Lewis Hamilton won his fourth grand prix of the season thanks to a superb drive in the United States.
Sebastian Vettel finished second, while his title rival Fernando Alonso came home third.
The championship remains alive until next weekend's final race in Brazil, with the German leading by 13 points.
you can read how the action in Texas unfolded below.
Welcome one and all to Sports Mole's live F1 coverage, where today they race in Texas. It's a pivotal race in the battle for the championship. Leader Sebastian Vettel has been dominant this week and starts on pole position.
His rival Fernando Alonso is back in seventh, despite only coming home ninth in qualifying. Romain Grosjean already knew he was to incur a grid penalty, but Felipe Massa has now given his teammate a boost by changing his gearbox and taking a penalty. Alonso will now have a better side of the track from which to attack the first corner. Massa is once again sacrificing himself for the good of the team.
Click here to read more on Alonso's promotion.
Grid positions:
1. Sebastian Vettel (Red Bull)
2. Lewis Hamilton (McLaren)
3. Mark Webber (Red Bull)
4. Kimi Raikkonen (Lotus)
5. Michael Schumacher (Ferrari)
6. Nico Hulkenburg (Force India)
7. Fernando Alonso (Ferrari)
8. Romain Grosjean (Lotus)
9. Pastor Maldonado (Williams)
10. Bruno Senna (Williams)
Apologies, I hadn't factored Massa's demotion. A quick manual refresh will see the problem corrected.
Martin Brundle is on his grid walk for Sky Sports. He's spoken to Matt le Blanc, who can't see past Vettel winning. He's spoken to Lewis Hamilton, who looked unusually chilled. Most importantly, he's spoken to Sebastian Vettel, who doesn't seem to care that Alonso has moved up a place on the grid.
The atmosphere is very American... as you'd expect, being in America and what have you. The national anthem is booming and a parachute(ist?) unfurls the stars and stripes as he falls to the ground. It's all very over the top and cheesy. That's Texas.
"It's difficult to find a driver like me," Massa tells Sky Sports News. True.
The activity on the grid has cleared and the drivers are about to embark on their formation lap.
The drivers try desperately to get some heat into their tyres. The team's have found track temprature to be inconsistent this weekend and it could take a few laps for them to properly warm up.
We're in position and ready to go. Here come the lights...
Vettel gets a great start and Webber storms past Hamilton into the first corner! Alonso is up into fourth!
Schumacher is up into fifth. Perez has had a decent star as well and he is into 11th from 15th.
Raikkonen squeeses past Schumacher and into sixth place! The German left him far too much room... and now Grosjean gets the inside line on the seven-time champion!
Raikkonen is now behind Grosjean and Schumacher! It's hectic stuff at the CotA!
Hamilton takes Webber but the Red Bull gets more thrust out of the corner and retakes the McLaren!
Hamilton finally takes Webber cleanly and is now speeding away from the Aussie. He's chasing championship leader Vettel now.
Vettel clocks the fastest lap of the race so far at 1.44.
Grosjean has spun his car. He's not out of the race, but he's dropped behind Massa. And to compound his woes, Perez now passes him as well.
Vettel, Hamilton, Webber, Alonso, Hulkenberg, Raikkonen, Di Resta, Massa, Perez, Schumacher
Schumacher is holding off Button in the battle for 11th place. The German went a little wide and gave the McLaren half a chance.
Hamilton is hunting Vettel down. He's faster in every sector of this lap. The McLaren is absolutely flying, but so is the Red Bull. And the Red Bull is far more reliable.
Button gets past Schumacher, but the cars just touch each other. No damage done.
Hulkenberg and Raikkonen battle for fifth place. It's a right old tussle but the German is holding him off. Raikkonen is not going away though...
Raikkonen and Hulkenberg are side by side and the Lotus is much quicker on the straight. The Finn attacked the outside line when the Force India ran a corner a little bit wide. Superb driving at 130 mph.
Jenson Button is starting to fly. He's setting fast sectors all over the place but is caught in a bit of traffic. If he can get a clear run he could easily launch himself into the points.
Jean Eric-Vergne is out of the race. He went wide and his Toro rosso is stationary on the gravel. Yellow flag is out.
It's a two-way battle between Vettel and Hamilton. Great stuff. Both cars are looking fast, but it's the German who is in front at the moment.
Mark Webber is out of the race!
The yellow flag had been put away but it's back out again as Webber's car sits on the side of the track.
It started as a DRS failure and has escalated into a full blown mechanical problem. Unfortunate for the Aussie.
Massa posts the fastest lap of the race at 1.42.
Vettel, Hamilton, Alonso, Raikkonen, Massa, Di Resta, Perez, Senna, Button, Ricciardo
Hamilton is coming into the pits for a tyre change. He's going on the harder compounds. Alonso follows suit, but the Ferrari garage is considerably slower than the McLaren's.
Alonso is back out in sixth.
Vettel's pit stop was rapid.
Raikkonen is in second at the moment, splitting Vettel and Hamilton. The Finn is yet to pit for a new set of tyres, however...
Jenson Button lurks menacingly on Alonso's shoulder. He's having a good look at the Ferrari and looks like he has his car working for him. But for how long?
And there you go, Button sails past Alonso on the straight.
Meanwhile, Hamilton is attacking Raikkonen. The Englishman wants to get in front of the Finn as soon as he can in order to chase down Vettel, but the Lotus team will be trying to get Raikkonen into a position to attack Alonso once he's pitted for new tyres. There's battles all over this track. Fascinating race...
Raikkonen comes into the garage... and it's a poor effort by the Lotus garage. The Finn emerges from the pit lanes and Alonso just holds onto his place.
Jenson Button sets the fastest lap of the race.
Massa and Button are running third and fourth ahead of Alonso. Both are yet to pit, however. It should be as you were before the tyre changes...
Now Lewis Hamilton sets the fastest lap. The McLaren's are flying.
Vettel's lead over Hamilton is just over two seconds. It's been pretty much the same gap all race.
Hamilton has just taken a massive chunk out of that gap though. The gap is 1.6 seconds now.
Hamilton continues to eat into Vettel's time. It's now under one second!
It's a brilliant battle this one. Hamilton is within DRS range now and Vettel is having to pull some defensive manoeuvres.
Button finally pits and comes back out in seventh place.
Vettel is now the fastest car on the track.
Hamilton is trying his best to have a say in this championship race. Both front runners are driving very well. There has been little in the way of crashes all over the circuit today. Great racing.
Button cuts inside Grosjean nicely and moves into sixth.
Beautiful move by Massa to get past Raikkonen! It was similar to how the Finn took Hulkenberg on the same corner earlier on.
Hamilton attacks Vettel! The German holds him off, but for how long?!
Felipe Massa sets the fastest lap of the race.
Hamilton breezes past Vettel and into the lead! The Red Bull could do nothing but relent! The last thing he needs is a catastrophic crash!
Vettel sounds unhappy on the radio, he thinks that Hamilton got too close to his rear tyre. It looked fine to me...
Hamilton now sets the fastest lap of the race. It's a brilliantly convoluted mess at the moment. Vettel in second, Alonso third. Raikkonen and Button are battling behind them.
Fantastic manoeuvre by Button! He and Raikkonen were wheel to wheel for three corners, with the McLaren edging in front of the Lotus!
Hamilton, Vettel, Alonso, Massa, Button, Raikkonen, Grosjean, Senna, Hulkenberg, Maldonaldo
Hamilton is not exactly speeding away from Vettel. In fact, it looks like the German is gaining if anything. It's nothing too seriosu for Hamilton, he's still got a lead of around 1.3 seconds.
The two Williams cars have a little bit with each other. Maldonado squeezes past Senna, and they touch as well. Good move, but it's a bit risky when it's on your teammate!
Vettel sets the fastest lap of the race.
Quickly broken by Massa...
... and now that's been broken by Hamilton. There's a lot of pace out there.
So with two laps remaining, it's Lewis Hamilton leading Sebastian Vettel. The title race will be alive in Brazil if all things stay the same. Red Bull will also take the contructors championship today.
Hamilton is now on course for a well-earned victory.
LEWIS HAMILTON WINS THE UNITED STATES GRAND PRIX!
Vettel sets the fastest lap of the race but can only come second. Alonso comes home third, meaning that Hamilton, Vettel and Alonso take the podium spots for the very first time together.
Massa finishes fourth. He's has a great race.
Hamilton, Vettel, Alonso, Massa, Button, Raikkonen, Grosjean, Hulkenberg, Maldonado, Senna
What a brilliant race. Technically sound, not much crash drama. Superb drive from Hamilton, and a deserved victory.
Red Bull clinch the contructors title. It's been a fantastic year for them. And with Vettel still in the driving seat (pardon the pun) in Brazil next week, the drivers championship could follow...
Oh dear... Hamilton, Vettel and Alonso have been given Pirelli cowboy hats instead of traditional caps. They are in Texas, but they must be dying a little inside.
Hamilton hoists the winner's trophy high above his head. It's his first win since Monza, and he's suffered heartbreak in Singapore and Abu Dhabi.
Well that's all from us at Sports Mole. Thanks for joining us for this fantastic race. Join us next week when the championship will once again be decided in Brazil. G'night!
Written by
Michael Penkman
Michael Penkman
