Andrew Benson
BBC F1 correspondent in Austin

Image source, Getty Images

Kimi Antonelli just missed out on clinching his first world title in a dominant victory in the United States Grand Prix.

The 20-year-old Italian leads Mercedes team-mate George Russell by 123 points after coming home ahead of Red Bull's Max Verstappen and Ferrari's Charles Leclerc.

Antonelli stamped his authority on this race in the same way as he has on the season, and was out of touch even by the first corner as his rivals all battled behind him.

He took control of the race from the very beginning, an excellent start combined with a gripping scrap through the first lap between Verstappen and Leclerc leaving him more than two seconds clear by the end of the first lap.

No-one got near him from then on.

Read the full report here

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It's not quite a title celebration in Austin but with his ninth victory of the campaign secured, Kimi Antonelli has one full hand on the 2026 drivers' championship.

The Italian is 123 points clear of Mercedes team-mate George Russell in the standings, so he needs only two points at the Mexico City Grand Prix next weekend to be crowned the youngest title winner in Formula 1 history.

It's going to take a shock retirement or a rare finish outside of the points to stop Antonelli from triumphing with races to spare, so best to get the champagne on ice in preparation for a major Mexican fiesta.

Thanks for just joining us, folks. We'll be back on Friday for first and second practice from 18:30 GMT.

Lights out for Sunday's race at the Autodromo Hermanos Rodriguez is at 20:00.

See you soon!

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Ferrari's Lewis Hamilton speaking to Sky Sports: "To be honest, the VSC wasn't ideal but I felt like the race was really lost from the first two stints. I lost so much time. I couldn't turn the car in the lower speed particularly. So Turn One, Turn 11, 12, 13, 14, 15 just massive understeering, so the cars were just blown away. I was adjusting my settings and by the time we got to the last stint, I think we got closer to the balance but I think we should have started with that balance in the beginning.

"I think, I've lost a lot of points in the last five races or so, and I think it's really come from set-up or just not perfecting the set-up and that's something I've really got to get on top of. I think that's really where I've lost out. I think performance wise, I feel like I've been driving well. I think today, I feel like the last stints were pretty good. The first two stints, I just couldn't do anything about that.

"Hopefully when we go to Mexico we can improve on some of where we've got wrong with the set-up."

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Red Bull's Isack Hadjar speaking to Sky Sports after the race: "Just watching my race start you know... I do everything perfect in terms of procedure and just have clutch over-delivery and these things are just out of my control. I have poor radio coverage, I can't hear what's happening in the pits. I leave the pits with the wrong map and then I'm losing a second a lap every lap on the hard tyre. It's just..."

On why solutions to improve the start are hard to come by: "It needs a redesign. That's it. The clutch needs a redesign because at the moment it's too fragile, it's not coping well with temperatures. It's a real struggle."

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Championship leader Kimi Antonelli speaking to Sky Sports after the podium ceremony: "It was the perfect way to end the weekend. It was an incredible team effort especially from strategy to believe in me and go for one stop because I wasn't sure whether one or two stop was the quickest. But really happy that we made it stick. Today was a really important victory for me, for the team, especially after having a couple of difficult races, being back on top feels very good."

On how he feels going to Mexico: "The best way, the perfect way would be to finish off in style and then just enjoy the rest of the season. I'm very aware that it's very close but the mindset doesn't change. I want to finish the season on a high in order to then go with high hopes into 2027 but we'll first focus and worry about finishing this well and then we'll see."

Andrew Benson
BBC F1 correspondent in Austin

Image source, Getty Images

Kimi Antonelli will be crowned champion in Mexico City next weekend as long he does not lose more than 23 points to Mercedes team-mate George Russell and 24 to Ferrari's Lewis Hamilton.

That means a ninth place would be enough to become champion even if Russell wins the race, and a 10th would be enough if Hamilton is victorious.

If Russell or Hamilton do not win, Antonelli will be champion next Sunday no matter where he finishes.

Damon Hill
1996 world champion on BBC Radio 5 Live in Austin

George Russell is not showing the pace that his team-mate is. This where you start to look at the importance of the driver with these Mercedes upgrades.

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Mercedes' George Russell on finishing eighth and his time penalty: "The pace just was rubbish today. That's the long and short of it. Of course, the five seconds didn't help things and probably cost me two or three positions but nevertheless, the pace was not good enough when it needed to be."

On what caused this: "Just not being quick enough to be honest. I need to try and understand why it is. It is strange when you're so far off, so hopefully there are some answers somewhere but at the moment I don't have them."

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In the constructors' championship, Mercedes are leading second-placed Ferrari by 133 points but the big movers are Red Bull, who have jumped above McLaren and into third spot. The two teams are level on 355 points, but Red Bull have banked more podium finishes than defending champions McLaren so far this season.

1. Mercedes - 607pts

2. Ferrari - 474

3. Red Bull - 355

4. McLaren - 355

5. Racing Bulls - 102

6. Alpine - 69

7. Haas - 30

8. Audi - 23

9. Williams - 12

10. Aston Martin - 7

11. Cadillac - 0

Damon Hill
1996 world champion on BBC Radio 5 Live in Austin

If you don't know who Kimi Antonelli is by now then you will in a week's time - he's going to be world champion. He's definitely my driver of the day, of the week and of the year.

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With his victory in the United States secure, Kimi Antonelli heads to Mexio next weekend with an 123-point buffer to Mercedes team-mate George Russell. If the 20-year-old finishes ninth or higher at the Autodromo Hermanos Rodriguez, the title will be his.

Second place is still up for grabs, though, as Russell is only one point clear of Lewis Hamilton, six free of Max Verstappen and nine points ahead of Charles Leclerc.

1. Kimi Antonelli (Mercedes) - 365pts

2. George Russell (Mercedes) 242

3. Lewis Hamilton (Ferrari) - 241

4. Max Verstappen (Red Bull) - 236

5. Charles Leclerc (Ferrari) - 233

6. Lando Norris (McLaren) - 211

7. Oscar Piastri (McLaren) - 144

8. Isack Hadjar (Red Bull) - 105

9. Liam Lawson (Racing Bulls) - 77

10. Pierre Gasly (Alpine) - 42

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Red Bull's Max Verstappen speaking after finishing third: "I think our overall pace was not good enough and then probably also the tyres that we had available were probably not the right ones. It's something that we have to understand because I think the last few races it was always working well for us. For whatever reason it didn't work out here. We still managed to get on the podium, maybe a little bit lucky with the VSC at the end but I'll take it.

On his overtake on Lando Norris: "I had to. It was either get overtaken or you have to go for the overtake so that's what I did."

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Ferrari's Charles Leclerc, who finishes second in Austin: "It was quite a good race. Unfortunately, we came short on the victory, which is eventually our target, but at the end of the day, it was a positive race; we had a good pace.

"The first stint was a bit more difficult. Kimi [Antonelli] went for a one-stop which was not really on our cards to be honest. But we were in the race with Max [Verstappen] and we had good pace.

"It was a fun race with quite nice battles at the start and then later on with Lando [Norris] and Max. It was quite tricky but I enjoyed it. I really enjoyed it and I ended up with a little less battery and it was a bit difficult to protect to Max but I knew we had pace to keep fighting later on, which we did, so it's a good race overall."

Damon Hill
1996 world champion on BBC Radio 5 Live in Austin

Kimi Antonelli has an infectious personality. The team love him, he's enjoying everything he's got in F1 and he's very grateful for all the breaks they've given him at Mercedes. But he delivers. He's such a nice kid. It's incredible. 20 years old and he's on the verge of winning his first championship which I'm sure will be the first of many.

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Mercedes' Kimi Antonelli speaking after winning the United States Grand Prix: "It was the result we needed to be fair and the whole team deserved it so much. All this time, putting in so much work on bringing this new package and finally seeing the results is very pleasant. Also perfect execution from the strategy team to call the one stop. Really happy that we made it stick and today was a team effort."

On being just two points away from winning the world championship: "We're very close but we'll try to finish on a high and hopefully we can clinch it soon."

Antonelli: "Good job everyone. That's the result we needed and let's keep pushing."

Champagne momentpublished at 22:02 GMT 25 October

22:02 GMT 25 October

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Well, not quite a champagne moment for Kimi Antonelli, as he's too young to drink in the United States. The 20-year-old is delighted, though, as the Italian national anthem rings out.

US Senator Ted Cruz doesn't get the warmest of welcomes from the Texas crowd as he hands Antonelli that fantastic winner's trophy.

The fans are also loving seeing Charles Leclerc and Max Verstappen in the top three. Ferrari's Leclerc was second in Singapore, while Red Bull's Verstappen is on a run six podium finishes.

11. Nico Hulkenberg (Audi)

12. Arvid Lindblad (Racing Bulls)

13. Gabriel Bortoleto (Audi)

14. Esteban Ocon (Haas)

15. Lance Stroll (Aston Martin)

16. Fernando Alonso (Aston Martin)

17. Alex Albon (Williams)

18. Carlos Sainz (Williams)

19. Sergio Perez (Cadillac)

DNF. Valtteri Bottas (Cadillac)

DNF. Franco Colapinto (Alpine)

DNF. (Oliver Bearman (Haas)