Indianapolis, June 18:

Rookie sensation Lewis Hamilton raced to his second straight Formula One victory in US Grand Prix.

The first black driver in Formula One’s 61-year history has finished all seven races this season in the top three. He now leads McLaren teammate and two-time world champion Fernando Alonso by 10 points.

The two finished 1-2 for the third time this season, but this time the order was reversed from Malaysia in April and last month’s race at Monaco as the 22-year-old Englishman added this victory to his inaugural F1 triumph last week in the Canadian Grand Prix.

Alonso tried hard to pass his less experienced teammate at the start, darting to the outside and pulling nearly alongside Hamilton for a moment, then backing off and diving to the inside as the leaders squirted through the first two narrow turns, a sharp right-hander and then a left-hander.

Hamilton managed to stay in front and was able to continue to fend off the pressure by the Spaniard to the end.

The outcome was still in question until Alonso locked up his brakes on lap 47 and drove through the grass, allowing Hamilton to pull out to a 2.5-second lead.

Hamilton drove on to the win without further challenge, finishing 1.5 seconds ahead of Alonso. The Ferraris of Felipe Massa and Kimi Raikkonen finished third and fourth respectively.