A decent Sunday in Austin saw the McLaren Mastercard Formula 1 Team turn a disappointing Qualifying result into solid race day points, with Lando Norris climbing from P8 to P5 and Oscar Piastri finishing P7. The MCL40 showed podium challenging pace, helped by a positive contribution from the team's upgrades.
Good strategic decisions, teamwork and strong drives from both drivers maximised the result as Lando demonstrated impressive pace and Oscar delivered a flawless defensive drive to keep George Russell behind in the closing stages. Although fifth and seventh fell short of the team's ambitions going into the weekend, today's performance underlined that there was potential in the car to fight for the podium.
The team approached the race without adopting an obsequious attitude towards the Qualifying result, with the desire to show that the position of the two cars on the grid did not reflect the true potential of the MCL40. Before the start, the strategic options were heavily open between the one and two stop, with a diverse possibility in tyre compounds combinations. In the end, both drivers completed the race on a single Medium-Hard stop, once it was clear that the hardest compound was the most effective of the range available.
Both drivers had faced the challenge of one-lap pace on the Soft tyre all through practice and into Qualifying - but despite starting the race in P7 and P8, the long-run pace looked to be on a par with the cars ahead. Strategy was going to be all-important, and they both opted for a Medium tyre start, as did Mercedes, but not Red Bull or Ferrari, who went Soft.
Oscar and Lando held positions at the start, with Oscar pressuring Russell into the braking zone at the end of the back straight. Russell held the position but ran off track to do so and was given a five-second penalty.
The team's first strategy decision was to swap the drivers on Lap 8, once it was clear that Lando had better pace and therefore more chances to fight with the cars ahead. The team and drivers had previously discussed the various scenarios, and this was one of the options on the table. The first round of pit stops began soon after, with Oscar swapping a Medium for a Hard on Lap 15 and Lando electing to follow a lap later. This put both cars into two-stop territory but with potential to do an offset one-stop.
Not all of the leading pack elected to stop, with the Mercedes and Red Bull's Isack Hadjar going very deep. Russell pitted on Lap 22, Andrea Kimi Antonelli on 24 and Hadjar on 25. Lando and Oscar had both undercut Russell, but Lando's strong pace had also got him ahead of Hadjar.
Max Verstappen was the first to commit to two-stops, pitting on Lap 31, Lewis Hamilton followed on 38 and Charles Leclerc on 39. This lifted Lando up to P2. There was relatively little for him to lose at that point by staying out, and so he converted to a one-stop, hoping also for a possible Safety Car that would have been a great opportunity. This scenario did not materialise, so Lando gradually dropped back through the field as the cars with a tyre delta came through, but having plenty in hand to stay ahead of Hadjar and consolidate P5.
Oscar's second part of the afternoon was challenging. Russell had a seven-lap tyre advantage and closed the gap rapidly. The Australian had a fluid strategy: willing to stay out while he could hold Russell at bay but prepared to make a second stop if he fell behind. Russell came at him hard, but in waves, closing up into Overtaking Mode range, then dropping back. Oscar survived several assaults, each with a little more comfort. He ended the race 1.6s ahead, having had the Mercedes large in his mirrors for the last 20 laps.
Overall, it was a day of collecting good points for the team, with the car demonstrating strong pace that will serve it well on the high-downforce tracks to come. Attention now turns to Mexico City, and the Autódromo Hermanos Rodríguez.
Andrea Stella: "A decent Sunday following a disappointing Saturday: that sums up the weekend in Austin. Today's race showed that the MCL40 is still capable of fighting for the podium, but it's clear that our position on the starting grid made that goal virtually unattainable. There is a shared sense of frustration across the whole team at not having fully exploited our potential during Qualifying, but it is up to us to try and do better.
"The team and the drivers worked very well, both in terms of strategic decisions and driving on the track, and the upgrades we brought here made a positive contribution: Lando showed excellent pace and Oscar drove a strong race, holding off Russell's Mercedes for around thirty laps without ever giving him a chance to overtake. I was also pleased to see how our drivers worked together on the track, keeping in mind what the priority is, namely McLaren Mastercard's best interests.
"Clearly, a fifth and a seventh place are not results we can be satisfied with, but we must accept it and work to improve. We want to end the season on a high and aim not only to fight for the podium but also for victory, with the aim of finishing the Championship in at least third place."
Kimi Antonelli took his ninth victory of the season in Sunday's United States Grand Prix, putting him on the verge of sealing the Drivers' World Championship in Mexico next weekend. The race was shaped by the strategic decisions in the opening 15 laps, with Red Bull committing Max Verstappen to a two-stop strategy and both Ferraris following suit. We trusted the degradation and lap times we were seeing and opted not to cover, committing Kimi and George to the one-stop strategy. That proved to be the right call, as Kimi took the chequered flag 13 seconds ahead of Charles Leclerc and Verstappen. George endured a more difficult afternoon, struggling with the balance of the car and receiving a penalty following an incident on the opening lap. Despite a strong start to his second stint, his progress was halted when he caught the McLaren of Piastri and was unable to find a way through. Kimi's victory is the team's sixth at the Circuit of the Americas, following our wins in 2014, 2015, 2016, 2017 and 2019. Pierluigi Orsi, Chief of Aerodynamic Technology, represented the team on the podium. Kimi now leads the standings by 123 points meaning a P9 finish or higher will secure the title for him.
Toto Wolff: That was an exceptional drive from Kimi. He and the team didn't put a foot wrong all afternoon, showing strong pace throughout along with making all the right decisions strategically. What makes today particularly satisfying is where we came from on Friday. We didn't look like we had a car capable of winning this race, but the team kept working, made good decisions and turned the weekend around. That is a credit to everyone here in Austin and back in Brackley and Brixworth.
For George, it was a more difficult afternoon, and the result doesn't reflect the pace we know he has. He was hindered by a five-second time penalty that dropped him behind the McLarens and then he got stuck behind Piastri. We will look at this weekend overall, understand what we could have done differently and work together to make sure he can have a stronger weekend in Mexico.
Andrew Shovlin: Well done to Kimi and everyone in Brackley and Brixworth on the win. After Friday, a race victory simply didn't look achievable given our single-lap and long-run pace, so it's been a remarkable turnaround and a very satisfying result.
For George, it was a frustrating afternoon. The penalty for going off track on the opening lap didn't help and, despite making a strong start to his second stint, he got stuck behind Piastri and couldn't find a way through.
There were encouraging signs with the car pace, although since the update it does feel like the set-up window has become a little harder to hit. Operationally though, the team did a very good job. The strategy decisions weren't clear-cut, but we held our nerve, made the right call to stick with the one-stop, and the pit stops were solid.
Most of all, Kimi should be incredibly pleased with his performances. It was a difficult Friday, but what he produced in qualifying, and the race today, was exceptional.
Laurent Mekies: "It's fair to say that, despite a 12th podium of the season with Max finishing third, we are leaving Austin not fully satisfied.We lost a bit of our edge today, and I don't think we had enough pace to fight with Kimi, who had a very strong race, so well done to him.Max's car hit some debris around lap eight and picked up some damage. On top of that, we had a few issues that hurt the balance and, as a result, the pace dropped off, the degradation increased, and Max couldn't hang on to second place.It was a similar story for Isack, whose race was compromised by the start and then by a couple of problems during the race. Once again, the starts weren't perfect, but the Team is working to make sure we have the tools to fix that in the future.
"A challenging Sunday, but we'll take the podium knowing that we didn't fully realize the potential of the car today, and we'll take learnings from this weekend to come back stronger next week in Mexico. Despite all that, we have now moved up to third in the Constructors' Championship, and Max is now only six points behind second place in the Drivers' Championship."
The United States Grand Prix at the Circuit of the Americas in Austin delivered a solid team result for Scuderia Ferrari HP, with Charles Leclerc finishing second and Lewis Hamilton fourth, both drivers making up places from their starting positions. The team scored more points than its closest rivals, consolidating its second place in the Constructors' Championship. This was the Scuderia's twelfth podium of the season and the 848th in total. It was Charles' 56th top-three finish and his sixth this season.
When the lights went out, Charles and Lewis, both on Soft tyres, made excellent starts from fourth and fifth on the grid. The Monegasque overtook both Red Bulls, while Hamilton got ahead of Isack Hadjar. During the opening lap, Max Verstappen repassed Charles, leaving the two Ferraris in third and fourth places. The Dutchman pitted on lap 13, while Hamilton came in on the following lap, switching to Medium tyres, with Leclerc doing the same on lap 15. Charles overtook George Russell on lap 20 and, following pit stops for Andrea Kimi Antonelli and Hadjar, the SF-26s found themselves second and fourth. When Verstappen made his second stop on lap 31, Charles inherited the lead, before being overtaken by Antonelli two laps later. Lewis pitted for a second time on lap 38, switching to Hard tyres, with his team-mate following suit next time round. In the closing stages, both Ferraris were running on fresher tyres than their rivals and were able to mount an impressive charge through the field. Hamilton overtook Hadjar for fifth place, while Leclerc passed first Lando Norris and then Verstappen to move up to second. Lewis also overtook Norris in the McLaren to take fourth and looked set to challenge Verstappen for a place on the podium when Valtteri Bottas stopped at the side of the track, triggering a Virtual Safety Car that neutralised the race. The final three laps were run under green flag conditions, but there were no further changes at the front, with Antonelli taking the win ahead of Charles, Verstappen and Lewis.
There is no let-up in the Formula 1 calendar and, with the Austin weekend now over, Scuderia Ferrari HP heads to Mexico for the Mexico City Grand Prix, which takes place next Sunday at the Autódromo Hermanos Rodríguez.
Fred Vasseur: It was a solid day for us: the pace was good and we were aggressive with our strategy. If there was something missing, it was in the final laps of Q3 yesterday. But I prefer to look at the positives from this race, starting with the fact that the pace was there until the very last lap today. I also think that, without the VSC towards the end, we could have come away with a double podium. We need to keep working and improving, especially in qualifying, to deliver an even better performance in Mexico next week. I want to thank the whole team, both here and in Maranello, for the solid job they have done which ensured a good weekend in terms of pure performance.
James Vowles, Team Principal: "It's always disappointing to be unable to score points, but that's where the car pace was this weekend and both drivers got the most out of it that they could. Strong drive from Alex without any errors at all. With Carlos it was a good recovery and he executed his strategy nicely. It was good to see both of them racing cleanly towards the end - two incredible drivers, very respectful to one another. We move on to Mexico and beyond where we will try and eke out a few more milliseconds out of this car, but our main focus now is investing in 2027."
Alan Permane: "It's been a very strong weekend for us. To have both cars in Q3 once again and then comfortably outperform our Championship rivals is a fantastic result. It was a textbook race from Liam; he controlled the gap to Pierre throughout and was driving well within himself and the car. Arvid picked up some damage to the left-hand side of his car relatively early on, which certainly compromised his performance. He did well to recover from 14th on the grid to finish 12th. It's another valuable learning experience for him, particularly as it was his first time racing in Austin. Mexico presents another new challenge, but our aim is to carry the pace he showed on Saturday into the next weekend and deliver a clean race."
Adrian Newey: "Not the easiest race in Austin with both cars picking up issues and limiting performance. In Fernando's case a front wing change was needed on lap 42, which stopped our efforts to deliver a one-stop strategy and dropped him out of contention. It seems the damage was a legacy of the contact with the Williams of [Alex] Albon on lap one. Before the pit stop, Fernando's pace was on a par with the cars ahead of him but we couldn't match their straight line speed which meant there was no option to overtake.
"Lance - having started from the pit lane - progressed up to P15 at the flag despite losing downforce at the rear of the car after his second pit stop. We need to look at the data to understand exactly what happened.
"Despite these issues, we will focus on the positives - both drivers were in the fight with decent race pace and extracted the most they could from the car today."
TGR Haas F1 Team finished with Esteban Ocon 14th, while Ollie Bearman retired, at the United States Grand Prix, Round 18 of the 2026 FIA Formula 1 World Championship - held across 56 laps of the Circuit of The Americas.
Ocon took the start from 15th position on Pirelli P Zero Red soft tires and moved up to 12th place courtesy of a strong first lap. Ocon came into the pits on lap 21 for White hard tires, cycling back into 12th overall. Ocon was overhauled by both Audi drivers, and then had to accept second-best against the recovering Racing Bulls of Arvid Lindblad, on fresher soft tires. Ocon brought the VF-26 home in 14th at the checkered flag to register another race finish.
Bearman started from 13th on the grid, also on soft tires, and moved up to 11th position on the opening lap. Bearman combatively worked past Pierre Gasly into Turn 13 on lap two to run inside the top 10, though sustained damage in the process, and was deemed culpable for causing a collision. Bearman lost places before pitting on lap 13 for White hard tires, and came in for a second stop for Yellow mediums on lap 22, at which he served his 10-second time penalty. The damage to his VF-26 sustained in the early race clash was such that the decision was taken to retire the car after 24 laps.
TGR Haas F1 Team maintains seventh position in the Constructors' Championship on 30 points.
Ayao Komatsu, Team Principal: "The race result was a shame, but I think there are lots of positives to take from this weekend. Both cars had great starts, and Ollie was fighting for P9 or P10, and without the damage he sustained, I think he had the speed to fight for that. We knew our race pace would be stronger than our quali pace. On Esteban's side, he's been fighting with front-locking issue, which got better, but towards the second half of the race, it came back and the pace wasn't competitive. In terms of our operations, the fact that Ollie was happy from the get-go on lap 1, that's exactly what we need. The fact that between Singapore and Austin, two very different circuits, we've unlocked performance - we'd like to build on that, and I hope we can fight hard in Mexico."
Allan McNish, Racing Director: "Both drivers delivered strong recovery drives today, although unfortunately we came away just outside the points. For Gabi, starting from the back row following the penalties for the changes we had to make, P13 was realistically the best result available. He drove a clean, very calculated race and made good progress through the field. Nico's race was compromised at the start when the anti-stall kicked in, dropping him to P15. To recover to P11 and to close in on P10 was a superb effort. Ultimately, the result didn't reflect the performance he delivered or what could have been possible with a clean start. We head to Mexico next week determined to turn that performance into points, and we'll be back on the attack."
Flavio Briatore: "It wasn't really the weekend or the result we were hoping for. I think luck hasn't exactly been on our side recently. Both cars picked up damage during the race, with Franco's being significant enough to not finish the race. Given Pierre also lost downforce with floor damage following the incident with the Haas, he did well to score, get a point and only be one place behind the highest scoring Racing Bulls car. We head to Mexico City with the aim to improve our performance and score with both cars, which remains the objective at every race until the end of the season."
The Cadillac Formula 1® Team completed its second home Grand Prix with Checo Pérez crossing the line in P19.
The Mexican driver ran a one-stop strategy, pitting on Lap 25 to switch from soft to hard tires before bringing the MAC-26 home at the end of the 56-lap race at the Circuit of the Americas.
Valtteri Bottas spent much of the race running alongside his teammate before a suspected power-unit issue forced him to retire on Lap 48.
The team will now regroup ahead of the Mexican Grand Prix on Sunday, November 1, in just one week's time.
Marcin Budkowski, Team Principal: "Today presented a challenging race and we wanted to deliver a stronger result in front of our home fans. There were some encouraging signs in our race pace, with both drivers feeling closer to the competition than we had anticipated. We split the starting tire strategies to give us options in the race and learn more about the compounds for the best possible team result.
"Unfortunately, Valtteri's race ended with a suspected power unit issue, which we need to investigate fully. Checo brought the car home despite losing time in traffic. The team is operating much better at the track and I am happy with the progress, we just need a little bit more pace now to go fight with the teams ahead of us. With just a week until Mexico, our focus quickly shifts to preparing for another special weekend for the team, with Checo racing at home and celebrating his 300th Grand Prix."
Title celebrations were put on hold for Kimi Antonelli, who claimed victory in the United States Grand Prix and now stands on the brink of securing his first world title. The Mercedes driver dominated the race at COTA, successfully keeping Charles Leclerc at a safe distance throughout. The Ferrari driver finished second, ahead of Max Verstappen, who completed the podium in third.
The Texas race developed into a fascinating strategic battle. Antonelli opted for a one-stop strategy, while Leclerc and Verstappen both committed to two pit stops. The Italian started on the Medium compound before switching to the Hard tyre during his sole stop of the afternoon.
Leclerc began the race on Soft tyres, then moved onto the Medium before finishing on the Hard compound. Verstappen also started on the Soft tyre, fitted a fresh set of the same compound for his second stint, and then switched to the Medium at his final pit stop.
Across the field there was an almost perfect balance between one-stop and two-stop strategies, making for a particularly compelling tactical contest and creating numerous overtaking opportunities. Temperatures were slightly lower than during Friday and Saturday afternoon's sessions in Austin, with track temperatures dropping to as low as 32°C in the closing stages of the race.
Antonelli further strengthened his lead at the top of the championship standings and will have the opportunity to secure his maiden world title as early as the Mexican Grand Prix. The championship leader now has 365 points and enjoys a commanding 123-point advantage over second-placed George Russell on 242. Lewis Hamilton sits third in the standings with 241 points.
Dario Marrafuschi: "The United States Grand Prix proved a particularly fascinating race from a strategic perspective, with all three compounds used by the teams over the course of the event. The solutions we brought to Austin performed in line with the expectations that emerged over the previous days, with the Hard showing slightly better performance than anticipated. The degradation levels observed during the opening stint confirmed the projections made after the free practice sessions, making the one-stop strategy the most effective option, as demonstrated in the race, albeit by a very narrow margin.
"The two-stop strategies adopted by some teams were influenced primarily by Verstappen's early pit stop, as he chased championship leader Antonelli, triggering a chain reaction in race management across the field. Drivers who were able to take advantage of clear air confirmed the competitiveness of the one-stop approach, maintaining a consistent pace all the way to the chequered flag. Tyre wear was relatively high and broadly uniform across the teams, without translating into any significant increase in performance degradation. From the perspective of tyre appearance, the overall picture was also remarkably consistent, with some more noticeable differences observed mainly on the Medium. The Hard rewarded the teams that incorporated it into their strategies, delivering consistent performance and a level of competitiveness that, for example, enabled Leclerc to pass Verstappen."
