Kimi Antonelli Wins the United States Grand Prix in Austin as Leclerc Beats Verstappen to Second
The Mercedes driver converted pole position into victory over 56 laps at Circuit of the Americas on Sunday, finishing 13 seconds clear of Ferrari's Charles Leclerc - but the championship celebrations wait for Mexico City.
Kimi Antonelli owned Sunday in Austin. The Mercedes driver started the United States Grand Prix from pole position at Circuit of the Americas, controlled the opening lap and won the 56-lap race in 1 hour, 35 minutes, 16.650 seconds, capping the final day of Austin's biggest sports weekend of the fall.
The fight for the podium ran behind him. Ferrari's Charles Leclerc finished second, 13.078 seconds back, after a late pass on Red Bull's Max Verstappen, who took third. Lewis Hamilton finished fourth for Ferrari ahead of Lando Norris in fifth, Isack Hadjar sixth and Oscar Piastri seventh. George Russell came home eighth after a five-second penalty for an incident with Piastri - a result Russell told reporters he could not explain, saying he was 'just not being quick enough' on his first stint, according to Reuters.
The grandstands were full despite an early-morning water main break on FM 812 that snarled traffic heading to the track; City of Austin officials said repairs on the water main will resume Monday morning, according to FOX 7 Austin. In the paddock, 21-year-old Texas native Jak Crawford, a reserve driver for the Aston Martin Aramco team, told FOX 7 the home crowd keeps growing: 'The fan growth, it gets bigger every year at this race.' COTA opened in 2012 as the first purpose-built Formula 1 venue in the United States.
Antonelli's win stretched his championship lead over Russell to 123 points, but the title stays mathematically open - Hamilton's fourth place kept it alive - with a maximum of 125 points still available. Formula 1 heads to Mexico City next weekend, where Antonelli gets his first chance to close out his first world championship.
