Mercedes driver Lewis Hamilton (44) of Great Britain pours champagne on Mercedes technical director James Allison as Ferrari driver Sebastian Vettel (5) of Germany drinks champagne after Hamilton wins the United States Grand Prix at Circuit of the Americas in Austin, Texas, US on Oct 22, 2017. [Photo/Agencies]

Vettel bolted off the line and Hamilton moved left to try to squeeze Vettel into the inside of the first turn. The German held his ground, cut through the corner and tucked the nose of his Ferrari in front as the cars did the slingshot left turn back down the 130-foot elevation,Vettel's advantage was quickly swallowed up by the power that Hamilton's Mercedes had shown all week. Hamilton caught Vettel on lap six and passed him heading into the turn at the end of the circuit's long straight. It was the same move on the same turn Hamilton used to pass Vettel to win the race in 2012.

"Sebastian had a great start. I as kind of chill about because I knew from the past you can overtake here," Hamilton said. "I was a bit surprised Sebastian didn't defend more."The duel was briefly engaged again on lap 20. Hamilton pitted for fresh tires and emerged only a split second ahead of Vettel, who had already stopped. Vettel missed his chance at the lead when he ran wide on a turn — the same spot where he spun into the gravel on Friday — as Hamilton was leaving his garage.

The moment missed, Hamilton gave him no chance for another one. Vettel then found himself fighting just to hold on long enough to extend the championship for another week.

Anything lower than fifth place would have handed the title to Hamilton, and Vettel dropped as low as fourth. A late charge by Red Bull's Max Verstappen forced Vettel to make a second tire change and he powered back to toward the front.

"Not the result we wanted," Vettel said. "There was no real secret other than they were quicker than us. Those who are fastest have a good chance of winning."Ferrari's Kimi Raikkonen finished third after Verstappen penalized 5 seconds when race officials determined he left the track and gained an unfair advantage in passing Raikkonen on the final lap.

Red Bull's Daniel Ricciardo saw his run of three straight podium finishes and four in the previous five races end when engine failure ended his race on lap 16.Carlos Sainz' finished seventh in his first race with Renault after switching from Toro Rosso.

Hamilton's win and teammate Valtteri Bottas' fifth-place finish secured Mercedes' fourth consecutive constructor's championship.

AP