Hamilton questions Mercedes pit stop strategy after US Grand Prix

Lewis Hamilton cut a frustrated figure and questioned Mercedes' pit stop strategy after he could only finish third in the US Grand Prix in Austin, meaning the world championship battle with Sebastian Vettel continues until the next race, in Mexico.

Hamilton came into the pits early on, during a battle with eventual race winner Kimi Raikkonen, looking to take advantage of the system car to minimise the amount of time he would be behind the Finn when he remerged.

But in end he was forced into a battle with Max Verstappen for second spot, and the Dutchman was able to hold on to claim his first ever podium in the USA despite starting in 18th position on the grid.

With Vettel moving into fourth position in the closing stages, recovering from an early spin to move through the grid, Hamilton need to win to secure the points needed to win the world championship, but had to settle for third spot and Hamilton was left to wonder if things could have worked out differently.

He told Sky Sports F1's Martin Brundle: "Congrats to Kimi, no mistakes, he had a great race and so did Verstappen, he was on a slightly better tyre than us at the end, but it was great that we got to do some racing at least.

"[On his first pit stop] I think, ultimately, I came out and had the pit window, it was very very close. I made the stop and it was 12 seconds, it was way way too far to catch up.

"I'm not sure how the strategy came out like that, and that's always difficult because you only get a certain amount of life with a brand new tyre to make a difference, and once you make 12 seconds up, you have none left.

"But I'm still really happy, Ferrari have upped their game here and we go on now to the next race."

The Mexico Grand Prix takes place next Sunday, 28 October.