Antonelli beats Red Bulls to US Grand Prix pole with title chance intact

Kimi Antonelli took pole position for the United States Grand Prix on Saturday, beating Max Verstappen and Isack Hadjar at the Circuit of the Americas. Formula 1's qualifying report said the Mercedes driver's opening Q3 effort remained unbeaten through the final runs, securing his seventh pole of the 2026 season on a weekend when he has a chance to clinch the championship.

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The published qualifying times put Antonelli on 1 minute 34.035 seconds, with Verstappen recording 1:34.214 and Hadjar 1:34.250. Those figures leave the two Red Bulls 0.179 and 0.215 seconds behind respectively. Ferrari's Charles Leclerc was fourth on 1:34.267, only 0.017 seconds off Hadjar, while Lewis Hamilton completed the leading five with a 1:34.311, according to the results carried by Crash.net.

George Russell finished sixth in the other Mercedes, ahead of McLaren's Oscar Piastri and Lando Norris. Formula 1 reported that Norris lost a lap time for exceeding track limits, dropping him to eighth and moving Piastri up a position. Arvid Lindblad and Liam Lawson completed the top 10 in qualifying, although the session order is not identical to the eventual starting grid because of penalties.

The championship is still undecided. El Pais reported that Antonelli must win Sunday's race and have Russell finish ninth or lower, with Hamilton fifth or lower, to secure the title in Austin. A finish inside the top eight for Russell would therefore extend the contest beyond this round regardless of Antonelli's result. The Italian's latest pole is his first since July's Belgian Grand Prix, according to the same report.

Saturday's result followed a closely matched second practice session. The FIA reported that Leclerc had led that session in 1:35.291, just 0.042 seconds ahead of Antonelli, with Verstappen third. Hamilton and Russell followed them in fourth and fifth. Antonelli also reported movement in his seat over the bumps during that running, prompting Mercedes to make adjustments before he returned to the track.

Further down Saturday's qualifying order, Pierre Gasly missed the final segment by 0.022 seconds. Formula 1 also reported a five-place engine-allocation penalty for Lindblad and a 10-place penalty for Franco Colapinto for taking a new control electronics unit. Those sanctions mean several drivers' race positions will differ from their qualifying placings.