Antonelli delivers dominant win at U.S. GP, but championship crown will have to wait

Kimi Antonelli dominated the United States Grand Prix but will have to wait at least another round to claim the championship.

The title leader aced his getaway from pole position to lead front-row starter Max Verstappen by 2.5s at the end of the first lap, the Dutchman appearing to struggle with hybrid deployment off the line.

It was the decisive moment of Antonelli’s race, with Mercedes having deviated from the mainstream two-stop strategy by starting the Italian on the medium tire. He was one of only six drivers to use the compound off the line and one of only eight not to start on softs.

Verstappen and the Ferrari were among the majority to start on the softest compound and were motivated to pressure Antonelli early, but none could genuinely match the Mercedes driver before their first stops. The Dutchman was in first, on lap 13, with Lewis Hamilton and Charles Leclerc following on subsequent laps.

Mercedes refused to fall into the two-stop trap, and Antonelli held his nerve until lap 24. He dropped to fourth but was only 8s off Verstappen’s inherited lead.

He made up that ground with surprising speed, passing Hamilton and then Leclerc before Verstappen pitted out of the way, effectively conceding victory to the Italian, who cruised to a comfortable 13s victory, his ninth of the season.

“It was the result we needed,” he said. “The whole team deserve it so much. All this time putting so much work on bringing this new package and finally seeing the result is very pleasant.

“It was also perfect execution from strategy to call the one-stop. I’m really happy that we made it stick. Today was a great team effort.”

But with Hamilton fourth and George Russell eighth, Antonelli’s lead extended to only 123 points and 124 points respectively, short of the 125 required to seal the title, prolonging the championship to Mexico next weekend.

“We’re very close,” he said, “but we’ll try to finish on a high and hopefully we can clinch it very soon.”

Antonelli’s imperious form left Verstappen and Leclerc to battle for second place in what they expected to be a straight fight between them, with Hamilton gradually falling backwards, but Lando Norris inserted himself into the fight unexpectedly with an unusual one-stop attempt.

Norris had started eighth on the medium tire but made his first stop early, on lap 16, for a set of hards, and effectively undercut his way into second place. McLaren had been anticipating a second stop, but with 15 laps to go and Norris still in second, the team rolled the dice on a last-ditch defense for an unlikely podium.

The dream lasted only five laps, however, and on lap 47 Verstappen lunged down the McLaren’s inside at Turn 1. Leclerc made quick work of the reigning champion with a switchback move at Turn 13-14 to demote Norris off the podium.

Leclerc then sliced past Verstappen two laps later with a straightforward move at Turn 12, at the end of the back straight, to secure his second consecutive second-place finish.

“It was quite a good race,” he said. “Unfortunately we came short of the victory, which was our target, but at the end of the day it was a positive race.”

Verstappen was frustrated by shift problems early in the race and engine braking issues in the second half

“I think our overall pace was not good enough, then probably also the tires we had available were probably not the right ones,” he said. “That’s something we have to understand.

“We still managed to get on the podium, maybe a little bit lucky with the VSC at the end, but I’ll take it.”

Hamilton passed Norris for fourth with five laps remaining to finish fourth, just 1s behind Verstappen, his charge delayed by a late virtual safety car to collect Valtteri Bottas’s stopped Cadillac.

Norris clung to fifth thanks to Isack Hadjar struggling with engine settings and the hard tire in his second stint, creating a safe buffer between them.

Oscar Piastri was well off Norris’s pace but had the pace to hold off an underwhelming Russell for seventh throughout the final stint, both on one-stop strategies. Eighth, though, was enough for Russell to delay the championship coronation for another week.

Liam Lawson finished ninth ahead of Pierre Gasly, who scored the final point for 10th.

Nico Hulkenberg was 11th and the last driver on the lead lap. He finished ahead of Arvid Lindblad, Gabriel Bortoleto, Esteban Ocon and Aston Martin teammates Lance Stroll and Fernando Alonso.

Williams duo Alex Albon and Carlos Sainz finished 17th and 18th ahead of Cadillac’s Sergio Perez, the final finisher.

Bottas stopped on track in the final five laps, while Franco Colapinto and Oliver Bearman both retired.

RESULTS