And so we stand on the precipice of history, with Kimi Antonelli on pole for the United States Grand Prix, the race in which he could be crowned world champion.

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

Winners and losers from the 2026 United States Grand Prix qualifying

Winner: Kimi Antonelli

His record-shattering chances of becoming world champion this weekend are largely out of his hands, but Kimi Antonelli has done everything he can to put himself in with a chance.

Even now, this deep in the campaign, and despite his crushing points advantage, there remains a lingering question mark. Perhaps it’s a legacy of his 2025 wobble, or perhaps it’s the notion that nobody so young can survive the weight of pressure upon him. At some point, surely, Antonelli will make a mistake. At some point, he’ll let the wolf in.

But not today. Not in Austin.

On a weekend when there were question marks over how competitive Mercedes would be, when track limits dominated the three practice sessions, he was peerless. Again. When the pressure was at its highest, he delivered at the first time of asking and walked away with his first pole position since the Belgian Grand Prix back in July.

With the rise of Max Verstappen and Red Bull, and the threat of Ferrari, it was a performance few predicted. And yet it’s the result everyone seems to have wanted.

Loser: Ferrari

After taking a clean sweep of the practice sessions, hopes were high that either Charles Leclerc or Lewis Hamilton would go on to snag pole position for Ferrari. Instead, their pace disappeared as the pair became also-rans, a footnote as Kimi Antonelli and Max Verstappen battled it out for pole position.

Exactly where the pace went… well… Hamilton spoke of a power deficit, a known weakness of the Ferrari SF-26, but also that others improved more than the Scuderia was able to. His lap was good, it was just… slow.

Across the garage, Leclerc had a different experience. There was more pace available, he claimed, but a poor out lap meant his tyres weren’t in the right window to start his lap. The implication was the falling track temperature worked against the Monegasque driver, suggesting car setup is on a knife-edge.

Perhaps that’s just the way the Ferrari is; a narrow operating band within which it’s rapid but, step outside, and it’s nowhere. The question is, which version will appear in the race? Whatever the case from here, it was a disappointing Saturday afternoon for Fred Vasseur and the scarlet squad.

Winner: Isack Hadjar

What even is this? It’s a good question, Isack. It’s exactly the question he asked of his engineers during final practice as he shot across the runoff in the esses, seemingly at sea when it came to setup.

The Frenchman didn’t look happy or settled at any point throughout the three hours of practice, with a number of radio outbursts as he made his feelings abundantly clear. But come qualifying, and particularly Q3, and Hadjar was all but a match for his illustrious teammate, Max Verstappen.

One might argue that perhaps Verstappen deserves to be considered a winner too, but such is the height of the bar he’s set for himself that second on the grid doesn’t pass muster. But for Hadjar to tame the wild, bucking bronco of a car and secure a second row starting position, just the blink of an eye off the Flying Dutchman, is a sublime performance far above what could have reasonably been predicted just hours earlier.

Loser: Arvid Lindblad

A grid penalty for Arvid Lindblad means he’ll start mid-pack in a race for which he qualified ninth. It was a strong session for the Racing Bulls driver, as it was his teammate for that matter, so it’s a shame he won’t feel the full benefit.

Not that it’s a massive penalty or loss either, a five-place drop is hardly insurmountable around a circuit on which overtaking is possible, and in a car which has proved competitive at the front of the midfield. But he’ll have Pierre Gasly to battle with, while Nico Hulkenberg has also shown pace for Audi. Progress is therefore not assured.

Hence the decision to run in Q3 made sense. While he was unlikely to ever qualify better than ninth, you just never know; a couple of deleted laps and suddenly he’s P5 and that five-place grid penalty is effectively negated. Instead, Racing Bulls played the tactical game by keeping Liam Lawson in the garage to minimise Lindblad’s pain.

More from the United States GP

Winner: Fernando Alonso

Only 15th fastest in qualifying, and in many ways 16th fastest, Fernando Alonso can count his lucky starts with his 12th-place starting spot. One of those places came courtesy of Oliver Bearman’s Q2 lap being deleted, which left the two-time world champion 15th fastest.

But he’ll shuffle forward another three places as others around him take penalties, thanks to Franco Colapinto and Gabriel Bortoleto falling to the back of the pack after taking new power unit elements. Lindblad’s five-place drop also sees Alonso promoted, meaning despite qualifying only 16th best, he’ll line up on the fringes of the top 10, a result far above what Aston Martin could reasonably have hoped for heading into the qualifying hour.