AUSTIN -- Lewis Hamilton will have to wait another day for his 2017 title coronation, but victory at the U.S. Grand Prix means it is now all but a formality (if it wasn't already). The win capped a thrilling, fascinating duel for victory and the final two spots on the podium at COTA as Formula One delivered the U.S. a tremendous celebration of grand prix racing at its finest. Here are the main talking points of the race.
Shock: Seeing Lewis Hamilton struggle to completely shake Sebastian Vettel after the opening round of pit stops, despite a lengthy part of the stint in clean air. After emerging just ahead of his title rival, Hamilton asked his team how Vettel had come so close to reclaiming the lead. It was a fair question and once again hints at how closely matched the two teams are.
Shocker: Valtteri Bottas had a horrible race. The Finnish driver has struggled since about the time he signed a new deal with Mercedes for 2018. This was one of his worst performances of the year. Tyres appeared to be the issue late on for the No. 77 car, but he was never close to Hamilton's pace all weekend. Bottas is in desperate need of a strong finish in the final three races of the year.
Let's get ready to grumble: A quick glance at social media suggested the reaction was overwhelmingly negative, but the pre-race show in Austin was brilliant.
British comedy troupe Monty Python sometimes segued between sketches with "And now for something completely different" -- and that phrase seemed appropriate ahead of the U.S. Grand Prix. Michael Buffer's driver introductions were like nothing we've seen in F1 before: energetic, cheesy and unashamedly American. It was exactly the sort of thing Liberty Media promised when it took control of F1 this year.
With a calendar already well beyond saturation point -- and set to increase to 21 races -- F1 should be trying to give each event a unique feel rather than following the same formula every time.
Elbows out: Sebastian Vettel threw Lewis Hamilton a game-face glare during the American national anthem, where the two title contenders were placed opposite each other. What followed was a brilliant start from the Ferrari driver, a bolshie move into Turn 1, which involved a tiny bit of contact with his title rival. Later in the race, he executed another brilliant pass on the struggling Bottas at the same part of the circuit, passing the Mercedes driver on one side and with lapped traffic on the other -- proof he's going to go down fighting this season.
The almost-the-move-of-the-race award: Max Verstappen drew claps and cheers from the COTA media centre with his thrilling pass on Kimi Raikkonen at the final sector, but the joy was short-lived. The stewards rightly spotted that the Dutchman had put four wheels off the circuit to pass the Ferrari and handed him a five-second time penalty, relegating him back behind Raikkonen.
As the letter of the law goes, the stewards were right -- but the lack of consistency on this issue makes the anger that followed completely justified.
Wheel-to-wheel: Daniel Ricciardo and Bottas deserve a nod for their thrilling wheel-to-wheel fight in the opening laps. On two occasions, the Red Bull driver closed up to Bottas at Turn 1, and the pair fought for position through the Esses -- one of the best points on any F1 circuit -- and creating a genuinely thrilling (and fair) spectacle.
The fastest men in the world?: Usain Bolt was one of the star attractions of the U.S. Grand Prix, and he was left speechless by a pre-race ride of COTA by Hamilton. The two would meet again on the podium after Hamilton's victory and would share Bolt's signature pose. Whatever you think about Hamilton, it might be time to start wondering whether, like Bolt, Hamilton will go down as his sport's greatest-ever competitor.
Driver of the day: This has to go to Verstappen. Since he found a cure to whatever was causing his bad luck earlier this year, the Dutchman has been in a rich vein of form. Having started 16th, his race was another example of his raw pace and ability to seize the initiative when opportunity knocks.
He deserved the spot on the podium he enjoyed for all of about 10 minutes before he sheepishly left the cool-down room after learning of his penalty.