Kimi Antonelli won the 2026 United States Grand Prix the simple way: he started from pole and led a one-stop race to the flag. The Mercedes driver beat Charles Leclerc by 13.078 seconds at the Circuit of The Americas in Austin on October 25, 2026. He now leads the Formula 1 standings by 123 points with five races left.
It was the 20-year-old Italian’s ninth Grand Prix win of the season. Ferrari’s Leclerc finished second, and Max Verstappen took third for Red Bull Racing.
The title is not settled yet, though. Antonelli leaves Texas on 365 points, while his Mercedes teammate George Russell sits second on 242. Next comes the Mexico City round the following weekend.
Pole position by 0.179 seconds
As usual, Saturday set up Sunday. According to the official qualifying classification, Antonelli took pole with a lap of 1:34.035 in Q3. Verstappen qualified second on 1:34.214, so the gap was 0.179 seconds.
Red Bull’s Isack Hadjar qualified third. Meanwhile, Leclerc and Lewis Hamilton put both Ferraris on the third row, in fourth and fifth.
For reference, the Austin track measures 5.513 kilometers. Formula 1 lists the race at 56 laps, a distance of 308.432 kilometers. Also, there was no sprint this weekend, so all of the points came from Sunday’s race.
How Antonelli won the 2026 United States Grand Prix
In the end, the start decided the lead. In its race report, Formula 1 says Antonelli made a strong opening lap while Verstappen started poorly. From there, Mercedes kept its driver out front.
Strategy did the rest. Formula 1 says Antonelli made a single stop, running a long middle stint on medium tires and then hard tires to the finish. By contrast, many of his rivals stopped twice. Late in the race, Valtteri Bottas pulled off in his Cadillac, which brought out a Virtual Safety Car before the final lap.
The official result shows Antonelli covering the 56 laps in 1 hour, 35 minutes and 16.650 seconds. Leclerc was 13.078 seconds back, and Verstappen finished 17.485 seconds behind.
The rest of the top 10
Ferrari had a good day behind the winner. The official race classification shows Hamilton fourth, just 1.03 seconds behind Verstappen. Reigning champion Lando Norris finished fifth for McLaren, and Formula 1 says aging tires cost him a shot at the podium.
Compared with qualifying, Leclerc gained two places from fourth to second. By contrast, Verstappen slipped from second to third, and Hadjar fell from third to sixth.
Hadjar came home sixth, ahead of Oscar Piastri in seventh. Russell finished eighth, while Liam Lawson and Pierre Gasly took the last two points-paying places.
Russell’s day was harder than the result suggests. According to Reuters, he received a five-second penalty for gaining an advantage on Piastri on the opening lap. Reuters also reports that Haas driver Oliver Bearman got a 10-second penalty for a collision with Gasly.
Who didn’t finish
Meanwhile, three cars failed to reach the flag. The official classification lists Bearman as a retirement after 24 laps and Alpine’s Franco Colapinto after 35. Bottas stopped after 48 laps.
Just outside the points, Nico Hülkenberg finished 11th for Audi, still on the lead lap. Behind him, Arvid Lindblad took 12th for Racing Bulls as the first car a lap down. Gabriel Bortoleto, Esteban Ocon and Lance Stroll followed in 13th, 14th and 15th.
That left Cadillac with a quiet weekend in Texas. Sergio Pérez finished 19th, one lap down, in the team’s other car. As a result, Cadillac remains on zero points in the constructors’ table.
The championship after Austin
The official drivers’ standings show Antonelli on 365 points. Russell is second on 242, one point ahead of Hamilton on 241. Verstappen has 236 and Leclerc 233.
That puts Antonelli 123 points clear. However, RaceFans notes that 18 of the 23 rounds are now complete, and 125 points remain available to drivers. In other words, the math still keeps Russell and Hamilton in the fight, which is why Formula 1 and Reuters both say the title is not yet won.
Mercedes holds an even bigger cushion among the teams. RaceFans lists Mercedes on 607 points to Ferrari’s 474, a 133-point lead. Behind them, Red Bull and McLaren are tied on 355 points each. For Antonelli, the Austin win from pole leaves him on 365 points with five rounds to go.
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