US F1 GP: Kimi Antonelli takes dominant victory

October 26, 2026 10 Min Read

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Kimi Antonelli took another step towards an inevitable Formula 1 title with a commanding victory at the United States Grand Prix, beating Charles Leclerc at the Circuit of the Americas in Austin.

From pole, the Mercedes driver held off the challenge from Ferrari driver and Max Verstappen while sticking to the Silver Arrows master plan and running a clean race with just one stop.

Antonelli’s ninth Grand Prix victory of 2026 was still not enough to secure the title, but the 20-year-old Italian now looks set to become F1’s youngest world champion at next weekend’s Mexican Grand Prix.

Antonelli maintained his lead early in the 56-lap race as second-placed Verstappen suffered a bad escape. That left the Red Bull driver vulnerable to Leclerc, who had taken out Isack Hadjar then swept aside Verstappen with a high engagement through the Esses.

Lewis Hamilton, who started on second-hand soft tires, also overtook Hadjar. Behind him, George Russell received a five-second penalty for leaving the track on the first lap while defending his position. As the lead settled in, Oscar Piastri was ordered to let the faster Lando Norris pass on lap eight for seventh place.

At the front, Antonelli controlled a narrow but sovereign lead of three seconds over Verstappen. This prompted Red Bull to roll the dice and call the Dutchman on lap 14 for a second set of soft tires, putting him in a two-stop race.

Andrea Kimi Antonelli, Mercedes

Photo by: Simon Galloway / LAT Images via Getty Images

Mercedes didn’t take the bait and left Antonelli out as they seemed determined to stick with a one-stop strategy. Struggling for grip on the used softs, Hamilton then opted for the mediums, just like his teammate Leclerc and the two McLarens.

This left a temporary top three of Antonelli, Hadjar and Russell until all came in for what was supposed to be their only pit stop, with Antonelli avoiding the soft tires altogether to switch from the mediums to the hards on lap 25.

Verstappen did not enjoy his new lead all the while as he began to have engine braking problems, calling his Red Bull “undrivable”. This forced him to pit on lap 32 for a second stop for the mediums, falling back to fifth, 18 seconds behind new leader Antonelli.

On the slower hard tires, Antonelli faced a challenge from Leclerc, but he and Ferrari teammate Hamilton were yet to stop as Verstappen remained Antonelli’s real challenger. The two Ferraris both switched to hard tires in the final third, which left them behind Verstappen.

To get to Antonelli, however, Verstappen first had to eliminate second-placed Norris, who was also banking on a one-stop strategy. Verstappen’s battle with Norris allowed Leclerc to exploit his fresher tires and close the gap, with all three cars converging with 10 laps to go.

At the start of lap 47, Verstappen made a late lunge on Norris on the inside of the steep COTA Turn 1 hairpin, grabbing second place before Leclerc also found a way through. With much fresher tires, Leclerc then overtook Verstappen on the back straight on lap 49 to take second place.

Max Verstappen, Red Bull Racing

Photo by: Alex Slitz/Getty Images

Antonelli’s victory was never really threatened as he led Leclerc by 13 seconds, with Verstappen another four seconds behind in third.

Norris also fell into the clutches of Hamilton as the latter secured fourth place from the reigning world champion on lap 51, which also meant the seven-time world champion remained in contention for the mathematical title until next week.

Hadjar finished sixth ahead of Piastri, who held off Russell for a distant seventh place. While Russell needed to avoid finishing ninth or lower to extend his theoretical title chances, he only just managed to do so after a frustrating weekend.

Liam Lawson continued the Racing Bulls’ gallop to fifth in the Constructors’ Championship by finishing ninth, with the final point going to Alpine’s Pierre Gasly. Antonelli is now almost certain to win the championship in Mexico, needing just two points to become the youngest title winner at 20 years old.

Haas driver Oliver Bearman was one of three retirements, the possible result of first-lap damage due to contact with Gasly, for which the Briton received a 10-second penalty and caused a brief period of VSC.

Alpine’s Franco Colapinto also disappeared from the race, while Cadillac’s Valtteri Bottas retired late with engine problems, prompting the race’s second brief virtual safety car period.