Kimi Antonelli arrives in Texas 102 points clear, with a real chance of becoming the youngest world champion in Formula 1 history. It would take a lot to go his way, mind. The US Grand Prix 2026 at the Circuit of the Americas runs from Friday 23 to Sunday 25 October, and for once Austin gets a conventional weekend: three practice sessions, qualifying on Saturday and a 56-lap race on Sunday.
Can Antonelli finish it in Austin?
Mercedes have had the measure of everyone under the new 2026 regulations, and Antonelli has turned that into eight Grand Prix wins. Here's how the drivers' standings look after Singapore.
| Pos | Driver | Team | Points |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Kimi Antonelli | Mercedes | 340 |
| 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 |
Six Grands Prix are left and none of them are sprint weekends: Austin, Mexico City, Sao Paulo, Las Vegas, Qatar and Abu Dhabi, though the last two have been described as in doubt. With 25 points available per race, Antonelli needs to leave Texas 125 points clear to be safe.
That's a narrow path. By GrandPrix.com's calculations, he has to win the race, Russell has to finish outside the top eight, and Hamilton has to finish sixth or lower. Win counts would settle a tie, and Antonelli would have nine to Russell's three. If it all lines up, he'd be champion at 20 years and 61 days, taking the record Sebastian Vettel set in 2010.
I'd call Austin his first chance rather than his likely one. A win still pushes the lead well past 100 with five to go, and it would finish off Verstappen, Leclerc and Norris, who are only alive on paper.
Who can stop him winning on Sunday
Antonelli finished third in Singapore behind Verstappen and Leclerc. Mercedes weren't the quickest car that weekend, and he still took a decent haul of points, which is how titles get won.
Russell is the only one who can realistically drag this out, and Singapore was damage limitation for him. He crashed out of the lead on the opening lap of the sprint, then recovered from 19th on the grid to ninth on Sunday. He needs a big result here to stop his teammate wrapping it up.
The man most likely to deny Antonelli the win is Verstappen. He swept Singapore, taking the sprint and then the Grand Prix from pole, and he's won four times at COTA, including last year.
Ferrari have two cards to play. Hamilton is third in the standings and a five-time winner at this circuit, so he's the other half of the clinch puzzle, and a top-five finish from him keeps the fight going. Leclerc was second in Singapore and won here in 2024.
US Grand Prix 2026 session times
Austin is five hours behind UTC that weekend. Europe comes off summer time early on Sunday morning, so the race is an hour "earlier" on UK and Central European clocks than Saturday's sessions were. These are from the official F1 timetable and can still change.
| Session | UTC | Austin (CDT) | ET / PT | UK | India (IST) | Sydney (AEDT) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| FP1, Fri 23 Oct | 17:30 | 12:30 | 13:30 / 10:30 | 18:30 | 23:00 Fri | 04:30 Sat |
| FP2, Fri 23 Oct | 21:00 | 16:00 | 17:00 / 14:00 | 22:00 | 02:30 Sat | 08:00 Sat |
| FP3, Sat 24 Oct | 17:30 | 12:30 | 13:30 / 10:30 | 18:30 | 23:00 Sat | 04:30 Sun |
| Qualifying, Sat 24 Oct | 21:00 | 16:00 | 17:00 / 14:00 | 22:00 | 02:30 Sun | 08:00 Sun |
| Race, Sun 25 Oct | 20:00 | 15:00 | 16:00 / 13:00 | 20:00 | 01:30 Mon | 07:00 Mon |
Mexico City is an hour behind Austin, so FP1 is at 11:30, qualifying at 15:00 and the race at 14:00 there. In Central Europe the race starts at 21:00 CET.
Austin has had a sprint in each of the last three seasons, so if you're used to a Saturday race, there isn't one this year. The full timetable, F1 Academy and support races included, is on formula1.com.
Circuit of the Americas, Austin. Photo: HoverVan, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons.
The track
COTA's 56 laps cover 308.405 km. The steep climb to Turn 1 gives us some of the best opening laps of the year, and the fast esses straight after it reward a car with a strong front end. The long back straight is the obvious overtaking spot, and the bumpy surface has caught out plenty of set-ups over the years. The normal format helps the bigger teams too, since they get three full hours of practice to sort the car out instead of one.
Watching from the US
The big change this year is that Apple TV has the US rights from 2026, replacing the old ESPN deal, so if you're still looking for F1 on ESPN, that's why you can't find it. We're streaming every session free in HD with no account on the DAMITV F1 hub; open it about 15 minutes before the lights go out and pick a source. Spanish coverage, when it's available, is on our Formula 1 en vivo page.
Our picks
Antonelli on pole with Russell next to him. Mercedes' one-lap pace has been the benchmark for most of the year, and I don't see Austin changing that.
The race is harder. Verstappen is the value pick on his Singapore form and his COTA record, but Antonelli is still the most likely winner. I think the championship survives the US Grand Prix 2026 and stays open at least one more week, with Russell doing just enough to stay in the top eight.
If you follow bikes as well, the MotoGP title fight is at Phillip Island the same weekend, and our Australian MotoGP 2026 guide has those times.
