AUSTIN – Kimi Antonelli took another decisive step towards cementing his name in the F1 history books, while it was a weekend to forget for George Russell.

Here is PlanetF1.com’s full list of winners and losers from the 2026 United States Grand Prix.

Winners and Losers from the 2026 United States Grand Prix

Winner: Kimi Antonelli

Was Kimi Antonelli’s dominant victory in Austin better than his win at Monza?

It’s certainly right up there, with the Italian putting in one of those crushing displays of superiority that just underlines that 2026 has been his year, and while there have been some lucky moments along the way, there’s nothing flukey about this destined championship victory.

From starting on the mediums and nailing the start, to keeping a soft-tyre-equipped Max Verstappen at arm’s length, and to his utter control of proceedings from start to finish on the one-stop strategy, Antonelli simply never looked in doubt to take the victory in what he deemed one of his best-executed weekends in Formula 1.

“I was a bit concerned in the beginning [about the medium], but then we were able to extend, and actually the pace came back with the Medium, and we were able to extend without losing too much time,” Antonelli said of the strategy.

“After doing the first stint on the Medium, we were like, ‘Oh, right, we’re going to go for one-stop’. And the hard, to be fair, felt very robust, so I felt pretty confident to go all the way to the end. I just didn’t know how much management was required, but, yeah, it was good, and the car felt very good today.”

Monza was a race in which the car’s superiority meant the challenge for Antonelli was remaining calm in front of his home crowd’s expectations, while Austin was less certain given the competitiveness of Ferrari and Red Bull.

But, as Toto Wolff pointed out, getting off the line to retain the lead while on the medium tyre was the decisive moment.

“For me, the best race that he’s delivered so far, getting off the start with the inferior tyre and controlling it at all times,” he said.

“The race of a champion who isn’t the champion yet, but exceptional. And so I think he’s outperformed the car. Maybe it’s a bit harsh to say, but I think his driving style glues with the car.

“We saw that in qualifying yesterday, where, on his last lap, it could have been another tenth and a half or two up.”

What is galling is that, if the two Middle Eastern races at year-end are replaced by Imola, Antonelli is already the world champion, yet won’t have had his moment of victory on track.

Assuming Antonelli wraps it up this weekend in Mexico, he’ll thankfully get his chance without the prospect of his crowning moment being handed to him via any possible race cancellations over the coming weeks. History awaits the 20-year-old, and anything less than a proper trackside celebration with his team would be decidedly unfair.

Loser: George Russell

It’s only been a few short weeks since George Russell controlled proceedings at the Azerbaijan Grand Prix, which makes his lack of competitiveness at the Circuit of the Americas so mystifying.

The British driver simply never looked capable of unleashing anything close to what his teammate had in his pocket, and, even putting aside the time penalty he picked up for track limits, he finished the huts of a full minute behind the other W17, with no apparent reason for the deficit in pace.

“The pace wasn’t good on the first stint, but, when I came out of the pits on the hard, I probably did six laps where I was lacking the same pace as Kimi, but then I caught up to Oscar, and I just couldn’t overtake,” a downbeat Russell explained afterwards.

“So, yeah, six good laps, 50 bad laps. I want to understand why the pace was so bad on the first stint. The penalty was a bit ridiculous as well, but yeah, that’s the least of my worries after such a bad weekend.”

Admitting he didn’t have any answers as to why he was so far off the pace, he also seemed to tacitly admit that finishing as runner-up might not even be possible as he pointed to how finishing “P2, P3, P5 is not Champion, so it doesn’t mean anything.”

What could be an explanation is that the upgrades rolled out at the Malaysian round appear to have narrowed the operating window of the W17 considerably, which team boss Toto Wolff acknowledged after the race.

Russell explained that that’s the reason he’s hoping for at this stage, while Wolff brushed aside concerns over the British driver’s relative performance level.

“When it drops out of that operational window, he struggles, and he struggles more than maybe Kimi. That is on us. We just have to work it out with him how there can be such a difference in driving and performance because George is not half a second slower, three-tenths slower than Kimi. It’s just absolutely not the case.

“So what is it that he doesn’t like? What is it that we need to do in terms of modifying the car, setting it up in a different way for him to go fast? Because it’s all there: the intelligence, the ability, the determination.”

Given Russell came into this season as the favourite to land a maiden title, it’s been a humbling season. Equipped with the best all-round car on the grid, Russell hasn’t been able to step up to the plate as regularly or as imperiously as his teammate.

What’s critical now is how Russell takes his beating and responds after years of being the leading driver at Mercedes, with seasons of far more consistent performances behind him in less competitive cars.

Has he been thrown by the competitiveness of Antonelli, in a behind-the-scenes realisation he’s not the best driver in his team? Has his own self-belief been shattered?

What’s critical from here is how he responds to this season: is he a Nico Rosberg-type, applying himself to unlock every advantage against Antonelli and digging deeper than ever before, or will his head drop? If he’s to prove his mettle, there’s only one option.

Winner: Charles Leclerc

A resurgent race from Charles Leclerc, who utilised the upgraded Ferrari to stellar effect by catching and passing Max Verstappen to finish as the race’s runner-up.

“The start was fun, then later on with Lando and Max again was quite fun,” Leclerc said after the chequered flag.

“So, it’s one of those races where you’re not getting too bored inside the cockpit, and there’s something to play for. I even thought the victory was possible at one point when I saw Kimi going for the one-stop.

“Based on our numbers, he would start to struggle a bit more towards the end of the race. He never really struggled towards the end of the race, but, yeah, it’s been a fun race. A shame just that we came short of winning.”

With the pace of the SF-26 particularly strong on the hard tyre, Leclerc explained that, maybe with less time fighting to get into second place, victory may have been on the cards.

“I kept asking my engineer what the pace of Kimi was, but I was probably a bit too optimistic,” he said.

“I still wanted to give it a shot, but, yeah, I probably lost a bit too much time with Max and Lando. Even with free air, I don’t think I would have got to Kimi. He was just too quick today.”

Had qualifying been stronger, could Ferrari have challenged Antonelli more strongly? It’s an encouraging step forward in performance with the new upgrade, with Ferrari scoring the most points of any team, and Leclerc was enthusiastic about the feeling he’s getting from the car as the season enters the closing stages.

“Whether I can convert that into a win is a bit difficult to predict, because it’s such fine margins, and it also depends on what the upgrade plans of the others are in upcoming races,” he said.

“But the feeling with the car is getting better and better. These cars are very specific and unique, and I feel like, over the last two or three races, I’ve unlocked something again in terms of driving, and particularly the setup with my driving.

“Just both together, we’ve taken a step forward, and I just feel much more comfortable with the car. So I hope that this will result in a win soon. Whether it’s in Singapore or here in Austin, we were quite close, so I’m confident that we’ll have a shot to win a race before the end of the season.”

More from the United States Grand Prix

Loser: Red Bull

After the highs of the last triple-header, the United States Grand Prix was something of a bump back down to earth for the Milton Keynes-based squad.

“Little stupid things, little details,” was a morose Isack Hadjar’s summary of where things had gone wrong for him, having slipped from third on the grid to sixth at the chequered flag.

His issues included a bad start, a dodgy radio, and being stuck with a pitstop throttle map at the start of his hard tyre stint – an error that meant he was losing up to a second a lap of pace.

Added to that was some unclear communication regarding letting Verstappen through, which saw him given a very firm team order in a reminder of the dynamic within as he initially protested losing time in letting the Dutch driver past.

It’s little wonder that he was in dour humour following the chequered flag, as he explained where things had gone wrong at the start.

“I did everything perfectly in terms of procedure, and then just had clutch over-delivery. These things are just out of my control,” he said.

“Then, I had poor radio coverage. I can’t hear what’s happening in the pits. I leave the pits with the wrong map, and then I’m losing a second lap every lap on that hard tyre.”

The starts can’t be fixed this year, in his words, due to the nature of the problem: “The clutch needs a redesign because at the moment it’s too fragile. It’s not coping well with temperatures. It’s a real struggle.”

As for Verstappen, whose high point of the race was a great overtaking move on Lando Norris, his race was compromised by inconsistent power unit behaviour that affected him on the opening lap, while he also felt Red Bull had used the wrong tyres in the belief the softer compounds were stronger.

“Pretty frustrating, to be honest. Yeah, just not a really good race for us,” he said.

“In hindsight, of course, it’s very easy to say, but for whatever reason, the softer compounds today were not really working that well. So, yeah, then also I think the way that we used our tyres in the order was wrong.

“Plus, I think at one point it was quite clear that the people on the harder compounds were finding a lot of grip, so I guess we also didn’t really react to that. Just probably sticking too much to our belief from the last two races, where the softer compounds were the fastest, and clearly here that didn’t work.

“But, yeah, also besides that, too many issues with the power unit, where it was just very inconsistent behaviour around the corners, every lap, every corner, different behaviour. So, you can’t build up a rhythm; you can’t build any kind of consistency in the car. I had a slow pit stop, so, yeah, too many things today that just didn’t go well.”

While it was far from a disaster, to have both cars go backwards from their qualifying positions can’t be seen as a great day at the office.

Winner: Liam Lawson

Another brilliant day for Liam Lawson, whose weekend kicked off with what he admitted was a nerve-wracking experience in taking to the stage with his guitar to sing in front of an enthusiastic audience.

Once the serious race day stuff actually started, Lawson looked as imperious in the midfield as he has looked on numerous occasions this year, scoring a ninth-place finish that never really looked in doubt.

Racing Bulls was one of the teams to roll out upgrades for the weekend in Austin, with Lawson hailing the handling after taking the position and saying the car is “in a good place”.

Indeed, his only real issue was a loud ‘beep’ in his ears that shouldn’t have been happening.

“When the VSC came out, we went into a double yellow, and we get alarms that basically beep when you’re going too quickly,” he said.

“It’s really loud, it’s basically to warn us to not be illegal on the delta, and it was just stuck on the whole time. So I thought I was illegal, and I’m slowing right down, and then I look down, and I’m like six seconds positive, so I’m good!

“But the thing’s beeping in my ear, so extremely distracting. But I think it might have been a bug that everybody had. Another software issue!”

With performances like these, it’s surprising that Lawson’s future isn’t yet clarified, although the team’s signing of a long-time Lawson backer as a sponsor coming into the weekend suggests continuity for 2027 awaits.

But, could there be a sting in the tail, if Lawson is looking for a new career challenge? The uncertainty surrounding Cadillac’s driver line-up has seen Marcin Budkowski reveal that anyone who is on the market has been in touch with him.

Given Lawson is not yet off the market, is he one of those drivers? On the face of it, Lawson and Cadillac could be a good fit: Lawson is personable and very marketable, and has shown an affinity for the American culture through his fashion and dress sense.

Certainly, while paddock sources have suggested Bottas’ seat is safe in the face of there not being any clearly better options, a possible indication of interest from the man who has controlled the midfield this year might just give the American squad cause to take notice…

Loser: Fernando Alonso

What might have been for Fernando Alonso, who picked up damage on the first lap after an overly-optimistic move from Alex Albon saw the pair make contact at Turn 11.

It saw Alonso hit out at the Williams in what was an unnecessarily harsh jibe at the usually sensible Albon, with the Spaniard saying the quality of drivers in the lower half of the grid is “very low”.

Needless comment aside, it was otherwise a strong performance from Alonso, who kept himself in contention for what he felt could have been a points position had the damage not been overwhelming.

“I was hit by Alex in Turn 11. I think that was the biggest damage. I think we lost like half a second or more; the car is destroyed,” he said.

“I saw in parc ferme; half of the floor is not there. So, yeah, I don’t know how we kept on going and how we were semi-competitive.

“So I imagine, if the car was in one piece, probably today the points were a possibility, a strong possibility, because we were running P12 with half a car.

“One side of the floor was there and one side not. So yeah, I think that was quite impressive, what the car was able to do.

“It remains a little bit of curiosity, with a full car performance, as I said, what we could have done… probably P9, P10 points on merit today was possible.

“I thought about retiring the car. I was ready to switch it off, but then they put a new front wing, and I went out again.

“Obviously, the car was turning okay to the right and not okay to the left for the last 15 laps of the race. But yeah, we wanted to finish and collect a little bit more data.”

Given the relative performance, there are signs of encouragement from Aston Martin in the closing stages of this season, particularly seeing as the Circuit of the Americas is more representative of what can be viewed as a ‘typical’ circuit in terms of characteristics.