Kimi Antonelli wins the United States Grand Prix at the Austin Circuit of the Americas and takes home a success that weighs heavily on the world championship race. The Mercedes driver from Bologna leads Charles Leclerc’s Ferrari by just over thirteen seconds, while Max Verstappen completes the podium with Red Bull.
Victory consolidates the leadership of the championship. Antonelli closes the race at 365 points, with a margin that puts him in a position of strength, but it is not enough to close the accounts: the title remains open and the decision passes to the next appointment in Mexico.
The direct pursuers
The real obstacle to Antonelli is teammate George Russell. The Briton finishes eighth in Austin and remains at 242 points, 123 less than the leader. It’s a situation that makes the internal challenge at Mercedes the most delicate of the weekend: Russell needs a clean recovery race to reopen the championship.
Lewis Hamilton is second with 241 points, just one point behind Russell and 124 behind Antonelli. He finishes the race in fourth place, a position that allows him to stay in the race and keep the pressure on the leader. His quotes depend on his ability to take advantage of anyone else’s problems in the last few races.
On the podium, Leclerc’s Ferrari and Verstappen’s Red Bull consolidated their position in the fight for the top places, but they are not in the direct race for the title. Lando Norris, fifth, completes the group of drivers closest to the head of the race.
Next event
The championship moves to Mexico, to the Mexico City Grand Prix. For Antonelli it is the opportunity to close the season with a result that guarantees him the title; for Russell and Hamilton it is the last concrete chance to overturn a classification that today hangs clearly on the side of the leader.
Written by Fabio Averna
Article produced by the AiSportNews newsroom with the support of artificial intelligence tools.