AUSTIN LOWDOWN: All the key moments as Antonelli dominates to edge towards title

The United States Grand Prix delivered another spectacular event that saw one of Kimi Antonelli's most dominant performances yet, with the Italian beating Charles Leclerc and Max Verstappen to come tantalisingly close to his maiden title.

Plenty of other talking points emerged across the three days of action, from Red Bull's strategic and technical woes to George Russell's frustrating lack of pace relative to his team mate.

Here are all the key moments from the 2026 United States Grand Prix...

Antonelli on the brink of the championship after a dominant Austin triumph

Antonelli came into the weekend with his first chance of clinching a maiden world title and becoming the youngest ever F1 champion in the process. As it turned out, he was only two positions from doing just that on a weekend where he shone.

For the stars to align in Austin, the Italian needed to win Sunday’s race while also requiring Mercedes team mate Russell to finish ninth or lower, and for Ferrari’s Lewis Hamilton to finish fifth or lower. Russell was eighth and Hamilton took fourth.

But Antonelli more than held up his end of the bargain as the young Italian came out on top in Qualifying and an excellent launch at lights out set him on his way to a dominant race victory – via a one-stop strategy that very much worked out for Mercedes. He now stands on the brink of title glory, needing only two points to seal the deal next weekend in Mexico City.

On the other side of the Silver Arrows garage, it was another weekend that left Russell with more questions than answers. While a five-second penalty for leaving the track and gaining an advantage on Oscar Piastri during the opening lap didn’t help matters, the Briton was at a loss to explain what happened to his pace as his team mate claimed a ninth career win.

Leclerc seals another podium as Hamilton closes in on P2 in the drivers’ standings

Ferrari went into the weekend surrounded by plenty of promise, helped in part by upgrades they were introducing. A practice clean sweep for the Scuderia – two for Leclerc and one for Hamilton – also helped boost the expectation.

Their rivals went on to lift their game over the weekend but – come race day – Ferrari mostly nailed things on the track as Leclerc lifted himself from a P4 starting position to second place. That’s his second consecutive runner-up position.

Hamilton, meanwhile, highlighted balance issues as his “biggest issue” in the race, but his fourth place result was still a successful outing and gives Ferrari plenty of optimism that they can be in the fight for the remaining races this season.

What’s more, the seven-time World Champion is now just a point behind Russell in the drivers’ standings – meaning his former Mercedes team mate is very much looking over his shoulder as he bids to keep hold of second place from now until the 2026 season comes to a close.

What happened to Red Bull’s pace?

Verstappen and Isack Hadjar both got off the line badly in Austin, the latter blaming a clutch “over-delivery” that has plagued him more than once this year. Both initially recovered in the first stint to look right in the mix for the win, especially when it transpired the team had split strategies to try and take the fight to Mercedes.

Verstappen went for an aggressive two-stop, having saved extra sets of soft tyres in Qualifying for the race. But that compound did not work as hoped, and he found himself with too much to do in his final stint on the mediums.

The Dutchman’s pace started to tail off too, something he later blamed on inconsistencies with the power unit. As such, not only could he not catch back up to the Mercedes of Antonelli to fight for the win, but he lost out to a recovering Leclerc and came home a slightly fortuitous third, helped by a late VSC that neutralised Hamilton’s charge behind.

As for Hadjar, he wound up losing out to Lando Norris despite both being on the same one-stop strategy. Considering how well he went in the opening stint, where the Frenchman got his soft tyres to sing lap after lap, sixth was a dispiriting ending and he admitted afterwards that the issues with his car were starting to “p***" him off.

A disappointing afternoon for McLaren

Norris and Piastri were clearly deflated with the lack of performance of their McLaren machines at the United States Grand Prix, with the reigning World Champion conceding that the team were “just not quick enough” in Austin.

Norris started on the fourth row in P7 alongside his Australian team mate in P8, with the pair struggling to match the pace of rivals Mercedes, Red Bull and Ferrari around the Circuit of The Americas.

In the latter stages of the race, Norris found himself second behind Antonelli but, on fading tyres, had a battle on his hands with Verstappen and Leclerc behind him before later dropping back and finding himself behind Hamilton to finish fifth.

It is now the fourth straight race without a podium for Norris, while Piastri’s disappointing 2026 campaign continued with a seventh-place finish – just over 1.6 second ahead of Russell.

“I think we achieved the best we could,” admitted Norris. “It was clear we didn’t have the pace of the others, but we gave it a good try.

“We had a good strategy and through everything, we gave ourselves the most opportunities so I’m happy, but we’re just not quick enough.”

The result leaves McLaren joint-third in the Constructors’ Championship alongside the improving Red Bulls, with the task ahead extremely clear in Norris’ opinion.

“We know exactly what we’ve got," he said. "But we’ve just got to improve it [the package] and at the minute, we’ve certainly made some improvements but it's nothing at the level it needs to be.”

A worthy champion in F1 ACADEMY

Alisha Palmowski took the F1 ACADEMY title in fine style in Austin, winning the crown with a round to spare. The British racer arrived in Texas with a commanding lead in the standings, so it was no surprise to see her take the title, the 20-year-old sealing it in the Reverse Grid Race with a superb drive from eighth on the grid to second at the flag.

She had already won the Opening Race in Austin from pole to extend her championship lead, before her P2 in the second race was enough to seal the title. Palmowski failed to finish the Feature Race, but that did not matter after such a stellar start to her weekend.

Palmowski is supported by Red Bull and has taken victory five times in her championship year, winning at least once at every round bar the opening weekend in China. The Campos Racing driver has 172 points and counting, with a dominant margin to Nina Gademan in second on 119 points.

F1 ACADEMY is heading to Las Vegas to round out the season, with Palmowski set for an effective victory lap down the Vegas Strip.