Magnussen: It was some driving from Vettel

Vettel and Magnussen were locked in a close battle towards the end of the race in Austin, going through several corners side by side, before the four-time Formula 1 Champion emerged on top in the end.

Magnussen finished the race ninth which became eight after Fernando Alonso got penalized following a protest from Haas questioning the safety of the Spaniard's Alpine after his crash with Lance Stroll.

The Dane was happy with scoring points, and despite being disappointed for losing a position to Vettel, credited the Aston Marti driver's driving.

He told F1's official website: "I’m super happy. For us as a team, it’s very important to get these points at our home race in the US.

"And it’s very big on the weekend that we announce a great title sponsor with MoneyGram – it couldn’t come at a better time," he added.

"Of course, I’m gutted to lose a position to Sebastian," he said of the fight with Vettel. "I have to say it was some driving from him, that’s when you really realise why he’s a four-time World Champion.

"As much as it p***** me off it was impressive to see," the Haas driver insisted.

Vettel lamented losing points due to a poor pit stop from his team, but relished the fight with Magnussen, as aspect of F1 he will miss after retirement.

He said: "Yeah, obviously we lost some points [because of the slow pit stop] but I had some more fun at the end, at least.

"I knew Kevin would be a difficult one, so I was very fair and you know, gave him the room that you need to give, but he was very fair in return and yeah, just left me enough room," Vettel explained.

"As I said, I knew it was going to be tight and he would not leave a lot – just enough – and I used that. It was good fun and obviously another sort of strong finish at the very end," he added.

However and despite missing out on such moments, Vettel will not doubt his decision to retire at the end of this season.

"Obviously I will miss these moments," he said, "miss the adrenaline in places like Suzuka, the adrenaline rush around there – like today, the racing, battling with the others right on the limit, and beyond the limit to be fair.

"That will be missed, but on the other hand obviously I thought about that in advance and I look forward to what’s coming next," Vettel concluded.