Kimi On The Verge Of History, Antonelli Wins In Austin
The 2026 United States Grand Prix at Circuit of The Americas in Austin, Texas, delivered a huge result in the championship fight: Kimi Antonelli converted pole position into his ninth Grand Prix victory of the season, beating Charles Leclerc and Max Verstappen in a race shaped by tire strategy, overtaking and a late Virtual Safety Car.
Mercedes driver Kimi Antonelli took a commanding victory in Austin, leading from pole position to secure his 9th win of the 2026 season. Delivering a masterclass in tire management on a one-stop strategy (Medium to Hard), Antonelli maintained a comfortable cushion at the front, extending his lead in the World Drivers' Championship ahead of the next round in Mexico. Here's a recap of today's race.
Antonelli's Masterclass Strategy
Converting pole into a race victory, Antonelli made his strategy work seamlessly while many rivals struggled on soft-biased or two-stop strategies. Even with a brief late Virtual Safety Car for track debris, Antonelli brought his car home over 13 seconds clear of Leclerc. Post-race, Kimi called it "Yeah, I think it was one of my best, because of how we built up during the weekend". He praised Mercedes for trusting the one-stop strategy and that new car package and finally see the development of the car get a great result.
Podium Battle
Charles Leclerc brought his Ferrari home in 2nd place, managing to keep Max Verstappen at bay in 3rd. Verstappen fought hard after Red Bull faced power-delivery and clutch issues early on, securing crucial points on the podium.
Verstappen's thoughts post-race
Max, despite starting 2nd and finishing the race on the podium, said post-race, "Our overall pace was not good enough", as he felt that the team's speed to fight for the win was disappointing, with Verstappen winning the last two races in Sepang and Singapore. Verstappen was also critical of the team's tire choice, as he admitted Red Bull stuck too closely to what they had worked in the previous two races instead of adapting to the conditions in Austin. While Verstappen's results look good on paper, his comments after the race suggested that he didn't believe Red Bull had the pace to win, with too many things going wrong at once: the pace, tire choice, and a slow pit stop which lost seconds in a fight for second place, showing that he was relieved to get a podium out of the situation but not truly satisfied with it either.
Recovery Drives: Lando Norris managed a solid recovery drive to finish 5th after a difficult qualifying session, making the medium-to-hard tires work to jump several competitors.
Troubles for Russell & Red Bull
George Russell endured a rough race marred by an early 5-second penalty and poor race pace, finishing down in 8th. Meanwhile, Red Bull's Isack Hadjar suffered a costly start due to clutch issues and software map confusion, dropping from 3rd on the grid to finish 6th.
Retirements (DNFs): Franco Colapinto (Alpine/Williams), Oliver Bearman (Haas), and Valtteri Bottas all failed to finish the race due to mechanical issues/damage.
Top 10 Race Results
- Kimi Antonelli (Mercedes) — Winner
- Charles Leclerc (Ferrari) — +13.078s
- Max Verstappen (Red Bull) — +17.485s
- Lewis Hamilton (Ferrari) — +18.515s
- Lando Norris (McLaren) — +30.521s
- Isack Hadjar (Red Bull) — +34.373s
- Oscar Piastri (McLaren) — +52.674s
- George Russell (Mercedes) — +54.303s
- Liam Lawson (Racing Bulls) — +1:19.183s
- Pierre Gasly (Alpine) — +1:27.516s