Kimi Antonelli has set himself up perfectly. On the weekend that may crown him, the 20-year-old Mercedes driver took pole for the United States Grand Prix at the Circuit of the Americas, his seventh of the season and his first since Belgium in July.
The title arithmetic for Sunday is simple enough. Antonelli has to win, with Lewis Hamilton finishing outside the top four and teammate George Russell outside the top eight. Saturday helped him there too: Hamilton lines up fifth and Russell sixth.
Few saw the result coming. Ferrari had led every practice session, and Max Verstappen looked sharp in Q2. Yet Antonelli’s opening run in Q3, a 1:34.035, was never beaten. “I wasn’t expecting that,” admitted race engineer Peter Bonnington. The Italian himself warned that Verstappen was fast and that the race would be very tight.
Verstappen ended up 0.179 seconds slower, blaming a lack of grip in the final segment while saying he would happily take second. Red Bull teammate Isack Hadjar was a mere 0.036 behind him. Ferrari faded again when it counted: Charles Leclerc said his tyres dropped out of their window as the track cooled, leaving him fourth, just ahead of Hamilton.
McLaren had a forgettable session despite bringing upgrades. Lando Norris lost his best lap to track limits and starts eighth behind Oscar Piastri, and he was blunt about his own performance. Several drivers, Arvid Lindblad, Franco Colapinto and Audi’s Gabriel Bortoleto among them, drop down the order after taking extra power unit parts.
