You can read Giles Richards’s full report from Sunday’s grand prix here:

Related: Kimi Antonelli storms to US F1 GP victory but is made to wait for title glory

The drivers come out and celebrate on the podium. Antonelli reigns today and must only finish ninth or higher at the Mexico GP next week to clinch the overall title and become the youngest champion in F1 history.

Join us then to see if he can do it (he can).

Updated

Constructors’ standings

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

US GP results:

1 Kimi Antonelli 🇮🇹 Mercedes 1:35:16.650 – 25pts
2 Charles Leclerc 🇲🇨 Ferrari +13.078 – 18pts
3 Max Verstappen 🇳🇱 Red Bull +17.485 – 15pts
4 Lewis Hamilton 🇬🇧 Ferrari +18.515 – 12pts
5 Lando Norris 🇬🇧 McLaren +30.521 – 10pts
6 Isack Hadjar 🇫🇷 Red Bull +34.373 – 8pts
7 Oscar Piastri 🇦🇺 McLaren +52.674 – 6pts
8 George Russell 🇬🇧 Mercedes +54.303 – 4pts
9 Liam Lawson 🇳🇿 Red Bull +79.183 – 2pts
10 Pierre Gasly 🇫🇷 Alpine +87.516 – 1pt
11 Nico Hülkenberg 🇩🇪 Audi +94.945s
12 Arvid Lindblad 🇬🇧Racing Bulls +1 lap
13 Gabriel Bortoleto 🇧🇷 Audi +1 lap
14 Esteban Ocon 🇫🇷 Haas +1 lap
15 Lance Stroll 🇨🇦 Aston Martin +1 lap
16 Fernando Alonso 🇪🇸 Aston Martin +1 lap
17 Alexander Albon 🇹🇭 Williams +1 lap
18 Carlos Sainz 🇪🇸 Williams +1 lap
19 Sergio Pérez 🇲🇽 Cadillac +1 lap
NC Valtteri Bottas 🇫🇮 Cadillac +1 lap
NC Franco Colapinto 🇦🇷 Alpine DNF
NC Oliver Bearman 🇬🇧 Haas DNF

Updated

Updated drivers’ standings

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
11 Arvid Lindblad 🇬🇧 Racing Bulls 38
12 Franco Colapinto 🇦🇷 Alpine 27
13 Oliver Bearman 🇬🇧 Haas 23
14 Nico Hülkenberg 🇩🇪 Audi 13
15 Gabriel Bortoleto 🇧🇷 Audi 10
16 Esteban Ocon 🇫🇷 Haas 7
17 Fernando Alonso 🇪🇸 Aston Martin 7
18 Carlos Sainz 🇪🇸 Williams 7
19 Alexander Albon 🇹🇭 Williams 5
20 Yuki Tsunoda 🇯🇵 Racing Bulls 1

Yet to score:
Lance Stroll 🇨🇦 Aston Martin
Valtteri Bottas 🇫🇮 Cadillac
Sergio Pérez 🇲🇽 Cadillac

The podium speaks:

Leclerc: “It was quite a good race, unfortunately we couldn’t get the win. But at the end of the day, it was a positive race. It was a fun race.”

Verstappen: “Our overall pace was not good enough and the tyres we had available were not the right ones. But we still managed to get on the podium.”

Antonelli: “It was a result we needed to be fair, the whole team deserved it – all this time working to bring this new package and finally seeing the result is very and very pleasant. It was always a perfect execution of strategy to call the one [pit] stop. Today was a great team effort. We’re very close [to the title]. Hopefully we can clinch it soon.”

Antonelli takes a selfie with the Mercedes crew and is now off to get weighed and checked over. He’d had to wait a whole three races for a win. Standards are slipping.

Updated top three in the drivers’ standings. You think Kimi’s going to win the title?

1) Kimi Antonelli, 365 points

2) George Russell, 242 points

3) Lewis Hamilton, 241 points

Kimi is excited on the team radio: “Yes, woo. Let’s go! That’s how we [BAD WORD ALERT] we do it!”

Kimi Antonelli wins the US Grand Prix ...

… but not the championship just yet. The 20-year-old will have to wait after Lewis Hamilton and George Russell finished fourth and eighth respectively, keeping their very faint title hopes alive. That said, his ninth win of the season was a dominant one, reaffirming the fact that he’s been by far the best rider all year. And, as you may have heard 843 times before, he’s still only 20.

Updated

Lap 55/56: Antonelli’s lead is around 16 seconds. I think he may just win this one.

Lap 54/56: Bottas’s car is lifted off and the virtual safety car is done. We will finish this race … in an actual race.

Lap 53/56: Bottas pulls off the track, his car can’t be immediately be moved and the virtual safety car is out. Antonelli had a huge lead anyway, but this race could end in a procession.

Lap 52/56: Latest standings:

1) Antonelli

2) Leclerc

3) Verstappen

4) Hamilton

5) Norris

6) Hadjar

7) Piastri

8) Russell

Lap 51/56: Hamilton overtakes Norris and is into fourth. That means his title chances will stay alive today if he stays in fourth.

Lap 50/56: There’s an outside chance to Hamilton getting a podium here. He’s gaining on Norris in fourth and Max is really having to battle to control his car in third.

Lap 49/56: Leclerc dives past Verstappen after a wide turn at 11, and the Monaco driver is up to second. He’s had a great drive today.

Lap 48/56: While there’s action further back, Antonelli rolls (very quickly on). His lead over second-placed Verstappen is 16.3 seconds. Neither man is set to pit again today.

Lap 47/56: Verstappen continues to nibble at Norris, then slips past and is now second. Leclerc tries to pass Norris too but the Englishman hangs on … for now. And on the next turn, Norris locks up and Leclerc passes nicely and into third place.

Lap 46/56: Standings with 10 laps to go:

1) Antonelli

2) Norris

3) Verstappen

4) Leclerc

5) Hamilton

6) Hadjar

7) Piastri

8) Russell

Lap 45/56: Verstappen is closing on second-placed Norris.

Lap 44/56: Russell still has a healthy lead over ninth-place Lawson (around 28 seconds) meaning the title race is likely to continue into the next GP as things stands.

Lap 43/56: First-place Antonelli, who won’t pit again unless something goes very wrong, leads Norris in second by 14.7sec.

Lap 42/56: Hamilton battling Hadjar for fifth. He has a few darts and is held off by Hadjar until the Englishman finally overtakes him.

Lap 41/56: Lewis Hamilton records the fastest lap of the race. Watch this kid, he could be going places.

Lap 40/56: Leclerc pits. Current standings:

1) Antonelli

2) Norris

3) Verstappen

4) Leclerc

5) Hadjar

6) Hamilton

7) Piastri

8) Russell

Lap 39/56: Hamilton pits – almost certainly his final one of the day – and reenters in sixth. He needs to finish fourth or higher to keep his championship hopes alive.

Lap 38/56: Russell and Piastri are having a battle for seventh. Russell still comfortably ahead of Lawson, who is ninth – that gap is around 27 seconds.

Lap 37/56: Franco Colapinto retires. Antonelli gets a track limits violation as he tries to lap Sainz.

Lap 36/56: Verstappen was reporting problems a while back but seems to be more comfortable now. Proof that if you just ignore your problems in life they’ll magically sort themselves out at some point.

Lap 35/56: Russell is in eighth, meaning the title race will (nominally) continue into the Mexican GP next week. Russell looks fairly comfortable too, so he probably won’s slip back down the field.

Lap 34/56: Antonelli’s lead over Leclerc is 1.7sec.

Updated

Lap 33/56: Latest standings:

1) Antonelli

2) Leclerc

3) Hamilton

4) Norris

5) Verstappen

6) Hadjar

7) Piastri

8) Russell

Lap 32/56: “Front wing update please, Max,” he’s asked on the radio. His not entirely encouraging reply: “No idea, mate.” Verstappen pits and it’s a slow one. He reenters the race in fifth. For now, Leclerc leads over Antonelli, but the Italian will not pit again this race. And … he overtakes Leclerc to regain the lead anyway. A comfortable, nerveless race from the 20-year-old.

Lap 31/56: Russell is up to eighth – and Hamilton is fourth – which means Kimi would not win the title today, even if he finishes in first.

Lap 30/56: Verstappen is on the radio saying he’s having a problem with his car. He can’t hear what his engineer is saying though. So put that down as two problems: his engine and his radio. It’s looking good for Antonelli.

Lap 29/56: A bad day for Bearman. He serves his 10-second penalty and then retires from the race.

Lap 28/56: Standings at the halfway point:

1) Verstappen

2) Leclerc

3) Antonelli

4) Hamilton

5) Norris

6) Hadjar

Updated

Lap 27/56: As things stand, Antonelli will be ahead of Verstappen when Max pits.

Lap 26/56: Hadjar pits and Kimi moves up to third. Hamilton is fourth, which means Antonelli would not win the title if he goes on to clinch this race today.

Lap 25/56: Antonelli pits! And he reenters in fourth but he won’t pit again this race, whereas everyone else ahead of him will. The Italian remains the favourite for this race.

Updated

Lap 24/56: Verstappen is 13 seconds behind Antonelli in first. Hadjar did not like having to let Max through into second but was quickly told by the team where to stick his feelings.

Lap 23/56: Russell pits and serves his five-second penalty while he’s at it. He reenters the race in 10th. That means – as things stand with Russell in 10th and Hamilton in fifth – that Antonelli would win the title if he wins the race today. But things are likely to change between now and then. Verstappen moves into second.

Lap 22/56: Verstappen in now in third. He’s set to pit once more this race, as is the leader, Antonelli. The gap between first and third is around 14 seconds.

Updated

Lap 21/56: Leclerc, who has had an excellent race today, overtakes Russell and is now in fourth. Russell, remember, needs to finish outside the top eight for Antonelli to have a chance of clinching the title today.

Lap 20/56: The Ferraris edge up to fifth (Leclerc) and sixth (Hamilton). Leclerc also sets the fastest lap of the race so far.

Lap 19/56: Antonelli’s lead over Hadjar remains around 12 seconds. Bearman is given a 10-second penalty for causing a collision with Gasly in the opening stages of the race. He’s down in 18th anyway.

Lap 18/56: At the moment, Antonelli would emerge behind Verstappen if he pitted now and everything proceeded smoothly. But it looks like he’ll pit just once this race, with Verstappen going twice.

Lap 17/56: Antonelli is 11.6sec ahead of Hadjar in second but has yet to pit. Max is gaining around a second a lap on the Italian. Here’s Beau Dure: “Is Verstappen’s radio broken? We haven’t heard him complain yet.”

Lap 16/56: Verstappen is already up two places after his pit stop, using his new tyres nicely. Leclerc pits and emerges sixth, one place ahead of Hamilton again.

Lap 15/56: Hamilton goes on to mediums when he pits and comes back in ninth. He needs to finish fourth or better to keep his (very, very, very) faint hopes of winning the title alive.

Updated

Lap 14/56: No further action for Bortoleto after he was investigated for leaving the track. Max goes into pit and reemerges in eighth place. He’s on soft tyres still. He’ll be happy with that smooth pit.

Lap 13/56: Leclerc, in third, is putting distance between himself and Ferrari teammate Hamilton in fourth. Kimi’s lead over Verstappen continues to hover around 2.4sec.

Lap 12/56: Alonso slips past Albon and into 15th. There’s a big gap to Hulkenberg in 14th though – around six seconds.

Updated

Lap 11/56: Bortoleto now under investigation for leaving the track and gaining an advantage. He’s down in 17th at the moment. Moral of the story: drive on the track.

Lap 10/56: Hamilton is fourth, which means that even if Russell’s five-second penalty puts him outside the top eight, Antonelli would not wrap up the title today if he wins the race (as things stand).

Lap 9/56: Kimi is estimated to pit with his medium tyres between laps 21 and 27. His lead is up close to three seconds now.

Updated

Lap 8/56: Russell is given a five-second penalty for leaving the track and gaining an advantage. He doesn’t seem impressed on team radio. “No need to send anyone to El Paso for a penalty start,” emails David C Hunter. “All Austin drivers are suffering as I-35 is entirely rebuilt!”

Lap 7/56: Antonelli and Verstappen are evenly match. Kimi will pull off one good lap and Max will hit back with another. That means we’re at a status quo – Antonelli’s lead is still just over two seconds at the end the lap.

Lap 6/56: Russell is under investigation for leaving the track and gaining an advantage on the first lap. He was battling with Piastri at the time.

Lap 5/56: Verstappen was starting to catch Antonelli but a quick few laps and the Italian’s lead is at 2.5sec.

Updated

Lap 4/56: Hadjar, who started the day third on the grid, is down to fifth after the Ferraris passed him on the opening lap.

Lap 3/56: George Russell is currently sixth – he needs to finish outside the top eight for Antonelli to clinch the title today. Max has the fastest lap of the race so far, but will be disappointed he didn’t get a better start with the grippy softs.

Lap 2/56: There’s some debris on the track and the virtual safety car is out. Antonelli has a lead of 2.1 seconds and is looking comfortable. Looks like Max may have driven over some of the debris but it doesn’t seem to have caused any damage.

Lap 1/56: Antonelli gets a very good start, Verstappen didn’t seem to get any power and the Italian increases the control he already had by sitting on pole. The Ferraris also had a good start – Leclerc is up to third and Hamilton up to fourth.

“Instead of penalizing Bortoledo 80 places, they should just have him start in El Paso,” chuckles Beau Dure.

Tyre update: Kimi will start on medium tyres, while No 2 and No 3 on the grid – Verstappen and Hadjar – are on softs, as are the Ferraris.

Grid change. Lance Stroll will now start from the pit after setup changes.

What Antonelli needs to clinch the title today

Just a reminder what Kimi needs to do to become the youngest world champion of all time today. He’ll clinch the title if he wins and George Russell finishes outside the top eight, with Lewis Hamilton outside the top four.

Updated

Max Verstappen may hold off attacking right at the start of the race. He’s asked how important he thinks turn one is for this race. “Not as important as in Singapore,” he replies quickly.

The grid

Lewis Hamilton sounds sort of positive ahead of today’s race, which he’ll start from fifth on the grid.

“I’m hoping we can challenge for a podium. That would be awesome but it’s going to be tough. It’s definitely going to be really tough. We just have to see where we go,” said Hamilton.

US GP grid and qualifying times

1 Kimi Antonelli 🇮🇹 Mercedes 1:34.035
2 Max Verstappen 🇳🇱 Red Bull 1:34.214
3 Isack Hadjar 🇫🇷 Red Bull 1:34.250
4 Charles Leclerc 🇲🇨 Ferrari 1:34.267
5 Lewis Hamilton 🇬🇧 Ferrari 1:34.311
6 George Russell 🇬🇧 Mercedes 1:34.476
7 Oscar Piastri 🇦🇺 McLaren 1:34.803
8 Lando Norris 🇬🇧 McLaren 1:35.049
9 Liam Lawson 🇳🇿 Racing Bulls 1:35.058 (Q2, no Q3 time)
10 Pierre Gasly 🇫🇷 Alpine 1:35.080
11 Nico Hülkenberg 🇩🇪 Audi 1:35.158
12 Fernando Alonso 🇪🇸 Aston Martin 1:35.818
13 Oliver Bearman 🇬🇧 Haas 1:36.031
*14 Arvid Lindblad 🇬🇧 Racing Bulls 1:36.049
15 Esteban Ocon 🇫🇷 Haas 1:36.531
16 Lance Stroll 🇨🇦 Aston Martin 1:36.677
17 Carlos Sainz 🇪🇸 Williams 1:36.770
18 Alexander Albon 🇹🇭 Williams 1:36.967
19 Sergio Pérez 🇲🇽 Cadillac 1:37.433
20 Valtteri Bottas 🇫🇮 Cadillac 1:37.523
**21 Franco Colapinto 🇦🇷 Alpine 1:35.722
†22 Gabriel Bortoleto 🇧🇷 Audi 1:35.691
*Lindblad penalised five places for use of additional power unit element.
**Colapinto penalised 10 places for use of additional power unit element.
†Bortoleto penalised 80 places for use of additional power unit elements.

Conditions are pretty good for racing today. Temperatures will be around 28C/82F and no rain is broadcast. It’s not as blustery as it was yesterday either.

Max Verstappen starts second today behind Antonelli but don’t be surprised if he ends up winning today’s race. He’s also worked himself up a little before the race, having criticized the track in Austin as too bumpy. When circuit boss Boby Epstein brushed off those concerns, Max was having none of it: “I invite him to drive my car,” Verstappen told Dutch journalists on Saturday. “I think he’d have to get out after five laps and wouldn’t be able to walk anymore.”

If I drove Max’s car for five laps I wouldn’t be able to walk either, but for very different reasons.

We’ve done the drivers’ standings, so here’s a brief reminder of the constructors:


1 Mercedes 🇩🇪 578pts
2 Ferrari 🇮🇹 444
3 McLaren 🇬🇧 339
4 Red Bull 🇦🇹 332
5 Racing Bulls 🇮🇹 100
6 Alpine 🇫🇷 68
7 Haas 🇺🇸 30
8 Audi 🇩🇪 23
9 Williams 🇬🇧 12
10 Aston Martin 🇬🇧 7
11 Cadillac 🇺🇸 0

On the US broadcast, Apple has decided to bring on as its expert … Apple CEO John Ternus. We find out that he likes driving and thinks F1 (broadcast on Apple TV) is growing rapidly in the US and he think F1 The Movie (produced by Apple Studios) was very good. Funny that.

Who says nice guys don’t finish first? Kimi may well not clinch the title today, but he almost certainly will soon. Giles Richards looked at why Everyone Loves Kimi for us earlier this week:

Related: ‘A different kid’: from karting to F1 champion-elect, Antonelli’s ability has always stood out

Preamble

So here we are. Nine-year-old Kimi Antonelli* has a chance to become the youngest champion in F1 history today – and he’s sitting on pole too. He leads the championship by 102 points over his Mercedes teammate George Russell. He’ll clinch the championship if he wins and Russell finishes outside the top eight, with Lewis Hamilton outside the top four. While the two Britons will push Antonelli, the man who appears to be most on his mind is Max Verstappen, who has been in brilliant form – and not just against amateur karters – and sits second on the grid in Austin.

“Max has been very quick and did an incredible job in qualifying so it’s not going to be easy,” Antonelli said on Saturday. “Hopefully we’ll be leading into turn one and we’ll try to set the pace, even though it’s going to be very tight.”

Drivers’ standings


1 Kimi Antonelli 🇮🇹 Mercedes 340 pts
2 George Russell 🇬🇧 Mercedes 238
3 Lewis Hamilton 🇬🇧 Ferrari 229
4 Max Verstappen 🇳🇱 Red Bull 221
5 Charles Leclerc 🇲🇨 Ferrari 215
6 Lando Norris 🇬🇧 McLaren 201
7 Oscar Piastri 🇦🇺 McLaren 138
8 Isack Hadjar 🇫🇷 Red Bull 97
9 Liam Lawson 🇳🇿 Racing Bulls 75
10 Pierre Gasly 🇫🇷 Alpine 41
11 Arvid Lindblad 🇬🇧 Racing Bulls 38
12 Franco Colapinto 🇦🇷 Alpine 27
13 Oliver Bearman 🇬🇧 Haas 23
14 Nico Hülkenberg 🇩🇪 Audi 13
15 Gabriel Bortoleto 🇧🇷 Audi 10
16 Esteban Ocon 🇫🇷 Haas 7
17 Fernando Alonso 🇪🇸 Aston Martin 7
18 Carlos Sainz 🇪🇸 Williams 7
19 Alexander Albon 🇹🇭 Williams 5
20 Yuki Tsunoda 🇯🇵 Racing Bulls 1

Yet to score:
Lance Stroll 🇨🇦 Aston Martin
Valtteri Bottas 🇫🇮 Cadillac
Sergio Pérez 🇲🇽 Cadillac

* Actual age of F1 genius may be closer to 20.

Updated