INDIANAPOLIS, June 18: British rookie Lewis Hamilton won the US Grand Prix on Sunday to take his second victory in a row and forge 10 points clear of McLaren team-mate Fernando Alonso in the Formula One championship.

Hamilton crossed the line 1.518 seconds ahead of the double world champion for his seventh podium finish in seven extraordinary starts. Brazilian Felipe Massa was third for Ferrari.

Hamilton's second pole to flag win capped a stunningly successful North American swing for the 22-year-old Briton with maximum points from the two races.

McLaren, with four wins so far this season, lead Ferrari in the constructors' standings by 35 points.

“What a dream,” an emotional Hamilton told reporters. “I never thought in a million years I would be here today with these drivers and win two races in North America.

Massa, followed home by team mate Kimi Raikkonen, put Ferrari back on the podium after being shut out in Canada.

Sunday's race was only the second time in eight grands prix staged at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway since 2000 that Ferrari had failed to win.

Hamilton delivered another stunningly cool performance in the searing heat to lead McLaren to their third one-two finish of the season.

Finland's Heikki Kovalainen was fifth for Renault ahead of Italian Jarno Trulli in a Toyota.

Australian Mark Webber collected his first points of the season with seventh place for Red Bull while 19-year-old German Sebastian Vettel finished eighth for BMW Sauber and became Formula One's youngest point scorer.

Results:

1. Lewis Hamilton (Britain) McLaren 1hr 31min 09.965; 2. Fernando Alonso (Spain) McLaren +00:01.518; 3. Felipe Massa (Brazil) Ferrari 00:12.842; 4. Kimi Raikkonen (Finland) Ferrari 00:15.422; 5. Heikki Kovalainen (Finland) Renault 00:41.402; 6. Jarno Trulli (Italy) Toyota 01:06.703; 7. Mark Webber (Australia) RedBull-Renault 01:07.331; 8. Sebastian Vettel (Germany) BMW Sauber 01:07.783; 9. Giancarlo Fisichella (Italy) Renault 1 lap; 10. Alexander Wurz (Austria) Williams-Toyota 1 lap; 11. Anthony Davidson (Britain) Super Aguri-Honda 1 lap; 12. Jenson Button (Britain) Honda 1 lap; 13. Scott Speed (US) Toro Rosso-Ferrari 2 laps; 14. Adrian Sutil (Germany) Spyker-Ferrari 2 laps; 15. Christijan Albers (Netherlands) Spyker-Ferrari 3 laps.

Retired: Nico Rosberg (Germany) Williams-Toyota 5 laps; Vitantonio Liuzzi (Italy) Toro Rosso-Ferrari 5 laps; Nick Heidfeld (Germany) BMW Sauber 18 laps; Takuma Sato (Japan) Super Aguri-Honda 60 laps; David Coulthard (Britain) RedBull-Renault 73 laps; Rubens Barrichello (Brazil) Honda 73 laps; Ralf Schumacher (Germany) Toyota 73 laps.

Fastest lap: Kimi Raikkonen, 1:13.117, lap 49.—Reuters