AS.com

McLaren's Lewis Hamilton won the US Grand Prix, ahead of Red Bull's Sebastian Vettel, who increased his lead in the driver's championship, and Ferrari's Fernando Alonso, who will fight for the title next Sunday in the last race of the season, in Brazil.

Hamilton covered the 308.8 kilometre course of 56 laps of the recently opened 5.5km Americas Circuit in Austin, Texas in a winning time of 1:35:55 at an average speed of 192.9 kilometres an hour. It was the Englishman's 21^st F1 victory. Vettel, back in second, managed the fastest lap of the race, and his podium finish puts him further ahead at the top of the drivers' championship, on 273 points, 13 more than Alonso, who finished 3^rd in today's race. His teammate, Brazilian Felipe Massa, was fourth, ahead of Jenson Button (McLaren) and the two Lotus drivers, Fin Kimi Raikkonen and Frenchman Romain Grosjean.

With the 18 points garnered by Vettel today Red Bull secured their Constructor's Championship, the third consecutive for the Austrian fizzy drinks team, who have racked up 440 points against the 367 of Ferrari.

All eyes now turn to Interlagos where the prize is Vettel's to lose...