2026 United States Grand Prix Race Review

Linus O'Howell

2 minutes ago

3 min read

Antonelli on the Brink after Dominant COTA Victory

For the 9th time this season, Andrea Kimi Antonelli took victory to all but confirm that he will end the year as the youngest World Champion in Formula 1 history! Charles Leclerc recovered well after a frustrating Qualifying to finish second, whilst Max Verstappen rounded out the Podium at the Circuit of the Americas!

The Biggest Talking Points

Andrea Kimi Antonelli got off to the perfect start to remain clear into Turn 1, whilst a difficult launch out of the first corner resulted in Max Verstappen being challenged by both Charles Leclerc and Lewis Hamilton, only for Max to end the lap ahead of both of the Ferraris! George Russell would then run wide into Turn 12, receiving a penalty in the process, whilst Alex Albon and Fernando Alonso would also come together on Lap 1! Oliver Bearman would also receive a penalty for making contact with Pierre Gasly’s Alpine, whilst the intriguing part of the Race came from Max Verstappen doing an early pit stop as an attempt to do something different to Mercedes and Kimi Antonelli! Charles Leclerc would also match Verstappen’s strategy, only to get held up a bit by Isack Hadjar, whilst, let’s be honest, not a lot happened after this!

George Russell would get completely stuck behind Oscar Piastri after serving his penalty in the pit-stop phase, whilst an issue for Isack Hadjar’s Red Bull took the Frenchman completely out of Podium contention! Despite having good pace to begin with, Max Verstappen was no longer catching Kimi Antonelli out front, with Verstappen having to pull off a wonderful move into Turn 1 to clear Lando Norris’ McLaren! Charles Leclerc would then also dispatch Norris later on in the lap, whilst Leclerc was also able to overtake Verstappen for second! A Virtual Safety Car was then brought out due to Valtteri Bottas’ Cadillac shutting down, which ultimately cost Lewis Hamilton a potential Podium as Lewis finished just a second behind Max!

The Standout Drives in the Race

I’ve only given out one 10 for the 2026 United States Grand Prix, and that has to be for Andrea Kimi Antonelli! Kimi was faultless in this Race; he made the one-stop work better than anybody else, and to win by 13 seconds is pretty impressive! Elsewhere, Charles Leclerc drove very well to finish second, whilst Liam Lawson and Pierre Gasly both deserve massive praise for finishing in the lower-points-paying positions!

Drivers Who Had a Shocker

I haven’t given out a single 1 for this Race, but I will say that I was close to giving Oliver Bearman one! Basically, Ollie got a penalty for colliding into Pierre Gasly on the opening lap, before his pace completely fell off due to the damage caused by the incident! I love how aggressive Bearman gets with some of his overtakes; often they turn out great, but this was a misjudgment that completely ruined his afternoon! Elsewhere, George Russell had a shocking afternoon, finishing over 54 seconds behind his Race-winning teammate, whilst Williams’ pace was absolutely appalling! In fact, Alex Albon actually damaged Fernando Alonso’s Aston Martin, whilst Carlos Sainz’s Grand Prix was ruined just moments in! Oh, and we should probably mention Franco Colapinto as the Argentine didn’t have the best of days either, retiring with 20 laps still to run!