Kimi Raikkonen won an intense battle against his Mercedes rival in one of the races of the season as his one-stop strategy ensured he kept team-mate Sebastian Vettel’s slim title hopes alive.
Max Vertsappen produced the drive of the day as he fought his way from 18th on the grid to finish second.
Hamilton lost his pole position on the opening lap and after a turbulent race could only secure the final podium place. He now needs to finish five points above Vettel at the Mexican Grand Prix next weekend to secure the title.
Meanwhile, Vettel, who started in fifth place, collided with Daniel Ricciardo on the first lap and span to the back of the field but he fought his way back to a fourth-placed finish after a dramatic late overlap of Valtteri Bottas.
At the same time, Hamilton had three bites at overtaking Verstappen at the death but the Dutchman defended magnificently to make the Brit wait another week to equal Juan Manuel Fangio’s record.
Hamilton was evidently disappointed with wasting his pole position but he will have a chance to complete the job at the Mexican Grand Prix next weekend.
“Naturally I thought we would be able to do better but this is the best we were able to do in the end,” Hamilton said.
“We just have to keep working and keep pushing for the next race.
“After my first stop, 12 seconds was way too far to catch up. I’m not really quite sure how the strategy ended up like that.
“A big congratulations to Kimi, he did a great job with no mistakes. He had a great start and managed to go all the way.
“Max did a great job too, he was on a better tyre than us at the end, so naturally a bit of a struggle for us but it was the best we could do in the end. At least we could have a good race. But we’ll leave it until next weekend.
“I came out ahead in the pit, but the window was closed and it was way too far to come back from. I don’t know how our strategy ended up like that, and you only have a short time to do a fast lap on new tyres and I missed it.
“Ferrari picked up their pace this weekend, so I look forward to the next race.”
Meanwhile, race winner Raikkonen celebrated his first victory since the 2013 Australian Grand Prix.
And he explained how the perfect start set him on his way to a memorable evening.
“Maybe they (the fans) are happier, it’s been a great weekend, the car has been good all the time,” he said.
“I got a good start and I ended to push hard and the tyres were not in their best shape towards the end.
“Max had the same problem and Lewis but we had enough speed and kept it consistent. I’m much happier here than finishing in second but I’m happy.
“It was obviously coming in at the right time and having enough tyres, so it was a balancing act but we did it well, well enough to win and good.”
And Verstappen expressed his surprise at coming from 18th on the grid to finish second.
“A bit unexpected, a good start, good first lap very quickly we were into P5 then we could follow the leaders,” he said.
“We were really struggling with the rear tyres, it was a good fight. I was pushing as much as I could, but clearly Lewis was on the edge too.”