Kimi Raikkonen registered his first win in five years in Austin, Texas on Sunday since last securing victory with Lotus in Australia in March 2013.
The former world champion had proceedings under control right from the start as he galloped his way past Lewis Hamilton on the opening lap and never looked back.
Hamilton, despite his valiant efforts, couldn’t counter the attack of the Scuderia and had to settle for third.
Ahead of him, Red Bull’s Max Verstappen delivered a phenomenal performance to confirm his place on the podium in second, having started in 18th.
Selection of tyre compounds and timing the pit stops played a crucial role in the outcome of the race, with Ferrari outclassing the Silver Arrows on both departments.
Title challenger Sebastian Vettel recovered from the early setback of coming into contact with Daniel Ricciardo to finish in a respectable fourth and delay the crowning of Hamilton for at least another week.
Vettel remains 70 points behind Hamilton but with only 75 points left to race for, the Brit's fifth world title will likely become official in Mexico.
Mercedes and Hamilton have been a gulf above the rest almost throughout most of the season, but, that did not deter Raikkonen from appearing to take a sly dig at the reigning world champion after the conclusion of the US GP.
As the Finnish ace and Verstappen engaged in a chat in the cool down room, Hamilton entered, and they all gathered ahead of the podium ceremony.
Right at that very moment, Raikkonen awkwardly asked Hamilton: “Did you win the championship?”
“No!” came a swift reply from the 33-year-old.
Amid some laughs being heard in the background, Raikkonen then claimed he was not aware of the standings and just genuinely wanted to know if Hamilton had done enough.
Awkward...
Plenty of F1 fans will recall Raikkonen actually pipped Hamilton to the title by one point in 2007.
But it is unlikely Raikkonen will be competing for pole in too many races after this season comes to an end, with his switch to Sauber already confirmed.