Antonelli second in Austin FP2 as Mercedes closes in on upgrade answers before US Grand Prix

Antonelli second fastest as Austin practice opens championship chance

Kimi Antonelli delivered Mercedes' most encouraging running with its contested upgrade package on Friday at the United States Grand Prix, improving from fifth in Free Practice 1 to second in Free Practice 2 at the Circuit of The Americas, where he finished just 0.042s adrift of Charles Leclerc's benchmark time. The 20-year-old Italian is at a weekend where, per Formula1.com's report, victory combined with low-scoring results for his rivals could see him secure the Drivers' Championship, his first chance to seal a maiden title. ¹

Formula1.com reported that the session did not start smoothly for Antonelli, whose seat was not fixed properly at the beginning of FP2. 'It kind of felt like being on a rollercoaster on Lap 1, with the seat moving in the high speed [corners],' he said, adding that the team lost a little bit of time but recovered well. He said he felt better in the car compared with FP1 and described it as 'a good step forward' heading into Saturday. ¹

RacingNews365's live coverage of the Austin weekend also recorded Charles Leclerc sweeping Friday practice for Ferrari, consistent with the tight picture Antonelli described, and noted that George Russell avoided any penalty in the first title-showdown session. ³⁵

A troubled upgrade story: from Malaysia doubts to a Singapore split-spec test

The background to this weekend's optimism is an upgrade introduction that has not gone to plan. Formula1.com reported that Mercedes brought the updates, originally introduced in Malaysia, hoping to reinstate the advantage they enjoyed at the start of the season, but they did not deliver the anticipated progress. That prompted the team's unusual decision at the Singapore Grand Prix to run two different configurations, with Antonelli staying on the new-spec W17 and George Russell reverting to the previous version for a direct back-to-back comparison across the Sprint weekend. ¹⁴

Formula1.com detailed that Russell, already carrying a power unit grid penalty for Singapore following his Sepang retirement, had floated the comparison idea before the Malaysian race and called the decision a 'no-brainer' once the failure happened. Antonelli, who also received a new front wing in Singapore that in effect completed the package, argued the Sepang result was an outlier given the rough tarmac and track temperatures exceeding 60 degrees, and said he wanted to help the team understand the new parts rather than write them off early. ⁴

GRANDE PRÊMIO reported that team principal Toto Wolff acknowledged after Friday practice in Singapore that the new specification appeared more difficult to drive, although the team had not established whether it was slower. Russell, meanwhile, topped FP1 and qualified second for the Sprint on the older package before crashing out of the race while leading, and his car was subsequently rebuilt for Grand Prix qualifying. ²

Singapore breakthrough: a better setup, but a very small window

Antonelli's Singapore Saturday showed the first signs of progress. GRANDE PRÊMIO reported that after struggling through Friday's running, which included seventh in both FP1 and Sprint Qualifying, he finished fourth in the rain-affected Sprint and then qualified fourth for the Grand Prix with a 1:31.562, just 0.189s behind pole-sitter Max Verstappen and 0.185s ahead of Russell. ²

Speaking to media including RacingNews365 after qualifying, Antonelli said Mercedes believed it had made a breakthrough with the package: 'We did a big step in setup, and we seem to have put the car in a better place, even by giving away a bit of performance.' He explained that the car had been sliding everywhere on Friday, so the team traded a little aero performance for a more stable platform, but stressed the operating window remained 'very small, very sensitive', and said that 'if in Malaysia we were a bit lost, now we have the head a bit clearer.' ³⁵

GRANDE PRÊMIO also carried Antonelli's qualifying comments to Sky Sports F1, in which he confirmed the team had found the issues and now understood the package better, with the remaining task being to find the right setup window so the package works at its best. He noted the car reacts differently from corner to corner when hunting every last tenth in qualifying. ²

The Sprint result had direct championship consequences: GRANDE PRÊMIO and RacingNews365 both reported that Antonelli's fourth place, combined with Russell's crash while leading, opened an 89-point lead for the Italian in the Drivers' Championship heading into the Singapore Grand Prix, where he started fourth behind Verstappen and the two Ferraris of Charles Leclerc and Lewis Hamilton, targeting a podium. Russell's confirmed 40-place power-unit penalty meant he would start from the back of the grid. ²³⁵

The rebuild carried its own complications. According to GRANDE PRÊMIO, Russell said after Grand Prix qualifying: 'Something was a bit odd because we had great pace yesterday and Kimi's in a similar position to where he was yesterday but I've taken a step backwards and the car didn't feel quite the same.' He recorded a 1:31.747 in qualifying, 0.185s slower than Antonelli, and with his previously confirmed 40-place power-unit penalty would start the Grand Prix from the back of the grid. ²

Why Mercedes says Austin is not the match-point weekend

Despite the possibility of a coronation in Austin, Formula1.com reported that Mercedes deputy team principal Bradley Lord insisted the team was approaching the United States Grand Prix like any other race. 'Ultimately, for Kimi to win this weekend, it means the team has had a really bad race because the maths says George needs to be ninth or below,' Lord said. 'It's theoretically possible but in practical terms, this isn't the match point weekend.' ¹

Lord added that the competition among the top four teams remained remarkably tight, pointing to long-run overlays where it took squinting to see much difference between Leclerc, Verstappen, Antonelli and a strong-looking Lando Norris, with the battle between all eight front-running cars likely decided by a tenth or half a tenth. That framing aligns with RacingNews365's weekend coverage, which highlighted Leclerc's Friday practice sweep for Ferrari and a grid penalty update for Verstappen as factors shaping the Austin weekend. ¹³⁵

What to watch in Austin

The immediate technical question for Mercedes is whether both cars on the same upgrade package can translate Singapore's setup progress into qualifying and race pace at the Circuit of The Americas. Antonelli told Formula1.com that having both cars on the same package helps the team try different things and build understanding, and that the week off since Singapore had allowed analysis of what the package needs, even though the team is still trying to find how to put the car in the right window. ¹

The championship question remains secondary in practical terms, as Lord's comments make clear, but the points table gives Antonelli an 89-point cushion over Russell going into the weekend. Any outcome beyond the Grand Prix itself, including qualifying results and the Sprint classification, will be a separate story once official results are published. ¹³