• Verstappen third, Norris fourth behind Ferrari duo
• Norris drops place after taking five-second penalty

That there is a real title fight on the cards still to come this season was illustrated in the finest fashion of the kind Formula One deserves with a gripping, dramatic and controversial wheel to wheel contest between the two protagonists Max Verstappen and Lando Norris at the US Grand Prix. But pity then poor Charles Leclerc, whose dominant victory in Austin and Ferrari’s resurgence with a one-two alongside Carlos Sainz was all but overshadowed in the Texas sunshine.

The season, a two-horse fight between Red Bull’s Verstappen and McLaren’s Norris, has long demanded a full-on head to head between the pair and they finally delivered with a humdinger, albeit not for the lead. After vying for over 10 laps at the close, with nothing to choose between them, Norris had finally passed Verstappen for third place on track when the flag fell with Verstappen in fourth.