Formula One action resumed for the Western stint of the season. First up was the FORMULA 1 MSC CRUISES UNITED STATES GRAND PRIX 2026 at the Circuit of the Americas in Texas. This marked the first race of the penultimate triple-header of the season, and it was Kimi Antonelli’s first opportunity to mathematically secure the World Drivers’ Championship title.
Kimi Antonelli had a great start from pole position, ensuring he would keep the lead into the first corner. Both Red Bulls had a poor start, leaving Isack Hadjar to be immediately swallowed up by the two Ferrari teammates. The Ferrari teammates were wheel-to-wheel in the first corner. Charles Leclerc had a great run out of the first corner, allowing him to overtake Max Verstappen in the esses. Lewis Hamilton also pressured the Dutchman, but couldn’t get by.
Verstappen returned to P2 with a fantastic overtake in the final sector at turn 15, getting by Leclerc. But the time lost battling with the Ferraris meant that Antonelli found himself with a 2.5s lead by the end of the opening lap.
Further back, George Russell outbraked himself slightly at turn 12, running wide while battling with Hadjar. He rejoined the track still behind the Red Bull, brushing with Oscar Piastri in the process. This corner caught the attention of the stewards, who eventually decided to give the Brit a five-second time penalty for leaving the track and gaining an advantage. He would serve this during his pit stop.
There were mixed strategies for the frontrunners, with Mercedes and McLaren both opting to start the race on the medium compound tyres while the rest of the field started on the softs. Mercedes didn’t have enough tyres to start the race on the softs, having used the tyres more aggressively than other teams during qualifying.
Verstappen was the first driver to pit for tyres on lap 14, taking a second set of soft tyres, locking himself into the two-stop pit strategy in the process. Ferrari responded, first pitting Hamilton and Leclerc in the two laps that followed. They fit the medium tyres, also locking themselves into the two-stop. McLaren also pitted, exchanging their mediums for a set of hard tyres, leaving both strategies open.
Mercedes decided to extend the first stint, putting themselves into position to make the one-stop strategy work when they pitted on laps 23 and 25. Hadjar was also on the one-stop strategy after pitting for hards on lap 26. The Frenchman had been under pressure from Leclerc before his stop, but did a good job defending from the Ferrari.
When he rejoined the race, Hadjar had some issues. He was extremely slow coming out of the pit lane, nearly being overtaken by Piastri. It turned out that he had been stuck in the pit lane throttle mapping. This caused very little power to be produced until he pressed the throttle beyond 40%.
He was not the only Red Bull to have an issue. On lap 30, Verstappen reported problems with upshifts and poor handling. His new race engineer, Tom Hart, confirmed there was an engine braking issue with the car. While explaining the issue on the radio, Verstappen complained he couldn’t hear his race engineer over the radio. He made a second pit stop a couple of laps later, taking the medium tyres for his final stint.
As that was happening, Antonelli overtook Leclerc in turn 12, taking the lead of the race. The Ferrari driver pitted on lap 40 for his final stop for the hard tyres. Hamilton had pitted a lap earlier.
With ten laps remaining in the race, a three-car battle materialized for P2. Lando Norris currently held the position, but Verstappen and Leclerc were pushing hard on fresher tyres. Verstappen got the job done with a big lunge into the first corner. Leclerc tried to follow him through, but Norris closed the gap into the esses. Leclerc had to be patient and wait until Norris locked up in turn 13 to get P3.
But Leclerc wasn’t done there. He overtook Verstappen to claim the second step of the podium a couple of laps later in turn 12.
There was a risk of the race being converted into a one-lap shootout, as Valtteri Bottas came to a halt on the circuit with a mechanical failure. He parked at an access point, but the marshals were unable to get the stricken Cadillac out of gear, so they could push it. The marshals were able to position a crane alongside the circuit to hoist the Cadillac off the circuit, avoiding a full safety car.
This was good news for Antonelli, who had built a significant gap out front to win the race by 13 seconds. Although this was his first opportunity to secure the World Drivers’ Championship title, Hamilton and Russell finished high enough to keep their championship hopes alive. But it seems the young Italian already had one hand on the championship trophy.
Five races now remain in the 2026 season. There will be little time to relax, as the penultimate triple-header of the season continues. Next on the schedule, the teams and drivers will be heading to Mexico for the Mexican Grand Prix on the weekend of November 1.
| Pos. | Driver | Laps | Time | Points | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 56 | 1:35:16.650 | 25 | ||
| 2 | 56 | +13.078 | 18 |  | |
| 3 | 56 | +17.485 | 15 | ||
| 4 | 56 | +18.515 | 12 | ||
| 5 | 56 | +30.521 | 10 | ||
| 6 | 56 | +34.373 | 8 | ||
| 7 | 56 | +52.674 | 6 | ||
| 8 | 56 | +54.303 | 4 | ||
| 9 | 56 | +79.183 | 2 | ||
| 10 | 56 | +87.516 | 1 | ||
| 11 | 56 | +94.945 | |||
| 12 | 55 | +1 Lap | |||
| 13 | 55 | +1 Lap | |||
| 14 | 55 | +1 Lap | |||
| 15 | 55 | +1 Lap | |||
| 16 | 55 | +1 Lap | |||
| 17 | 55 | +1 Lap | |||
| 18 | 55 | +1 Lap | |||
| 19 | 55 | +1 Lap | |||
| DNF | 48 | ||||
| DNF | 35 | ||||
| DNF | 24 |
| 1 | K. Antonelli | 365 |  | |
| 2 | G. Russell | 242 | -123 | |
| 3 | L. Hamilton | 241 | -124 | |
| 4 | M. Verstappen | 236 | -129 | |
| 5 | C. Leclerc | 233 | -132 | |
| 1 | Mercedes | 607 | | |
| 2 | Ferrari | 474 | -133 | |
| 3 | Red Bull | 355 | -252 |  |
| 4 | McLaren | 355 | -252 |  |
| 5 | Racing Bulls | 102 | -505 | |
