Kimi Antonelli won the 2026 Austin Grand Prix with an excellent, controlled performance from the opening lap, while Charles Leclerc delivered a strong Ferrari race to finish second ahead of Max Verstappen. Lewis Hamilton completed an encouraging result for Ferrari in fourth place after closing on the cars ahead during the final phase of the race.
Andrea Kimi Antonelli imposed a pace that none of his rivals could match consistently and managed his tyres with remarkable maturity, making a one-stop strategy work despite starting on the medium compound against rivals on softer tyres. The signs were already there at the start, when the Mercedes driver resisted Max Verstappen despite the Red Bull driver’s tyre advantage and retained the lead with an excellent launch.
From there, Andrea Kimi Antonelli produced relentless pace, avoided mistakes and managed his tyres like a veteran. His Austin victory further strengthened a season that has put him firmly in the championship spotlight, although the title celebration will have to wait a little longer.
Charles Leclerc takes second as Ferrari delivers strong Austin race
Behind Andrea Kimi Antonelli, Charles Leclerc produced an excellent race. The Ferrari driver was aggressive from the start, when he moved ahead of the Red Bulls, before making superb use of his final stint on hard tyres to catch and pass Max Verstappen for second place.
The result completed a weekend in which Ferrari had already shown encouraging signs, with the SF-26 looking increasingly competitive after Charles Leclerc’s FP2 benchmark. Ferrari had also brought four key aerodynamic changes to the SF-26 for Austin.
Max Verstappen finished third and was clearly unhappy with the pace of his Red Bull, even striking the steering wheel in frustration during his second pit stop.
Lewis Hamilton brought the second Ferrari home in fourth. The seven-time world champion never appeared completely satisfied with the balance of the car, but he steadily reduced the gap to the drivers ahead and eventually put himself in contention for the podium against Max Verstappen, with the late Virtual Safety Car triggered by Valtteri Bottas’s stoppage also affecting the closing stages.
Lando Norris finished fifth after successfully managing a one-stop strategy similar to Andrea Kimi Antonelli’s. Isack Hadjar was sixth after becoming frustrated with his pit wall and failing to reproduce the pace suggested by his strong qualifying performance. Oscar Piastri endured an equally difficult race in seventh, while George Russell finished eighth after a challenging afternoon against the pace of his Mercedes teammate.
Austin GP start: Charles Leclerc attacks Max Verstappen
At the start, pole-sitter Andrea Kimi Antonelli selected the medium tyre, while the Red Bulls and Ferraris started on the soft compound. George Russell followed the same tyre choice as his Mercedes teammate, as did the two McLaren drivers.
When the lights went out, Andrea Kimi Antonelli retained the lead. Max Verstappen did not make a particularly strong start and Charles Leclerc swept past him with an excellent move at Turn 5. Behind Max Verstappen, Lewis Hamilton also gained ground by overtaking Isack Hadjar.
Charles Leclerc’s second place lasted only until the end of the opening lap, however, as Max Verstappen reclaimed the position with a strong pass in the third sector.
Further back, George Russell made contact with Oscar Piastri’s McLaren after going too deep into Turn 12. The Mercedes driver received a five-second penalty for the incident.
On lap two, race control briefly activated the Virtual Safety Car to allow the marshals to clear the circuit following the opening-lap incidents. Once racing resumed, Max Verstappen attempted to close the gap to Andrea Kimi Antonelli and set the fastest lap, but the Mercedes driver managed to keep his advantage above two seconds.
By lap seven, the battle between the two McLaren drivers had developed. Oscar Piastri was running seventh ahead of Lando Norris when the team asked Norris over the radio: “How much pace do you have?” McLaren subsequently decided to swap the positions of its two drivers.
Max Verstappen pits first before Ferrari responds
After 13 laps, Andrea Kimi Antonelli held an advantage of around 2.5 seconds over Max Verstappen, with Charles Leclerc another two seconds behind. Lewis Hamilton was slightly further back and reported difficulties in the low-speed corners over the radio.
Max Verstappen was the first of the leading drivers to stop, pitting on the following lap for another set of soft tyres. Lewis Hamilton came in on lap 15 and switched to the medium compound, with Charles Leclerc making the same tyre choice and rejoining ahead of his Ferrari teammate.
The contrasting strategies became an important part of the Grand Prix, following the pre-race discussion over tyre wear and the strategic risks highlighted when Pirelli identified Austin’s biggest danger for race strategy.
On fresh soft tyres, Max Verstappen began an aggressive recovery towards Andrea Kimi Antonelli, who remained on track on his original mediums and was still setting competitive lap times despite having completed around 20 laps on them. Max Verstappen quickly passed George Russell, and Charles Leclerc soon repeated the move while continuing to follow the Red Bull driver from a distance.
George Russell stopped on lap 23, served his five-second penalty and fitted the hard tyre. Meanwhile, Isack Hadjar allowed his Red Bull teammate Max Verstappen through, leaving the Dutchman around 12 seconds behind race leader Andrea Kimi Antonelli, who continued to produce remarkably consistent lap times.
Andrea Kimi Antonelli finally stopped on lap 25, fitted the hard compound and returned to the circuit in fourth place, just ahead of Lewis Hamilton.
Charles Leclerc struggled to clear Isack Hadjar before taking advantage of the Frenchman’s pit stop to move into second place, four seconds behind Max Verstappen. With Andrea Kimi Antonelli closing rapidly from behind, Charles Leclerc attempted to reduce his deficit to the leader and eventually brought the gap to Max Verstappen down to around 2.5 seconds.
Max Verstappen was becoming increasingly unhappy with the Red Bull and complained over the radio: “I have a problem with the car, it’s undriveable.”
Andrea Kimi Antonelli retakes the lead as Max Verstappen struggles
On lap 32, race leader Max Verstappen made his second stop and switched to the medium compound, visibly expressing his frustration towards the Red Bull pit wall. That handed the lead to Charles Leclerc, with Andrea Kimi Antonelli following closely behind.
The Mercedes driver waited until the run towards Turn 12 before overtaking Charles Leclerc, using the straight-line performance of his Mercedes power unit to move back into first place.
By lap 37, Andrea Kimi Antonelli had extended his advantage over Charles Leclerc to more than three seconds despite locking a tyre and running wide. Charles Leclerc then stopped on lap 40 for a fresh set of hard tyres, with Lewis Hamilton making the same choice.
Charles Leclerc returned to the circuit in fourth place, around nine seconds behind Max Verstappen. Ahead of the Red Bull driver were Lando Norris, who was still running his alternative one-stop strategy, and race leader Andrea Kimi Antonelli. Behind them, Lewis Hamilton passed Isack Hadjar to move into fifth.
Charles Leclerc hunts down Max Verstappen for second
Once on fresh hard tyres, Charles Leclerc rapidly reduced the gap to Max Verstappen and set the fastest lap of the race. Max Verstappen, meanwhile, was struggling behind second-placed Lando Norris, who was running used hard tyres on a different one-stop strategy.
The battle for second place intensified on lap 47 between Lando Norris, Max Verstappen and Charles Leclerc. Max Verstappen and Charles Leclerc both overtook Lando Norris before Charles Leclerc completed his charge on lap 49, passing Max Verstappen to take second place.
Lewis Hamilton also continued his recovery and moved into fourth as Lando Norris’s tyres reached the end of their competitive life. The changing order throughout the race can also be explored through the ScuderiaFans F1 Race Position & Progression Tracker.
On lap 50, the race was neutralised under Virtual Safety Car conditions after Valtteri Bottas stopped his Cadillac on the circuit.
Leave a Reply