Formula 1 championship points leader Kimi Antonelli achieved his seventh pole position of the 2026 season at the United States Grand Prix, beating Max Verstappen in competitive qualifying session in Austin.
The Mercedes driver took provisional pole with his first of two Q3 runs, with a lap time of one minute, 34.035 seconds as he headed Red Bull duo of Verstappen and Isack Hadjar by around two tenths, as few frontrunners improved on their final Q3 lap.
It was Antonelli’s first pole since the summer break as he denied Verstappen a third consecutive P1, stopping the trend of Verstappen and the Ferraris who seemed to have a slight edge on the Silver Arrows across the demanding 5.5km Circuit of the Americas.
After impressing in practice and leading the way in Q2, Charles Leclerc only managed fourth position when it mattered, with Ferrari teammate Lewis Hamilton in fifth.
George Russell was a disappointing sixth position ahead of the McLaren duo of Oscar Piastri and Lando Norris, who lost two positions after seeing his final lap deleted for track limits.
Meanwhile, Racing Bulls pairing Arvid Lindblad and Liam Lawson further helped their team’s bid to secure fifth in the constructors’ standings.
With Lindblad facing a five-place penalty for taking a new power unit, Lawson opted to sit out Q3 to minimise the damage for his teammate. Lawson will start P9, with Lindblad set for a start from P14.
Leclerc headed Q2 with a lap time of one minute, 34.198 seconds on his second run, beating Antonelli and Russell as well as Verstappen.
The battle for the remaining Q3 positions featured Piastri, who could not put together a good first lap and needed a second attempt to move up to sixth after taking provisional P10. Lindblad and Lawson also found late improvements to move into the top ten in a dramatic end to the segment, knocking out the Alpine and Audi cars.
Meaning Pierre Gasly was the first driver to miss the cutoff by just 0.022 seconds for Alpine, ahead of Audi’s Nico Hulkenberg and Gabriel Bortoleto, with Franco Colapinto, Fernando Alonso and Oliver Bearman also knocked out. Haas driver Bearman saw a lap that was quick enough for P13 but this was deleted for track limits at Turn 11.
Bortoleto is facing a back-of-the-grid start for taking a new Audi power unit, but the Audi driver advanced to Q2 to try and help Hulkenberg with a slipstream on COTA’s long straight. Alpine’s Colapinto will drop to ten grid positions for installing new engine control electronics, joining Bortoleto on the back row for the main race.
Norris led the way in a tight Q1 session by setting a lap time of one minute, 35.029 seconds, with the reigning world champion doing two runs to secure his position, heading the four cars from Ferrari and Red Bull.
Behind them, Antonelli and Russell, as well as Piastri, all advanced using a set of medium tyres, saving a set of softs.
In the background, Fernando Alonso’s strong one minute, 36.240 seconds lap got him through to Q2 in P16 at the expense of Haas driver Esteban Ocon and his Aston Martin teammate Lance Stroll, who complained of a lack of rear grip.
Aston Martin’s improved performance moved Williams to Formula 1’s slowest team outside of Cadillac. Carlos Sainz headed a frustrated Alex Albon in P19, while Sergio Perez again had the measure of his Cadillac teammate Valtteri Bottas.
So advantage Kimi Antonelli with pole position at COTA with his Mercedes teammate George Russell down in P6. If the championship leader wins the main race and his title rival drops down further than P9, than his first drivers’ title is his and yet whatever the result, Antonelli fully deserves the championship thanks to his superior race performance over Russell over the course of this season. Best of luck to Kimi on race day.
United States Grand Prix, qualifying positions:
1 Andrea Kimi Antonelli Mercedes 1:34.035
2 Max Verstappen Red Bull-Ford 1:34.214
3 Isack Hadjar Red Bull-Ford 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-Mercedes 1:34.803
8 Lando Norris McLaren-Mercedes 1:35.049
9 Liam Lawson Racing Bulls-Ford 1:35.058
10 Pierre Gasly Alpine-Mercedes 1:35.080
11 Nico Huldenberg Audi 1:35.158
12 Fernando Alonso Aston Martin-Honda 1:35.818
13 Oliver Bearman Haas-Ferrari 1:36.031
14 Arvid Lindblad Racing Bulls-Ford 1:36.049*
15 Esteban Ocon Haas-Ferrari 1:36.531
16 Lance Stroll Aston Martin-Honda 1:36.677
17 Carlos Sainz Williams-Mercedes 1:36.770
18 Alexander Albon Williams-Mercedes 1:36.967
19 Sergio Perez Cadillac-Ferrari 1:37.433
20 Valtteri Bottas Cadillac-Ferrari 1:37.523
21 Franco Colapinto Alpine-Mercedes 1:35.722*
22 Gabriel Bortoleto Audi 1:35.691*
*Grid penalty for power unit changes
Kimi Antonelli secured pole position for the United States Grand Prix, edging out the Red Bull pair of Max Verstappen and Isack Hadjar to set the fastest time in Qualifying.
On a weekend when the Italian could be crowned the World Champion, his first lap of 1m 34.035s in Q3 was enough to take pole, with no one able to find the improvements needed to challenge him in the final minutes.
Verstappen was nearly two-tenths off the pace in P2 as he went marginally quicker than Hadjar and Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc, while Lewis Hamilton settled for fifth place.
Mercedes’ George Russell was a frustrating P6 ahead of McLaren driver Oscar Piastri, who moved up a place after his team mate Lando Norris’ time was deleted for track limits, relegating the Briton to P8.
Although Arvid Lindblad and Liam Lawson completed the top 10, the former will receive a five-place penalty for exceeding the permitted internal combustion engine allocation.
Pierre Gasly came close to squeezing into the top 10 but ultimately missed out by just 0.022s in 11th, qualifying ahead of Nico Hulkenberg and Gabriel Bortoleto as Audi’s tow strategy didn’t work out.
Franco Colapinto followed in 14th for Alpine but he will lose 10 positions for taking a new control electronics unit, promoting Fernando Alonso and Ollie Bearman who initially finished P15 and P16 in Qualifying.
Esteban Ocon couldn’t find the time he needed to progress to Q2 and was eliminated in P17, leading Aston Martin’s Lance Stroll and the Williams duo of Carlos Sainz and Alex Albon as the Spaniard suffered his worst Qualifying result at this track since his rookie season.
Lastly, Cadillac rounded out the order with Sergio Perez taking P21 ahead of Valtteri Bottas in P22, but they will gain a position each once Colapinto and Bortoleto’s grid penalties are applied for changing multiple power unit components.
https://www.formula1.com/en/latest/article/antonelli-seizes-pole-position-ahead-of-verstappen-in-qualifying-at-the-united-states-gp.4xdH4w09GhNDOJdknowRAk
Kimi Antonelli has admitted that “it’s not going to be easy” to secure the win that could see him crowned World Champion at the United States Grand Prix, but insisted that Mercedes will “do our best” from pole position.
After an unassuming start to Qualifying, the Italian surged to the top spot for the seventh time in 2026, posting an unbeatable time of 1m 34.035s to beat the Red Bull pair of Max Verstappen and Isack Hadjar.
Antonelli abandoned his second attempt, but it fortunately wasn’t needed as those around him failed to improve enough to topple him, helping the 20-year-old to seal his first pole position since the Belgian Grand Prix in July.
Reflecting on the session, he said: “I’m very happy. It was a good Qualifying. Having a clean run helped to build momentum. We didn’t do mistakes and I’m very happy with that.
“I felt good in the car, especially in Q3. It was tricky with the wind because the balance was changing quite a lot from corner to corner, but that last lap was looking good.
“I pushed a little bit more and just lost it which was a shame, but still very happy with the result and looking forward to tomorrow.”
https://www.formula1.com/en/latest/article/were-ready-to-do-our-best-antonelli-explains-approach-to-united-states-gp-after-taking-pole.7oYIhU89nZSYQRHruwX4EY
Toto Wolff has conceded that he doesn’t fully understand how Kimi Antonelli executed a “miracle lap” in Qualifying for the United States Grand Prix, which earned the Italian pole position.
Although Lando Norris and Charles Leclerc topped the times in Q1 and Q2 respectively, Antonelli put together a crucial lap in the final segment to take provisional pole with a time of 1m 34.035s.
He failed to complete a second effort after making a small error, but it ultimately didn’t matter as Red Bull’s Max Verstappen didn’t find any improvement either, securing the Italian’s hold on P1 for the seventh time this season.
With George Russell settling for P6 in the second Mercedes – over four-tenths adrift of his team mate – Wolff was left even more astounded by Antonelli’s achievement.
“To be honest, George’s lap is what we expected the car could do,” the Team Principal told F1 TV. “Not quite happy about the set-up and the upgrade we brought. Kimi pulled out such a miracle lap that I struggle to understand where that’s coming from.”
The result marks Antonelli’s first pole since the Belgian Grand Prix, as well as the team’s first Qualifying triumph since they introduced a major upgrade package in Malaysia that they’ve fought to maximise over recent rounds.
While it didn’t deliver the desired boost at first, it has seemed to work in the Silver Arrows’ favour at the Circuit of The Americas, where the 20-year-old could secure the Drivers’ Championship.
Wolff added: “We brought an upgrade package two races ago which didn’t perform as we expected. We had a guest that asked me what I expected from Qualifying and I said something between P3 and P5.
“Now we have a car on pole position and it looked very strong, so the car has it in it to be fast – we just need to understand why.
“The car is probably not as strong in race performance as the Ferraris and Verstappen, so we shall see how Kimi gets away, whether he’s able to hold onto P1.
“George, we just need to bring forward. We need to score points for the Constructors’ Championship, so both drivers matter very much tomorrow.”
https://www.formula1.com/en/latest/article/bemused-wolff-celebrates-antonellis-miracle-lap-in-qualifying-at-the-united-states-gp.16Hhn5cueHlsfCdfY62pka
George Russell’s slim hopes of keeping the pressure on Kimi Antonelli in the title battle suffered a blow when he couldn’t better P6 in Austin on a day when his team mate took another superb pole position.
In what were tricky conditions for everyone, Russell conceded that he simply didn’t get a decent lap in as, like others, he struggled in the final sequence of corners.
Having failed to improve on his second run he had to settle for his first attempt, which left him 0.441s shy of Antonelli, with both Red Bulls and both Ferraris splitting them on the grid.
“I don’t think I could have fought for pole, but I think top three was definitely on the cards for me,” he said after the session. “I went slower in Q3 than I did in Q2, so that says enough.”
The Briton was also at a loss to explain the reason why he was so far off, while conceding that everything snowballed after a slide during his lap.
“I’m not too sure to be honest,” he added. “I think from my side, it’s two bad laps in Q3. As simple as that, really.
“It was feeling very good at Sector 1, feeling good, but then in low speed I was struggling, and yeah, just didn’t get it together in Q3.
“Just one slide around Turn 12, and then it was just a snowball. Lost it all in Sector 3, and yeah, simple as that.”
The wind around the Circuit of The Americas made it tricky for everyone during the session, but changing track temperature could also have played a part in affecting performance.
“The cloud cover was having quite an impact as well,” said Russell. “So I don’t think anybody improved on that last lap. The sun came out but, unfortunately, my first lap was not good enough.
“Just for everyone, the track temperature raises by a couple of degrees, and when you get to Sector 3, that has a huge difference in the tyres and the window.”
Looking ahead to Sunday’s race, Russell noted: “I don’t think anyone expected Ferrari not to be in the top three. They looked the dominant team this whole weekend, so it will be interesting for the race pace, how that translates.”
https://www.formula1.com/en/latest/article/russell-reflects-on-austin-qualifying-struggles-after-one-slide-led-to-a-snowball.rAYr78wrhqMG7GJfIca7R
Max Vertstappen was confused as to how he failed to secure pole position for the United States Grand Prix after being beaten by Drivers’ Championship leader Kimi Antonelli during Qualifying in Austin.
The Dutchman improved his times throughout Saturday’s sessions to register an impressive 1:34.214 lap in Q3, but it wasn’t enough as the Italian stormed through and finished just under two tenths quicker than the four-time World Champion.
“I think just a few corners didn’t come together in Q3 which is something that I don’t understand because I didn’t make mistakes,” admitted Verstappen afterwards.
“[The car] was not as planted as what I’d hoped for so then you have little slides and you just can’t put the power down basically.
“It cost me in the first run unfortunately and okay, you have another run, but then the wind picked up and nobody could improve so it was very difficult.”
Saturday’s result ended Verstappen’s recent Qualifying streak after taking pole in both Malaysia and Singapore – where he converted both into race wins – but the Dutchman remains optimistic ahead of Sunday’s Grand Prix.
“The whole weekend has been close between a lot of cars and it’s just a matter of details to get it right and that’s the same tomorrow in the race.
“You need to look after your tyres, you need to have a good, solid balance in the car and hopefully we have that tomorrow.”
Verstappen will be boosted by his Red Bull team mate Isack Hadjar starting just behind him on the second row in P3, who was happy with his comeback performance after a slow start to his weekend in Texas.
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Ferrari had been pegged as the team to beat after practice at the United States Grand Prix, but ultimately found itself wanting when it came to qualifying and failed to find enough progression through Q3.
Charles Leclerc had headlined both Friday practice sessions, while Lewis Hamilton took the honours in FP3 after Leclerc’s best lap was deleted, and it looked as though the team was primed to battle against Red Bull’s Max Verstappen for pole position.
As the session unfolded, Mercedes entered the fray; Kimi Antonelli then reeled off a strong first effort in Q3 which proved good enough to clinch pole over Verstappen. Leclerc could only manage fourth, with Hamilton fifth on Sunday’s Formula 1 grid as its pace appeared to plateau at the business end of qualifying.
There were two strands to this: Ferrari’s straightline speed, and its difficulty in getting the tyres sufficiently prepared for the final part of qualifying.
The Ferrari demonstrated strong performance in the low-speed corners, and through practice had also been able to find time between Turns 6-10 at the end of the esses section, and through the high-speed Turns 16-19. But as the pace ratcheted up through the qualifying session, the Ferraris couldn’t quite respond.
Leclerc reckons the source of Ferrari’s flat end to Q3 was partly down to the change in track temperature. The Ferrari chassis manages to maintain reasonably cool tyre temperatures in race trim, but this comes at the expense of single-lap pace in qualifying as it becomes much harder to load them with the right level of heat. When the track dropped in temperature, it made the right tyre window more difficult to find.
“It’s very disappointing because I think there are some other weekends where we’ve been strong in free practice, but then coming to quali it’s very clear that the others are just having a lot more in the straights and it’s very difficult for us to match that,” the Monegasque explained.
“I feel like today it’s a qualifying where we had the potential in the car, but the car also includes tyres and in Q3 unfortunately we were not in the right place. It was like one or two degrees less in Q3 and for me it was a huge difference; I just really struggled in the out-lap, I was sliding quite a lot already from the out-lap and that made it very difficult after that.
“There are reasons for [the plateau] and so at the same time I think we just need to work harder and try and understand those tyres even better than what we are doing now. The others I think normally have a bit more, it’s a bit easier for them to extract the lap time in Q3 than it is for us and as soon as we are a tiny bit outside the window, we pay a lot the price, so this is something that we need to look into.
“Our car for some reason, it’s very difficult to put some heat in those tyres which is a good thing for us on a Sunday, but in qualifying it makes it very tricky when the track temp goes down.”
https://www.motorsport.com/f1/news/why-ferrari-couldnt-challenge-for-pole-in-us-gp-qualifying/10868050/