he Formula 1 paddock reassembled at the Circuit of the Americas just outside Austin, Texas, this weekend for the United States Grand Prix, and it proved to be Mercedes’ Kimi Antonelli, who emerged with the victory spoils for the ninth time this season in front of a sell-out crowd, leaving him within touching distance of becoming the 2026 world champion.

With Antonelli having arrived with a 102-point lead over his teammate George Russell in the Drivers’ Championship and with Mercedes being 134 points ahead of Ferrari on the Constructors' front, it already seemed pretty much a foregone conclusion about which driver and team would clinch both 2026 titles, and it simply remained to be seen at which events on the calendar this would happen. It was mathematically possible that 20-year-old Antonelli could have become the youngest ever Formula 1 world champion in Texas, but the feat would have required a fairly unlikely combination of results, with him winning and Russell no higher than ninth and Lewis Hamilton fifth or worse. With a mature mindset beyond his youthful age, the likeable Italian well knew that ongoing strong results, rather than outright victories, would still be sufficient to fulfil his lifelong dream.

Elsewhere, Hamilton had turned up knowing that he had to prove to his Ferrari team that he had learned a big lesson at the previous round in Singapore. He had been forced to apologise profusely to all concerned after bewilderingly having refused to follow team orders to pit for new tyres during a Virtual Safety Car period, as his teammate, Charles Leclerc had. Drivers are usually contractually bound to follow instructions from their engineers, who have more information and can see the bigger picture. Was Hamilton’s behaviour from this point to the end of the Singapore race simply an extended “senior moment” or was it more symptomatic of a bigger issue between him and his latest team? The bottom line was that Hamilton’s refusal to follow clear and highly sensible instructions from the pitwall resulted in a worse race result and reduced points for both the driver and the Maranello-based Italian outfit.

The Circuit of the Americas is one of the best motorsport facilities I have ever visited, but with one weakness, namely the at times bumpy nature of the track. Some racing categories can cope easily with the bumps, but not the likes of Formula 1. The cars are very stiffly sprung to cope with the massive levels of downforce generated at high speeds, and this means that shockwaves of up to 9g can be sent upwards through your spine upon hitting a bump. Most drivers commented negatively about this ahead of Friday’s opening free practice session, with Red Bull’s Max Verstappen describing it as unacceptable and McLaren’s Lando Norris admitting to taking painkillers ahead of going ontrack.

Following Friday’s opening free practice session, Charles Leclerc led the way for Ferrari ahead of Verstappen, and the Monégasque driver again set the pace in second practice, this time with Antonelli as the best of the rest. However, Saturday’s final practice hour resulted in Hamilton going fastest ahead of Verstappen before the crucial qualifying process, which resulted in Antonelli and Verstappen claiming the front row on the grid. Red Bull’s Isack Hadjar and Leclerc were just to their rear, with Hamilton and Russell on the third row.

he formation lap for Sunday’s eagerly anticipated Grand Prix began at precisely 3pm local time (8pm back in the UK), and when the race got underway, it was Antonelli who made a perfect start and led the uphill charge to the opening left-hand corner. There proved to be plenty of close action from start to finish, which was interrupted by a couple of Virtual Safety Car interventions, but it also proved to be a strategic encounter as teams chose between one and two stop plans.

Mercedes opted to run Antonelli on a single pitstop strategy, whereas Red Bull and Ferrari used a double stop plan for their drivers. Ultimately, the Italian put in a superb performance to reach the chequered flag first, comfortably clear of the other occupants of the post-race podium, Leclerc and Verstappen. Hamilton, Norris (who only stopped once) and Hadjar completed the top six finishers.

The visit to Texas marked the start of F1’s latest tripleheader featuring rounds on consecutive weekends, with Mexico and then Brazil set to follow. Subject to the situation in the Middle East in late November and early December, there are five more rounds on this year’s Formula 1 calendar, which will provide plenty of opportunities for the Drivers’ and Constructors’ titles to be sealed sooner or later. In reality, there is a distinct possibility that Antonelli might become the youngest ever F1 world champion in Mexico City next weekend and the first Italian to do so since Alberto Ascari back in 1953.

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