United States GP: Kimi Antonelli wins Austin race to move to brink of F1 world title after dominant drive

Kimi Antonelli moved to the brink of becoming Formula 1's youngest-ever world champion with a superb drive to victory in the United States Grand Prix.

Antonelli had an outside chance of clinching the 2026 title as early as Sunday's Austin race provided he won, Lewis Hamilton finished outside the top four and George Russell was ninth or lower.

And while he held up his side of the bargain by brilliantly claiming a ninth win of the season on a one-stop strategy to his nearest rivals' two, Hamilton took fourth and Russell eighth to stay in mathematical contention.

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But Antonelli has moved 123 points clear of Russell, and 124 points clear of Hamilton, with just a maximum of 125 left to play for this season to make a coronation at next Sunday's Mexico City Grand Prix all but inevitable.

Antonelli, who only turned 20 in August and is in his second season of F1, will definitely clinch the title with four rounds to spare in Mexico if he finishes anywhere in the top nine.

"We are very close," said the Italian, who will also be assured of the title at the next round if neither Russell nor Hamilton win the race.

"We try to finish on a high and hopefully we can clinch it very soon."

Antonelli won at the Circuit of The Americas by 13 seconds with Charles Leclerc finishing a fine second for Ferrari after winning out against Red Bull's Max Verstappen in the battle of the two-stop strategies.

Hamilton was fourth, just a second behind Verstappen, with Lando Norris fifth on a one-stop strategy ahead of Red Bull's Isack Hadjar.

While Antonelli was peerless up front, team-mate Russell's difficult Austin weekend, and indeed season, was summed up by his eighth-place finish.

Russell, who had started sixth, dropped behind the McLarens after having to serve a five-second penalty at his sole pit stop after being judged to have gained an advantage by going off track in battle with Oscar Piastri on the first lap.

The elongated pit stop dropped Russell behind Piastri, whom he was then unable to pass despite following closely for almost half the race. He described his race pace as "rubbish".

Liam Lawson continued his relentless points-scoring form with ninth for Racing Bulls, while Pierre Gasly was 10th for Alpine.

Faultless Antonelli returns to winning ways - and verge of history - in style

Despite his inexperience in just his second year of F1 and the fast-looming spectre of achieving his lifelong dream of becoming world champion, Antonelli had already barely put a foot wrong across the title run-in during a period when Mercedes have rarely had the fastest car.

The Italian had not won a race since his fortuitous triumph at the Spanish Grand Prix in mid-September and Mercedes' most recent upgrade, first brought to the car two races ago in Malaysia, had initially not delivered the results the team had expected.

But any suggestion that the season's world championship-leading team and driver might have to take a defensive approach to the final rounds of this season to get over the title-winning line was firmly put to bed in Austin.

Antonelli's pole position - his first in eight races since the Belgian Grand Prix since July - had been perhaps his most unexpected of the season and had led Mercedes boss Toto Wolff to play down the Italian's prospects of victory.

On Sunday, the Italian was alone among the top five on the grid to opt for the medium tyres for the race start and yet, despite his rivals behind having the grippier softs for the crucial uphill run to COTA's wide first corner, Antonelli had a dream getaway and easily converted his starting advantage into a lap-one lead.

It was instead second-placed Verstappen who came under pressure from behind, the Dutchman initially overtaken by Leclerc through the Esses before getting back ahead of the Ferrari into Turn 13 later round the opening lap.

But Antonelli had soon opened an early lead of four seconds and, struggling to keep up, Red Bull pitted Verstappen surprisingly early on lap 13. He took on a second set of soft tyres, locking him into a two-stop race given the requirement to run two different tyre compounds.

Ferrari soon followed suit with their drivers but Mercedes stuck to their guns on a projected one-stopper and did not pit Antonelli until the end of lap 24. When they did they switched him onto the more durable hard compound, ensuring he could go to the end of the race without stopping again.

Antonelli rejoined in fourth place but was back in the lead by lap 32 by passing the long-running Leclerc.

Verstappen had by then pitted for a second time having run into a more problematic second stint on softs. And while the fresher tyres of the Red Bull and Ferrari into the closing laps meant Antonelli's lead over both came down, neither had sufficient speed to truly cause Mercedes alarm.

"It was the result we needed," said Antonelli. "The whole team deserve it so much.

"All this time putting so much work into bringing this new package and finally seeing the result is very pleasant.

"It was also perfect execution from strategy to call the one-stop. Really happy we made it stick. Today was a great team effort."

Verstappen had looked the most likely to challenge Antonelli on his two-stopper but, in the end, it was Leclerc who got closest.

Ferrari's soft-medium-medium tyre strategy allowed the Monegasque to display impressive turn of speed from his first stop onwards, eventually fighting back from his final stop to pass the long-running Norris and then Verstappen during his final stint.

"It was quite a good race," said Leclerc. "Unfortunately we came short of the victory which was our target.

"At the end of the day, a positive race. We had good pace. The first stint was more difficult."

Formula 1 next heads south for the second leg of the triple header with the Mexico City Grand Prix from October 30-November 1, live on Sky Sports F1. Stream Sky Sports with NOW - no contract, cancel anytime

(c) Sky Sports 2026: United States GP: Kimi Antonelli wins Austin race to move to brink of F1 world title after dominant drive