Antonelli wins United States Grand Prix to move within two points of maiden F1 title

Antonelli wins from pole, but title celebrations on hold

Kimi Antonelli has won the United States Grand Prix at the Circuit of the Americas, claiming his ninth victory of the 2026 season for Mercedes. As Speedcafe's race report details, the Italian led from the start, surrendered the lead during the pit stop cycle, reclaimed the top spot with 24 laps remaining and controlled the closing stages to finish more than 13 seconds clear of Charles Leclerc. ⁴

The win did not complete the job entirely. Antonelli arrived in Austin with slim mathematical hopes of clinching the title there, needing to win, for teammate George Russell to finish ninth or lower and for Lewis Hamilton to finish fifth or lower, as ESPN reported. Hamilton's fourth place and Russell's eighth meant the championship race officially continues, though Antonelli's lead now stands at 123 points over Russell, with Hamilton a point further back, and a finish of ninth or higher in Mexico will seal the crown no matter what his rivals do. ⁶

The Age noted that victory would have made Antonelli, at 20, the youngest world champion in Formula 1 history, unseating Sebastian Vettel, and argued the results elsewhere have "likely just delayed the inevitable" with the Mexican Grand Prix running from October 30 to November 1. Russell, like Hamilton, remains mathematically in the fight but both would need an extraordinary run of results plus significant misfortune for Antonelli across the remaining five races, according to Speedcafe. ¹⁴

Antonelli said after the race it was the result his team needed, crediting its recent upgrades and the strategy call to commit to a one-stop. "We are very close. We try to finish on a high and hopefully we can clinch it very soon," he added, as quoted by ESPN and Speedcafe. ⁶⁴

Strategy decided the race at the front

Speedcafe's race report describes a race largely dictated by strategy. Antonelli started on the medium compound, as did the McLarens and Russell, while Verstappen, Hadjar and both Ferraris began on softs. The championship leader led comfortably early, building a 2.4-second advantage over Verstappen by lap 14, before Verstappen became the first of the frontrunners to pit on a two-stop strategy, Red Bull fitting fresh softs. ⁴

Antonelli and Mercedes stayed out and committed to a one-stop, pitting to take hards, while Verstappen made a second stop on lap 32. As ESPN recounts, the Dutchman inherited the lead briefly before Antonelli charged back through on Leclerc to reclaim the top spot the same lap, now on much fresher tyres than those ahead. Verstappen admitted afterwards that his overall pace was not good enough and that the tyres available were probably not the right ones, while acknowledging a late Virtual Safety Car had helped him defend his podium, per Speedcafe. ⁴⁶

Leclerc and Hamilton both made second stops in the final 16 laps, with Hamilton rejoining sixth and needing to pass two cars to keep Antonelli's title hopes in limbo. Leclerc, who had been the fastest driver on track in the closing stages, swept past Verstappen for second with six laps remaining, while Hamilton passed Norris for fourth on lap 51, a result that postponed the title decision. Verstappen finished 17.485s behind the winner, with Hamilton fourth and Norris fifth, per Speedcafe's classified results. ⁴⁶⁷

A lap-53 Virtual Safety Car for a stranded Cadillac, with Valtteri Bottas pulling off with four laps to go, was the second brief interruption of the race, the first having cleared debris from Fernando Alonso's Aston Martin after contact with Alex Albon's Williams on lap one. Speedcafe also noted retirements for Oliver Bearman's Haas, following a collision with Pierre Gasly that earned him a 10-second penalty, and Franco Colapinto's Alpine. ⁴⁷

McLaren orders Piastri to yield to Norris

Oscar Piastri endured another difficult weekend, finishing seventh. On lap eight, McLaren swapped the Australian's position with Lando Norris, citing the drivers' differing strategies after Norris complained over the radio that he was being held up. The Age reports Piastri was told Norris was on a different strategy, and quotes Piastri describing a "tricky weekend" in which the car was "very difficult to extract performance from". ¹

Norris's one-stop strategy initially looked to have worked, with the reigning world champion running second late in the race, but his depleted tyres gave way and he slipped behind Verstappen, Leclerc and Hamilton in the closing laps to finish fifth, Speedcafe reported. BBC live coverage, after Norris qualified eighth, carried his own assessment that the weekend had been a real struggle for McLaren and that the car was the hardest he had ever driven. ⁴⁵

George Russell, meanwhile, received a five-second penalty for leaving the track and gaining an advantage during his opening-lap battle with Piastri, serving the penalty at his pit stop and finishing eighth, 54.303s behind the winner, according to Speedcafe's results. Timing of that stop differs across reports: PlanetF1 placed it on lap 23, while ESPN reported lap 24, and Speedcafe gave no lap. Both BBC and Speedcafe noted a brief first-lap Virtual Safety Car after Alonso and Albon made contact, while Alonso's team boss Adrian Newey had earlier told Sky Sports flames from the car's rear were thought to be oil from the breather, and the FIA inspected the car on the grid. ⁴³⁷⁶

How the championship now stands

With five rounds remaining, Antonelli's 123-point lead over Russell means a finish of ninth or higher in Mexico City next weekend will clinch his maiden drivers' world championship regardless of any rival's result, as ESPN outlined. Hamilton sits a point behind Russell in the standings order, with both now requiring a dramatic swing, and Speedcafe recorded Norris in fifth, Verstappen on the podium in third and Leclerc second at COTA. ⁶⁴

The 2026 season has been a dominant one for the Italian. The Age recalled that Mercedes team boss Toto Wolff had warned in May against piling huge expectations on the then-19-year-old after three consecutive wins in China, Japan and Miami, saying a bad race would invite doubt; months later, Antonelli has been consistently flawless and now stands on the brink of history. ¹

1996 world champion Damon Hill, speaking on BBC Radio 5 Live in Austin, said Antonelli's performance was impressive not just by Mercedes but by the driver himself, whose season "has been incredible", noting he was doing everything he could while the title outcome also depended on drivers behind him. The Mexican Grand Prix runs from October 30 to November 1, where Antonelli needs only to finish higher than ninth, per The Age. ²¹