Antonelli wins the United States Grand Prix, but the title has to wait for Mexico

Kimi Antonelli has won the United States Grand Prix. He started from pole at the Circuit of the Americas and finished 13.1 seconds ahead of Charles Leclerc, with Max Verstappen third. It’s his ninth win of the season.

But he isn’t world champion yet. To clinch it in Austin, he needed to win with George Russell 10th or lower and Lewis Hamilton fifth or lower (here’s why). Hamilton finished fourth and Russell eighth, so the title fight goes on to Mexico City next weekend.

Result

Pos	Driver	Team	Time / Gap	Points
1	Kimi Antonelli	Mercedes	1:35:16.650	25
2	Charles Leclerc	Ferrari	+13.078s	18
3	Max Verstappen	Red Bull	+17.485s	15
4	Lewis Hamilton	Ferrari	+18.515s	12
5	Lando Norris	McLaren	+30.521s	10
6	Isack Hadjar	Red Bull	+34.373s	8
7	Oscar Piastri	McLaren	+52.674s	6
8	George Russell	Mercedes	+54.303s	4
9	Liam Lawson	Racing Bulls	+79.183s	2
10	Pierre Gasly	Alpine	+87.516s	1
11	Nico Hulkenberg	Audi	+94.945s
12	Arvid Lindblad	Racing Bulls	+1 lap
13	Gabriel Bortoleto	Audi	+1 lap
14	Esteban Ocon	Haas	+1 lap
15	Lance Stroll	Aston Martin	+1 lap
16	Fernando Alonso	Aston Martin	+1 lap
17	Alex Albon	Williams	+1 lap
18	Carlos Sainz	Williams	+1 lap
19	Sergio Perez	Cadillac	+1 lap
NC	Valtteri Bottas	Cadillac	DNF (48 laps)
NC	Franco Colapinto	Alpine	DNF (35 laps)
NC	Oliver Bearman	Haas	DNF (24 laps)

The grid

Antonelli took pole with a 1:34.035, 0.179 seconds clear of Verstappen. Toto Wolff called it “a miracle lap”. Isack Hadjar was third, ahead of the two Ferraris, with Russell only sixth. The top five were covered by less than three tenths.

Further back, Arvid Lindblad, Franco Colapinto and Gabriel Bortoleto all took grid penalties for going over their power unit allowance. Bortoleto’s was 80 places, so he started 21st, and Lance Stroll started from the pit lane.

Full starting grid

Grid	Driver	Team	Note
1	Kimi Antonelli	Mercedes
2	Max Verstappen	Red Bull
3	Isack Hadjar	Red Bull
4	Charles Leclerc	Ferrari
5	Lewis Hamilton	Ferrari
6	George Russell	Mercedes
7	Oscar Piastri	McLaren
8	Lando Norris	McLaren
9	Liam Lawson	Racing Bulls	No time in Q3
10	Pierre Gasly	Alpine
11	Nico Hulkenberg	Audi
12	Fernando Alonso	Aston Martin
13	Oliver Bearman	Haas
14	Arvid Lindblad	Racing Bulls	5-place power unit penalty
15	Esteban Ocon	Haas
16	Carlos Sainz	Williams
17	Alex Albon	Williams
18	Sergio Perez	Cadillac
19	Valtteri Bottas	Cadillac
20	Franco Colapinto	Alpine	10-place power unit penalty
21	Gabriel Bortoleto	Audi	80-place power unit penalty
PL	Lance Stroll	Aston Martin	Pit lane start, car changed in parc fermé

How the race was won

The start. Antonelli started on medium tyres, while Verstappen, Leclerc and Hamilton started on softs. Both Red Bulls got away slowly. Leclerc passed Verstappen through the Esses on the opening lap, before Verstappen took second back at Turn 15. Antonelli quickly pulled clear, and a short virtual safety car for debris didn’t change that.

The strategy split. Red Bull pitted Verstappen for new softs on lap 14, committing him to two stops. Ferrari stopped Hamilton and Leclerc a lap or two later. Mercedes left Antonelli out on his mediums until lap 25, then switched him to hards for the rest of the race. That one stop was enough: once the others had made their extra stops, he was back in front, and nobody got close again.

Verstappen’s afternoon. Verstappen led for a while on his second set of softs, but Antonelli was closing in fast. Verstappen reported a possible problem on the radio, made his second stop and dropped back. Formula 1 said he withstood “multiple niggles” with his car. Hadjar, who was ahead at one point, didn’t fight him and let him through.

Ferrari’s late charge. Hamilton and Leclerc made their final stops for hards with about 17 laps left, and came back much faster than the cars ahead. Lando Norris was trying to make old tyres last to the end and became a sitting duck. With 10 laps to go Verstappen passed him into Turn 1, then Leclerc passed him too. Leclerc kept going, and passed Verstappen on the back straight with just over six laps left to take second. Hamilton then got past Norris for fourth with five laps to go. F1 said Norris’s ageing tyres cost him a podium.

The finish. Valtteri Bottas stopped beside the track on lap 52, which brought out a second virtual safety car. It ended in time for a short dash to the flag, and Antonelli brought it home. Verstappen held third by 1.0 second from Hamilton.

Afterwards, Verstappen said Red Bull lacked race pace and questioned the team’s strategy.

Russell’s penalty

Russell’s race went wrong on the first lap. He was pressuring Hadjar, which let Oscar Piastri attack him around the outside, and while defending into Turn 12 Russell left the track and kept the place. The stewards gave him five seconds.

The normal penalty is 10 seconds, but the stewards reduced it because it was a first-lap incident. Russell’s view was that Piastri took the risk by going around the outside.

He served the penalty at his stop on lap 23, dropped to 10th, and spent the rest of the race stuck behind Piastri, even though his tyres were seven laps newer. He finished eighth. Those four points kept him mathematically in the title fight, and Hamilton’s fourth place would have kept it alive on its own anyway.

The rest

• Hadjar finished sixth after starting third, and Piastri seventh.
• Liam Lawson and Pierre Gasly took the last points in ninth and 10th.
• Bortoleto climbed from 21st on the grid to 13th, two weeks before his home race in São Paulo.
• Ollie Bearman was given a 10-second penalty for a collision with Gasly and later retired. Colapinto and Bottas didn’t finish either.
• Cadillac left their home race without a point, with Sergio Pérez 19th. Williams have now gone three races without scoring.

Fun facts

1. It’s Mercedes’ first win in Austin since Valtteri Bottas in 2019. Verstappen and Leclerc had won every race here since.
2. Leclerc set the fastest lap, a 1:37.976 on lap 42. The second fastest was Bortoleto’s, on lap 54, from the car that started 21st.
3. It’s Leclerc’s second second place in a row, after Singapore.
4. Hamilton is still the most successful driver at the Circuit of the Americas, with five wins (2012 and 2014 to 2017). He hasn’t won here since.
5. If Antonelli seals the title in Mexico on 1 November, he’ll be 20 years and 68 days old, the youngest champion in F1 history by more than three years. Sebastian Vettel set the record at 23 in 2010.

What Antonelli needs in Mexico

Pos	Driver	Points	Gap
1	Kimi Antonelli	365
2	George Russell	242	-123
3	Lewis Hamilton	241	-124
4	Max Verstappen	236	-129
5	Charles Leclerc	233	-132
6	Lando Norris	211	-154

Official standings after Austin.

After Mexico City, four races and 100 points will be left. So Antonelli is champion if he leaves Mexico more than 100 points clear.

If he finishes eighth or higher, he’s champion, whatever anyone else does. Even if he finishes lower, Russell would have to outscore him by at least 23 points, and Hamilton by at least 24, to keep it going to Brazil.

Going to Mexico City?

The Mexico City Grand Prix is on Sunday 1 November, and it could be the race where Antonelli becomes champion.

Our Mexico City F1 circuit guide has everything in one place: the interactive map with every gate and Metro stop, the bus routes, the schedule and what you can bring in. Still need a bed? See where to stay in Mexico City, or search race-week hotels and rentals on the map below.