By Joe Murphy
Kimi Antonelli claimed pole position for the United States Grand Prix with a lap of 1:34.035 at the Circuit of the Americas, denying Max Verstappen and putting himself in prime position for a first attempt at the world championship.
The Mercedes driver set his decisive time on his first run in Q3 on Saturday afternoon. Gusty wind made the final minutes unpredictable and none of the leading contenders improved enough on their second runs to dislodge him. It is Antonelli’s seventh pole of the season, his first since Spa, and Mercedes’ first at Austin since Valtteri Bottas in 2019.
Verstappen qualified second for Red Bull, 0.179 seconds adrift, with team-mate Isack Hadjar third just 0.036 seconds further back in a career-best qualifying result. Both Red Bulls reached Q3 on a single set of soft tyres.
The result was a disappointment for Ferrari. After topping FP1, FP2, FP3 and leading Q1 with Charles Leclerc, the Scuderia qualified only fourth and fifth. Leclerc will start fourth, 0.232 seconds off pole, ahead of Lewis Hamilton in fifth by 0.044 seconds.
George Russell was sixth for Mercedes, four and a half tenths off his team-mate. The Briton heads into Sunday 102 points behind Antonelli and knows he must outscore him to keep the championship alive. Antonelli will be world champion if he wins, Russell finishes ninth or lower and Hamilton finishes fifth or lower.
Oscar Piastri qualified seventh for McLaren, promoted one place after team-mate Lando Norris had his best Q3 lap deleted for track limits. Norris will start eighth, just over a second off pole, with McLaren struggling to carry its Q1 pace through. Norris had been quickest in Q1 with a 1:35.029.
Arvid Lindblad qualified ninth for Racing Bulls with a 2.014 second gap to the front, with team-mate Liam Lawson 10th. Lawson did not set a time in Q3 to save tyres for the race. Lindblad will take a five-place grid penalty for exceeding his allocation of internal combustion engine components.
Behind them, Pierre Gasly narrowly missed out on Q3, finishing 11th just 0.022 seconds behind Lawson. Nico Hulkenberg was 12th for Audi, Gabriel Bortoleto 13th, Franco Colapinto 14th, Fernando Alonso 15th and Ollie Bearman 16th after a late deletion for track limits.
Q1 eliminated Esteban Ocon in 17th, Lance Stroll 18th, Carlos Sainz 19th, Alex Albon 20th, Sergio Perez 21st and Valtteri Bottas 22nd. Williams endured a particularly difficult session with both cars out at the first stage, while Cadillac will start from the back row at its home race.
Three drivers carry penalties into the race. Bortoleto will start from the back after accumulating 80 places of penalties across Friday and Saturday for multiple power unit changes, Colapinto drops 10 places and Lindblad five.
Qualifying Classification – 2026 United States Grand Prix:
Q3:
- Kimi Antonelli, Mercedes – 1:34.035
- Max Verstappen, Red Bull – +0.179s
- Isack Hadjar, Red Bull – +0.215s
- Charles Leclerc, Ferrari – +0.232s
- Lewis Hamilton, Ferrari – +0.276s
- George Russell, Mercedes – +0.441s
- Oscar Piastri, McLaren – +0.768s
- Lando Norris, McLaren – +1.014s
- Arvid Lindblad, Racing Bulls – +2.014s
- Liam Lawson, Racing Bulls – No time
Eliminated in Q2:
- Pierre Gasly, Alpine – 1:35.080
- Nico Hulkenberg, Audi – +0.078s
- Gabriel Bortoleto, Audi – +0.611s
- Franco Colapinto, Alpine – +0.642s
- Fernando Alonso, Aston Martin – +0.738s
- Ollie Bearman, Haas – +0.951s
Eliminated in Q1:
- Esteban Ocon, Haas – 1:36.531
- Lance Stroll, Aston Martin – +0.146s
- Carlos Sainz, Williams – +0.239s
- Alex Albon, Williams – +0.436s
- Sergio Perez, Cadillac – +0.902s
- Valtteri Bottas, Cadillac – +0.992s
