Antonelli wins US Grand Prix but F1 title waits for Mexico

Kimi Antonelli won the United States Grand Prix in Austin from pole position, finishing 13.078 seconds ahead of Charles Leclerc. Max Verstappen took third. The Mercedes driver did not clinch the world championship, because George Russell and Lewis Hamilton both finished high enough to keep the fight alive until Mexico on 1 November.

It was Antonelli’s ninth win of the 2026 season. He now leads the standings on 365 points, 123 clear of Russell, but he fell two points short of the margin he needed to end the title race in Texas.

How the race unfolded in Austin

The race was effectively decided on lap one. Antonelli made a clean start from pole, while Verstappen, alongside him on the front row, got his launch wrong. The Mercedes driver took the lead immediately and never gave it back.

After that it became a strategy contest. Many rivals stopped twice, but Antonelli made just one pit stop. He ran a long opening stint on the medium tyres and then managed the hard tyres to the flag.

Late in the race, the Cadillac of Valtteri Bottas stopped at the side of the track and race control deployed the Virtual Safety Car. It made no difference at the front, and Antonelli’s lead stayed at around 13 seconds.

The fight for second place went to the final laps. Leclerc started fourth and passed Verstappen near the end, taking second place for the second race in a row. He also set the fastest lap, a 1:37.976 on lap 42. Verstappen held on to the podium despite several problems with his Red Bull, with Hamilton about a second behind in fourth.

Lando Norris started eighth and moved forward to challenge for the podium, but worn tyres left him in fifth. Isack Hadjar was sixth and Oscar Piastri seventh.

Russell and the rest of the field

It was a difficult afternoon for George Russell, who started sixth and finished eighth, 54 seconds behind his team mate. Liam Lawson took ninth and Pierre Gasly collected the final point in tenth.

Nico Hülkenberg, Arvid Lindblad and Gabriel Bortoleto missed out on points. Bortoleto finished 13th after starting 21st because of a grid penalty of 80 positions. Haas scored no points at its home race, and Williams stayed pointless for the third Grand Prix in a row.

Three drivers retired: Oliver Bearman after 24 laps, Franco Colapinto after 35 and Bottas after 48. The stewards gave Bearman a 10 second penalty for his contact with Gasly, ruling that he attempted a pass without being far enough alongside.

What the championship looks like after Austin

Antonelli leads on 365 points. Russell is second on 242, but Hamilton is only one point behind him on 241. Verstappen is fourth on 236 and Leclerc fifth on 233, followed by Norris on 211.

There are five Grands Prix left, none of them with a Sprint, so 125 points remain available. To be crowned in Austin, Antonelli needed Russell to finish ninth or lower and Hamilton fifth or lower. Neither happened.

The maths for Mexico is straightforward. Antonelli becomes champion if, after the race, he is at least 100 points ahead of every rival, with a tie settled by number of wins, where he leads with nine. In practice, he must not lose more than 23 points to Russell or more than 24 points to Hamilton over the weekend.

Constructors standings

Mercedes leads the constructors’ championship on 607 points, with Ferrari second on 474 after finishing second and fourth in Austin. Red Bull and McLaren are level on 355 points, with Red Bull ranked third because of better individual results.

Full results of the United States Grand Prix

Drivers’ championship standings after Austin