Verstappen produced a stunning overtake on Kimi Raikkonen on the final lap to steal third place from the Ferrari driver.
And with the Red Bull driver celebrating a tremendous recovery from the back of the grid in the podium room, stewards demoted Verstappen to fourth position handing the place back to Kimi Raikkonen.
They ruled that Verstappen completed that late, late overtake with all four wheels off the track.
Verstappen had been chatting casually with Sebastian Vettel, who finished in second, but was forced to leave.
And after the match, Red Bull team boss Christian Horner blasted the decision: “They have been driving off track all weekend, Max made a fair move.
“It is an appalling decision. They have robbed all of the fans here.
“It was a great grand prix and they have screwed it up.”
Lewis Hamilton won in Austin to move one win away from his fourth drivers’ world championship.
Mercedes’ Niki Lauda waded into the debate by saying: ”They shouldn’t intervene in situations like that. It was a normal overtaking move. You can’t be more stupid than that.”