AUSTIN, Texas — Kimi Antonelli put his Mercedes on pole position for the United States Grand Prix on Saturday, and by the end of Sunday’s race he could be Formula 1’s world champion. Antonelli lapped the Circuit of the Americas in 1:34.035 in qualifying, the seventh pole position of his 2026 season, according to the full classification published by The Race and reported by Reuters. He starts Sunday’s race leading the championship by 102 points from his own teammate, George Russell, with 125 points still to be won after Sunday.
Max Verstappen qualified second, 0.179 seconds behind Antonelli, and starts alongside him on the front row. Isack Hadjar qualified third, ahead of Charles Leclerc in fourth and Lewis Hamilton in fifth; Russell, the driver Antonelli is fighting for the title, starts sixth. Ferrari had swept all three practice sessions before qualifying, according to Formula1.com, but Leclerc and Hamilton could do no better than fourth and fifth when it counted, and the pole went to Mercedes.
The championship arithmetic, as reported by Reuters and USA Today, gives Antonelli his first title chance in today’s race. He clinches the championship on Sunday if he wins the Grand Prix with Russell finishing ninth or lower and Hamilton finishing fifth or lower. A Grand Prix victory pays 25 points, and Russell, starting sixth, would have to fall back through the field for the result to fall Antonelli’s way; Hamilton, starting fifth, would have to finish no higher than the position he starts in. If those results come in, Antonelli’s lead becomes unassailable with the 125 points that remain after Sunday.
The record at stake is the age mark. Antonelli is 20 years old. If he closes the championship out today, he becomes the youngest world champion in Formula 1 history, passing Sebastian Vettel, who was 23 when he won the first of his titles, according to Reuters and USA Today. He would do it in the same season in which he has now taken seven pole positions, the seventh of them the 1:34.035 he set on Saturday in Austin.
The race starts at 3 p.m. local time on Sunday, 1 p.m. Pacific, at the Circuit of the Americas. Antonelli starts from pole position with Verstappen beside him; Hadjar and Leclerc make up the second row, Hamilton and Russell the third. Russell is the only driver who can still catch Antonelli if the results run against the leader today, and he starts three rows behind him. Hamilton starts directly ahead of Russell, in fifth, one of the two positions named in the clinching scenario.
A win by itself is not enough to end it today. Under the scenario reported by Reuters and USA Today, if Russell finishes eighth or better, or Hamilton finishes fourth or better, the championship stays open whatever Antonelli does, and the fight moves on to the remaining rounds with the 125 points still to be won after Sunday.
If the championship is not settled on Sunday, it carries on: 125 points remain on the table after the United States Grand Prix, and Antonelli’s lead over Russell stands at 102. But the first chance to end it is his, earned on Saturday with the fastest lap of qualifying — 1:34.035, seven poles for the season, and a front-row start in Austin with the title in reach by evening.
Sources: The Race (full qualifying classification), Reuters, Formula1.com and USA Today, October 24–25, 2026.
Comments
Loading comments…