Andrea Kimi Antonelli took his ninth win of the season, all but wrapping up the drivers’ title, at Austin. Here’s how the drivers fared at the Formula 1 United States Grand Prix.
The 20-year-old took a definitive step closer to a historic F1 title triumph after staving off Charles Leclerc and Max Verstappen to win at the Circuit of the Americas.
Andrea Kimi Antonelli: 9.5
Grid Position: P1, Race Result: P1
Antonelli heads into the race weekend in Mexico with the drivers’ title all but confirmed in his favour.
The Mercedes driver converted pole position into victory at the chequered flag, though his one-stop strategy paid dividends with the likes of Verstappen starting to struggle with tyres in traffic.
And while his 13+ seconds gap to Leclerc seems to underwrite a commanding win at Austin, lapses of judgment, like his massive lock-up in the latter phase of the race, exposed the rough edges on an otherwise promising diamond in the making.
George Russell: 6
Grid Position: P6, Race Result: P8
The 56-lap race was a perfect summary of Russell’s 2026 season. He was on the back foot compared to his team-mate after qualifying, and come race day, marginal mistakes spiralled into misery.
His opening lap scuffle with Oscar Piastri saw him earn a five-second penalty that unravelled his afternoon at the Circuit of the Americas. From thereon, the Briton was just a side character in the battle at the front of the grid that rose to a thrilling crescendo.
Russell’s P8 at the chequered flag, courtesy of a resolute defence by Piastri, means the only positives he can take to Mexico are mathematical.
Charles Leclerc: 9
Grid Position: P4, Race Result: P2
After a disappointing end to qualifying on Saturday, the Monegasque expressed his optimism for the 56-lap race on Sunday.
Starting from the second row of the grid, a position he won from at COTA in 2024, Leclerc seemed to come alive on his second stint.
A blistering start, and a daring move in the esses on the opening lap against Verstappen set the tone for the Ferrari driver’s afternoon. Once he shifted onto the yellow-walled Mediums, he was flying.
For once, Ferrari made the right call on strategy, going onto a two-stopper and pitting Leclerc with a substantial tyre offset to Verstappen’s RB22.
Lewis Hamilton: 7
Grid Position: P5, Race Result: P4
Unlike Leclerc, Hamilton seemed to struggle with his stint on the Medium compound of tyres. The seven-time World Champion was not happy with the balance of his SF-26, and struggled with understeer on his opening two stints.
By the time he got comfortable with the car on his final stint on the Hards, he was too far off to make a realistic challenge for the podium.
Max Verstappen: 8.5
Grid Position: P2, Race Result: P3
It was a tough afternoon for the 29-year-old at Austin. Starting on softer rubber than pole-sitter Antonelli, Verstappen was not able to convert that advantage into the race lead from the front row at the start.
Red Bull’s two-stop strategy seemed to work out on track, but only at times, as any advantage Verstappen clawed to Antonelli kept getting interrupted by the Dutchman eventually losing his tyres across his stints.
If you ask him, he’d say the laps behind his team-mate and the engine braking troubles on his RBPT-Ford PU cost him the race win. In reality, however, the W17 was a class above in the hands of Antonelli throughout the 56-lap race.
Heading into the race weekend at Mexico, Verstappen is no longer in the hunt for a World Championship for the first time since 2020.
Isack Hadjar: 6.5
Grid Position: P3, Race Result: P6
Hadjar wanted to be “realistic” when asked if he could challenge for the race lead at the start given Red Bull’s sluggish starts.
And he did have a quicker reaction time compared to those around him when the lights went out. That said, he was swallowed up by the field in the second phase of the start procedure.
Red Bull’s plan to keep him on a one-stop, and a final stint on the Hards, was probably not the way Hadjar wanted to go about the 56-lap race, and it showed at the chequered flag.
Lando Norris: 8
Grid Position: P8, Race Result: P5
Norris conducted himself throughout the 56-lap race with metronomic efficiency.
McLaren had a one-stop embedded into its race plans, and the Briton executed a clean race, with help of some team orders, to extract the maximum he could from his MCL40 at the chequered flag.
Oscar Piastri: 7
Grid Position: P7, Race Result: P7
The Australian was obliged to move over for his team-mate in the opening phases of the race, and it made sense by the time the chequered flag fell as Piastri lacked outright pace to challenge the top five.
That said, it wasn’t a lonely race for the McLaren driver as Russell made good company on his final stint. Piastri’s resolute defence against the Mercedes allowed the Woking-based team to walk away with a pretty decent result given its pace deficit to the leaders.
Liam Lawson: 7.5
Grid Position: P9, Race Result: P9
The Kiwi driver kept up his points-scoring streak at the Circuit of the Americas, bagging two points for the Faenza-based team.
Lawson wasn’t in the running to challenge the top eight but wasn’t slow either to be bothered by the Alpines and Audis.
By his own admission, “it was a bit of a boring one, but we like boring.”
Well, “boring” sees him consolidate himself in the top-10 of the drivers’ standings with his closest rival 35 points adrift.
Arvid Lindblad: 6.5
Grid Position: P14, Race Result: P12
While Lawson felt he had a fast package underneath him, Lindblad wouldn’t be echoing the same sentiments as his team-mate.
A grid penalty had already compromised him, and he was not fast enough during the 56-lap race to replicate Lawson’s afternoon into the points.
Pierre Gasly: 7.5
Grid Position: P10, Race Result: P10
Gasly’s 10th-place finish at the Circuit of the Americas was a commendable performance in its own right given the problems the Frenchman faced out on track.
An excruciatingly slow pit stop didn’t deter the Alpine driver from making a comeback into the points at the chequered flag.
And it proves that while the Enstone-based team may have relinquished P5 in the Constructors’ to Racing Bulls for good, Gasly isn’t going to go down without a fight with five races to go in 2026.
Franco Colapinto: N/A
Grid Position: P20, Race Result: DNF
It was damage to his A526 that forced the Argentinian racing driver to call it quits on his US GP midway through the 56-lap race.
He tangled with Lindblad, and the resulting damage to his car meant he parked it all up on Lap 35.
Nico Hulkenberg: 7
Grid Position: P11, Race Result: P11
The German driver could possibly have made a ploy for the points, but an anti-stall issue forced him into a recovery drive that was just out of reach.
Despite falling all the way down to 15th, Hulkenberg did at least finish the race exactly where he had started.
Gabriel Bortoleto: 7.5
Grid Position: P21, Race Result: P13
While not consequential to Audi’s charge up the midfield, the 56-lap race at the Circuit of the Americas was a “fun” little outing for the Brazilian racing driver.
Starting from the back of the grid, Bortoleto made a bevvy of moves, climbing eight places and into 13th at the chequered flag.
That said, his result also meant that his pointless streak, which has persisted since the Hungarian GP, extended itself heading into Mexico.
Esteban Ocon: 6
Grid Position: P15, Race Result: P14
Ocon was clearly driving for himself at COTA. A spicy radio exchange where he essentially said ‘watch me’ after being denied team orders against his team-mate Bearman was the highlight for the Frenchman.
He did catch him up and was eventually allowed past the Briton. But from then on, Ocon lacked any meaningful pace to move forward.
With only five races to go in 2026, the Frenchman is fast losing opportunities to make a considerable impression to snag a race seat for 2027.
Oliver Bearman: N/A
Grid Position: P13, Race Result: DNF
It was a strong start to the 56-lap race for Bearman, but it all unravelled pretty quickly after contact with the A526 of Gasly.
The Briton tried to muscle his way past into the top 10, and in the process not only took damage on his VF-26 but also a 10-second time penalty.
Eventually, Haas thought it best to retire the car after 24 laps of misery for Bearman.
Lance Stroll: 7
Grid Position: P22, Race Result: P15
It was probably one of Aston Martin’s most competitive outings in 2026 at the Circuit of the Americas. Stroll had to start from the pit lane after changing PU and suspension elements between qualifying and the race on Sunday.
And despite this handicap, the Canadian racing driver was able to take the chequered flag ahead of his team-mate, who, for reasons of his own, was compromised for the 56-lap race after a Lap 1 scuffle.
Fernando Alonso: 6.5
Grid Position: P12, Race Result: P16
Despite a strong start to the US GP, Alonso’s pace withered away as the Spaniard was obliged to take the chequered flag in 16th. Well, most of that could be attributed to his Lap 1 collision with the Williams of Alex Albon.
One can only guess what the two-time F1 World Champion could have done if not for nursing a damaged AMR26 from there onwards.
Alex Albon: 5.5
Grid Position: P17, Race Result: P17
The US GP was Albon’s 12th consecutive pointless finish for Williams this season.
To make matters worse, his Lap 1 incident with Alonso not only caught the ire of the Spanish racing driver but also compromised Albon’s own race, as the damage on his FW48 was substantial enough to relegate him to a 17th-place finish at the chequered flag.
Carlos Sainz: 5
Grid Position: P16, Race Result: P18
It was yet another incident-ridden outing with Williams for Sainz. At the start, the Spaniard got squeezed into the wall and that pretty much compromised his afternoon at COTA from the get-go.
The damage sustained, he explained, was the reason why he fell backwards and into 18th at the chequered flag.
Sergio Perez: 6
Grid Position: P18, Race Result: P19
Relatively speaking, it was a stellar job by the Mexican racing driver at the Circuit of the Americas on Sunday. Perez was able to make a one-stop strategy work, and while he did finish as the last of the classified runners, he was only a lap down on the leaders. Well, that’s a lap better than Singapore.
Valtteri Bottas: N/A
Grid Position: P19, Race Result: DNF
It was a suspected power unit issue that ended Bottas’ US GP. Cadillac have struggled with reliability and pace this season, and the Finnish racing driver has therefore had to endure yet another painful outing in F1.
READ MORE – Max Verstappen pinpoints major Red Bull flaw after ‘average’ US GP showing
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