2026 retrospective: Antonelli’s one-stop win defines the Austin race

2026 retrospective — Kimi Antonelli won the United States Grand Prix on 25 October with a one-stop race that put him 13.078 seconds clear of Charles Leclerc. Max Verstappen completed the podium at the Circuit of The Americas, finishing 17.485 seconds behind the Mercedes after 56 laps.

A long first stint shaped the race

Antonelli started on medium tyres and switched to hards for the run to the finish. The official pit-stop summary records his stop on lap 24. Formula 1’s race report describes how that extended opening stint helped Mercedes make a single tyre change work while several rivals pursued two stops.

The Italian converted pole into an early lead. Later, Leclerc worked his way into second ahead of Verstappen, while Lewis Hamilton finished fourth. Norris slipped out of the podium positions as his tyres aged and ultimately took fifth. The result was Antonelli’s ninth Grand Prix victory of the season, although the championship remained undecided that evening.

The points beyond the podium

Hadjar finished sixth for Red Bull, followed by Piastri, Russell, Lawson and Gasly. Hulkenberg missed the points in eleventh. Bottas, Colapinto and Bearman were listed as non-finishers; Perez was the last classified finisher in nineteenth.

UPDATE FORMULA analysis: the published race points show Ferrari taking 30 points through second and fourth, compared with Mercedes’ 29 from first and eighth. Antonelli therefore delivered the individual win, but Ferrari still narrowly outscored Mercedes across the two cars. That distinction is important when evaluating a weekend through both championship contests.

This article revisits the Austin race rather than presenting it as a new result. Formula 1’s official highlights are credited below as an external video link, not an embedded player.