Kimi Antonelli put in a commanding drive in Austin to take his ninth win of the season on his way to championship victory.
Lights Out in Austin
As the lights went out, it was a poor start from P2 for Max Verstappen. Kimi Antonelli left the field behind into Turn 1 while the Ferraris found themselves frighteningly close together in an attempt to swarm Verstappen. Charles Leclerc pulled off a rather unconventional overtake in Turn 3 to take P2, leaving Hamilton fighting to find a way past the vulnerable Verstappen.
Ultimately, whatever issue Verstappen was battling was solved as he found pace in the third sector and took P2 back in Turn 15. By the end of the first lap Antonelli led by 2.5 seconds with Verstappen, Leclerc and Hamilton trailing behind.
Isack Hadjar had a similarly poor start to his teammate as he was passed by both Ferraris off the start leaving him P5. It was a decent first lap for George Russell as he held his position but not without a challenge. Oscar Piastri tried to get past the Brit at Turn 12, which Russell defended, but did so off the track. This resulted in a five second time penalty for Russell for leaving the track and gaining an advantage.
One- Stop vs Two-Stop
We got pit stops slightly earlier than expected with Max Verstappen pitting onto another set of softs on Lap 13. Having sat around 2.5 second behind Antonelli, Red Bull opted for the undercut. Mercedes had no interest in this as they left Antonelli out for a one-stop. After pitting Verstappen was running over one second a lap quicker than Antonelli on fresher, softer tyres.
Throughout the rest of the field there was a variety of strategy options taken. Hamilton and Leclerc pitted onto mediums on Lap 14 and 15 respectively, committing to a two stop. Meanwhile Piastri and Norris pitted onto the hard tyres on Lap 15 and 17, leaving their options open for the remainder of the race. The Mercedes teammates opted to stay out longer to run a one stop strategy. Russell was first through the pits on Lap 22 and Antonelli followed suit on Lap 24, both swapping to the hard tyre.
Race Back To The Front
Antonelli’s pit stop left him in P3 with Leclerc and Verstappen between him and the lead. Verstappen’s previous advantage was turned around quickly as by Lap 29 Antonelli was lapping over a 1.5s quicker than the leading Red Bull.
Verstappen’s race seemed to be falling apart slightly as he reported the car was “undriveable” and was frustrated over the radio. With Leclerc and Antonelli catching up quickly, he took his second and final pit stop on Lap 31 to take the medium tyre to the end.
It wasn’t even a lap later that Antonelli dove to the inside to take the race lead back from Charles Leclerc. Just eight laps after his pit stop Antonelli was back in the lead comfortably with a two second advantage over the field.
Battle For The Podium
After the pit stops had shaken out, Lando Norris had found his way to P2 after trying out a one-stop. Verstappen caught up quickly but not quite as quickly as Leclerc was catching him. On lap 46 the three found themselves bumper to bumper as Verstappen could not pass Norris quite as quickly as expected.
As they headed to Turn 1 it was pass or be passed, so Verstappen threw it up the inside of Norris, taking P2. Unsurprisingly, Leclerc was eager to follow, which he had no trouble in doing as Norris locked up into Turn 14, giving Leclerc the opportunity to take P3 back.
What was surprising was Leclerc’s pace against Verstappen. Despite the advantage Verstappen had gained while Leclerc was fighting Norris, Leclerc flew up to the back of the Red Bull not even one lap later. The pace difference was obvious as they headed to Turn 12, where Leclerc made it past with ease to secure P2.
Chequered Flag
Antonelli put in a miraculously impressive drive to take the race victory by over 15 seconds. Not only was strategy on his side, his pace throughout the entire race was unstoppable and he even crossed the line with only one strike for track limits, caused by a lock-up. Charles Leclerc also showed great pace today which took him to P2, while Max Verstappen followed in P3 after a slightly frustrating afternoon for Red Bull.
The championship, however, will not be won today as Lewis Hamilton finished P4 and George Russell in P8. It was a slightly sour afternoon for Russell after the penalty on the opening lap put him behind the McLarens and, despite seeming quicker than Piastri ahead, he was not able to find a way by.
After a one-stop attempt to hold on to a podium, Lando Norris finished in P5 on nearly 40 lap old tyres. Isack Hadjar came home P6 with Piastri, Russell, Lawson and Gasly rounded out the top ten.
Image Credit – Formula One via X