weekend, a bit like other places, Bahrain this year, yeah did the best I could with what we had.”

With Mexico and Brazil coming up - two circuits that have favoured Red Bull in recent years due to the high altitude - Hamilton knows Mercedes has to do a better job to avoid having a record-breaking eighth title slip away.

“Not thinking about it at the moment,” Hamilton replied when asked about the 12-point gap in the championship. “Just got to be happy with the job I did today and live in the moment, and we didn’t unfortunately… weren’t quick enough to win today, but just look forward and take it one race at a time.

“There are two circuits strong for Red Bull so we’ll have to minimise how strong they can be and do a better job.”