Italian wunderkind Kimi Antonelli took another step towards winning his first Formula One drivers' championship by claiming his ninth race of the year on Sunday at the United States Grand Prix in Austin, Texas.
Antonelli, 20, capitalised on pole position and sailed to victory at the Circuit of the Americas, beating Ferrari's Charles Leclerc by a comfortable 13.078 seconds.
Despite taking the chequered flag, Antonelli doesn't have the championship wrapped up quite yet, but his lead over Mercedes teammate George Russell expanded to 123 points with five races to go.
The Briton must win the next race in Mexico City to remain in contention for the championship; otherwise, it will go to Antonelli, who has dominated this year's championship in only his second F1 campaign.
"I'm aware [securing the championship] is close, but the mindset doesn't change," Antonelli said post-race. "I want to finish the season on a high, to go into 2027 with high hopes."
Antonelli and Mercedes' strategy paid off. While others pitted twice during the 56-lap race, Antonelli held on until Lap 25 to pit and didn't enter the pit lane again.
"It was a perfect way to end the weekend; it was an incredible team effort, especially from strategy to believe in me and go for one stop," Antonelli said.
"Let's keep pushing" 👊
— Formula 1 (@F1) October 25, 2026
Kimi Antonelli secures his ninth Grand Prix win! 🏆#F1 #USGP @MercedesAMGF1 pic.twitter.com/rRiqa82A6k
Antonelli won five grands prix in a row earlier this season, one of which was the Miami Grand Prix. He's now 2-for-2 in the United States this season, with the Las Vegas Grand Prix still to come in November.
"I know we're very close, but, yeah, we try to finish on a high and hopefully we can clinch it very soon,” Antonelli said.
“I’m very excited. I would love to clinch the title in style with a great result.
“I’m just going to try to enjoy every moment because they’re moments that will always be remembered.”
A team effort in Austin... 🤝
— Formula 1 (@F1) October 26, 2026
And Kimi is eager to look ahead to Mexico, hoping to clinch the Title in style 😮💨#F1 #USGP pic.twitter.com/ovFefVhcVI
Max Verstappen, the four-time F1 champion for Red Bull, rounded out the podium 17.485 seconds behind Antonelli. After rattling off every championship from 2021-24, Verstappen has been mathematically eliminated from this year's chase and will go two years without a world title.
"Our overall pace was not good enough, and the tyres we had available were not the right ones," Verstappen said. "We still managed to get on the podium, maybe a bit lucky with the [Virtual Safety Car] at the end."
A Virtual Safety Car was deployed after Valtteri Bottas' Cadillac stopped on the track in Lap 52. It lasted until the penultimate lap, by which time no one could catch up to Antonelli.
Mercedes grew their lead in the constructors' standings to 133 points over Ferrari – 607 to Ferrari's 474.