Round eighteen brings F1 to the Lone Star State and its capital, Austin, for the United States Grand Prix. The country’s first purpose-built F1 circuit became the home ‘national’ race in 2012, and is one of the best circuits for overtaking and we have seen some brilliant races.
The 3.426-mile Circuit of the Americas, or COTA, was created from scratch in the early 2010s and drew on inspiration from some of the best corners from around the world, but it doesn’t make Austin feel like a jumble of circuits. It creates a circuit which drivers enjoy, such as Maggotts and Becketts (Silverstone), the Stadium Section/Sach, Parabolica and Hairpin (Hockenheim), Diabolica/Turn Eight (Istanbul), and its own unique Turn One.
This mixes a high-speed, fast-flowing circuit with a slower, more technical final sector, meaning the drivers and teams need to find a balance between the two. This often leads to a very competitive race between drivers and this being a circuit where you
The circuit name reflects Austin’s location in the southern centre of the United States, bordering Mexico, and its mix of cultures from the US, Texas, and Mexico. Austin is not only the state capital and county seat of Travis County, but also the hub for many festivals, including COTA.
Austin is a circuit which drivers love, because of its corners and overtaking opportunities. In the eleven races we have seen over the last twelve years, there has been close racing between drivers and the odd surprise win. Lewis Hamilton is the most successful driver, with five of his six US GP wins being at COTA.
The race is the oldest non-European Grand Prix being first held in March 1908, under European Regulations by the precursor to the FIA. The pre-war years saw the race held in Savannah, Georgia, which had staged two days of successful stock car races on March 18 and 19, 1908, and won the rights to stage the event.
The first race near Long Beach would take place in 1909, which would later go on to host the race as a world championship race in the 1970s and 1980s, and saw the precursor to Mercedes take a one-two victory with David Bruce-Brown and Victor Hémery.
The following year, the championship would not be formed until 1925, before evolving into F1 for drivers in 1950 and constructors in 1957. Despite the success of the Savannah event, it was decided that the 1909 race would be held on Long Island, in conjunction with the Vanderbilt Cup. The American entry into WWI in 1917 saw the race go on a forty-four-year hiatus.
In the inter-war years, a brief revival at Roosevelt Park Autodrome, New York, was attempted but failed to attract the main championship rivals, Ferrari, Mercedes, Renault etc and the first seven seasons of the World Championship the Indy 500 was the US round.
1959 saw the Grand Prix properly return as a championship round, with the European teams returning as well as several IndyCar and NASCAR drivers. That weekend saw Bruce McLaren take his maiden Grand Prix win, becoming the youngest winner of ‘Grand Prix ’, which stood for forty years.
While Jack Brabham’s third place saw him clinch the drivers’ title and Cooper the constructors’, being the first for an Australian driver and a rear-engined car. In the 1960s, the Brits would dominate the race, with Innes Ireland taking victory and the first for Team Lotus after finishing over four seconds ahead of Dan Gurney, followed by Jim Clark in 1962, then Graham Hill for the next three years.
Hill’s 1964 win gave him the advantage going to the final race in Mexico City. Clark would take his only win of the 1966 season at the Glen, and again, the following year, Mario Andretti would take his maiden pole in 1968. Jochen Rindt and Emerson Fittipaldi won their first win in 1969 and 1970, respectively.
Fittipaldi’s win would be on only his fourth start, after Stewart retired his new Tyrrell and Fittipaldi, driving a Lotus, held off a charge from Mexican Pedro Rodriguez in a BRM. Following Rindt’s death in qualifying at Monza, Fittipaldi’s win in his fourth start was emotional.
During the 1970s and 2010s, the race was often one of the title deciders, one memorable one being in 1974 between Regazzoni and Fittpladi, with whoever finished higher taking the championship. Regazzoni had issues with his Ferrari and dropped out of the points, allowing Fittipaldi to finish fifth, which won him his second Drivers’ Championship.
This weekend Kimi Antonelli has the opportunity to wrap up the championship and become the youngest champion following in the footsteps of Jacques Villunve and Lewis Hamilton by winning the championship in his second season. Austin is a circuit which suits Mercedes based on the circuits we have been to this season.
In 1976, the penultimate race of the season saw James Hunt take victory and close the gap to Niki Lauda going into the final race in Fuji. The Englishman won again, closing the gap after being behind Mario Andretti by two seconds. Andretti would be the champion the following season.
In the late 1970s, the circuit began to break up, and the FIA ruled that the circuit was unsafe, though after a bailout by FOM, the final race was held in 1980, won by Alan Jones, despite him going off at the first corner.
Texas held its first race in 1984, but conditions in Dallas saw several drivers suffer with the heat, with Nigel Mansell leading most of the race before his car had a gearbox failure metres from the finish line. As he tried to push his car across the line, he collapsed from heat exhaustion.
The race titled United States Grand Prix dropped off the calendar until 2000, with all races going by city or state names. These included Long Beach, Detroit, Dallas and Las Vegas, which returned in 2023. Texas held its first Grand Prix in 1984, but was plagued by problems with the track surface, exacerbated by extremely hot 104 °F (40 °C) July weather, which is why the race is currently held in mid to late October.
A brief revival in the early 1990s in Phoenix, but the street circuit proved unpopular as it was made up entirely of second-gear 90-degree corners and provided nearly no driving challenge or exciting corners to watch cars go around. The circuit was less bumpy and wider than Detroit, and its long straights made it easy to overtake and difficult to judge braking.
McLaren’s team dominated all three years, with Alain Prost winning in 1989 and Ayrton Senna in 1990 and 1991. The 1989 race saw Prost win his only Grand Prix in the United States by taking advantage of Senna’s engine electronics problems.
In 2000, the sport returned after forty years to Indianapolis with a road course built inside the speedway and using the final banked corner. The first race Michael Schumacher’s win was his second of four straight to end the season as he overtook Mika Häkkinen for his third Championship.
In 2001, the race took place less than three weeks after the 9/11 attacks in the US, and many teams and drivers featured special tributes to the USA on their cars and helmets and saw McLaren driver Häkkinen take his last Grand Prix win. Schumacher battled with teammate Rubens Barrichello following the events at the Red Bull Ring, as it’s now called, where Barrichello maintained the lead through most of the race until Ferrari invoked team orders on him to allow Schumacher to win the race on the final lap. Repaying the favour, the German attempted to engineer a dead heat with Barrichello.
2005 saw one of the most controversial races in sports history, regarded as a farce. Known as ‘IndyGate’ all the Michelin-supplied teams were forced to withdraw after a series of tyre failures through the final corner because of tyre failures. Of the six starters, Schumacher was the eventual winner, with his teammate Rubens Barrichello finishing second.
Tiago Monteiro claimed his only Formula One podium finish by finishing a lap down on the winner Schumacher in third place for Jordan. Two more races were held at IMS, Schumacher taking victory for the fourth year in a row, with Lewis Hamilton taking his second win a week after his maiden win in Montreal in 2007
In the early 2010s, it was decided to build a proper European-style venue in Austin, and attempts were made once again for a second race in New York or New Jersey; that plan collapsed in 2012, with a second US race not added until 2022.
After a five-year hiatus as the sport searched for a new home, the race returned to Texas with the first purpose-built F1 circuit in Austin. The race has found a home at a circuit which feels very much like a European race but with a Texan twist, with Hamilton taking back-to-back wins and his final win for McLaren as he finished almost seven tenths ahead of Sebastian Vettel.
The German took victory in 2013, finishing six seconds ahead of Romain Grosjean on his way to a then record-breaking nine wins in a row. 2014 and the beginning of the hybrid era saw the beginning of Mercedes and Hamilton dominating the race, taking his fifth win in a row after passing teammate Nico Rosberg on lap twenty-four, before taking a four-second win.
The following season, despite the disruption caused by Hurricane Patricia, Hamilton once again passed Rosberg in the latter stages, thereby securing a third title. The abandonment of Q3 on Saturday due to the weather led to an accident-packed conclusion to qualifying and race in mixed conditions on Sunday, with only twelve cars reaching the finish line, with Max Verstappen repeating his best result of the season in fourth and Jenson Button finishing a season-best sixth.
Hamilton would also win in 2016 when he finished four and a half seconds ahead of Rosberg and 2017 when he beat Vettel by just over ten seconds while Kimi Raikkonen joined them on the podium, after Verstappen was given a time penalty for cutting a corner when overtaking the Finn.
Raikkonen’s final win of his career came in 2018. The Finn made a one-stop race work, setting a record for the number of races between wins, having last won in Melbourne at the start of 2013, a hundred and thirteen races previously. It was also Ferrari’s first win at COTA and the first in the US since 2006.
2021, Verstappen had put pressure on him in the closing stages, but his charge was halted when Kevin Magnussen had a brake failure on the final lap.
Verstappen won again following a race-long battle with Hamilton in 2022, beating him by three seconds. Although Mercedes looked defenceless to stop Verstappen, which wasn’t helped by a botched pit stop, which allowed Mercedes into the closing stages. He then lunged past Hamilton in the closing stages of the race, taking the lead with three laps to go.
Charles Leclerc was third after recovering from a ten-place grid penalty for a power unit change, giving Ferrari a podium after teammate Sainz’s retirement. The safety cars allowed him to gain positions in the pit stops and jump both Perez and Russell.
2023 saw Verstappen finish the sprint eight seconds and the Grand Prix two seconds ahead of Hamilton. As he took his fiftieth career win after coming through from fifth and passing Norris and the Mercedes, which was suffering from a braking issue. It was a measured drive by Verstappen as he picked his way through the field from sixth, but fighting the two Brits wasn’t as easy. Mercedes and McLaren put up a robust defence to Verstappen, but Red Bull appeared not to have the same pace as earlier in the season.
Verstappen won the sprint again in 2024 from pole as he finishing four seconds ahead of Carlos Sainz as he took his first win since June. The Red Bull driver converted his pole position into a lead at the first corner and was able to keep Norris at bay for the full 19 laps.
Norris held onto third by the skin of his teeth, nearly coming to blows with Leclerc at Turn Fifteen on the final lap as the Ferrari driver was surprised by his early braking into the tight left-hander.
The McLaren driver took pole for the Grand Prix, beating Verstappen to pole by three-hundredths after the final runs were aborted after Russell crashed. The Dutchman had produced a quick first sector and appeared in with a strong chance of improving the leading time, while Norris seemed unlikely to better his earlier effort after failing to match his previous time for the first part of the lap.
Leclerc made a lightning start from fourth, where he passed Sainz, Verstappen and Norris, He allowed Leclerc and Sainz to take control of the race from the very start; they soon were able to break the DRS early on before pulling away despite the early safety car, where he was able to pull away from his teammate. Ferrari looked in the mix all weekend and delivered a strong result, their first one-two in America since the controversy at Indianapolis in 2005.
Race & Circuit Guide
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| Round | 18 of 23 | |
| Race | MSC Cruises United States Grand Prix 2026 | |
| Venue | Circuit of the Americas, Austin, Texas | |
| Configuration | 2012 Grand Prix | |
| Circuit Length | 3.426 mi (5.513 km) | |
| Laps | 56 | |
| Race Distance | 308.405 km (191.634 mi) | |
| Lap Record | Race | 01:36.169 (Monaco Charles Leclerc, Ferrari SF90, 2019) |
| Outright | 01:32.029 (Valtteri Bottas, Mercedes, 2019) | |
| Previous Current Winners | Sir Lewis Hamilton (6)
Max Verstappen (4) Valtteri Bottas (1) Charles Leclerc |
|
| Most wins (Driver) | Sir Lewis Hamilton (6) | |
| Most wins (Constructor) | Ferrari (11) | |
| Most Wins (Engine Manufacture) | Ford (11)
Ferrari |
|
How Kimi Antonelli can win the championship
Kimi Antonelli has the chance to become the youngest champion ever this weekend. The Mercedes driver has a hundred-and-two-point lead over teammate George Russell, with Lewis Hamilton nine further behind in third.
With such a large lead, and with a scheduled six races left in the 2026 season, the world title now looks a formality for the Italian in just his second year of F1 to usurp Sebastian Vettel as the sport’s youngest title winner, aged twenty.
With five Grand Prix remaining and no sprints, there are a hundred and twenty-five points to play for over seven weeks, subject to the situation in the Middle East. To win the title in Austin, Antonelli needs to increase his championship lead by 23 points. To do that, he must win the Grand Prix and then hope both Russell and Hamilton score no points, keeping him within 124 points of going to Mexico.
Though mathematically Max Verstappen (119 points back), Charles Leclerc (125 points back) and Lando Norris (139 points back) remain in contention, they will be knocked out if Antonelli wins in Austin.
Mercedes cannot win the constructors’ title this weekend.
Fast facts
- Lewis Hamilton is the most successful driver at the United States Grand Prix, with six victories, including five out of the 13 races held at Circuit of the Americas and one at Indianapolis! Michael Schumacher previously held the record for most United States Grand Prix wins. He recorded five victories at Indianapolis between 2000-2006.
- Ferrari is the most successful constructor at the United States Grand Prix, with 10 wins. Charles Leclerc led home a Ferrari 1-2 in the 2024 COTA race. It was the team’s first 1-2 result in the United States since 2006.
- Until 2021, Mercedes were the only team to have won more than once at Circuit of the Americas. Red Bull took their second victory in Texas in 2021, having last won at the track in 2013. Ferrari have also won here twice.
- Kimi Raikkonen won the 2018 United States Grand Prix after a 114-race win drought; the longest such drought in F1 history!
Event timetable
Session |
Local (CST) |
UK (BST) |
Friday |
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| P1 | 12:30-13:30 | 18:30-19:30 |
| P2 | 16:00-17:00 | 22:00-23:00 |
Saturday |
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| P3 | 12:30-13:30 | 18:30-19:30 |
| Qualifying | 16:00-17:00 | 22:00-23:00 |
Sunday |
||
| Race | 15:00 | 20:00 |
What happened in 2025?
Practice saw Lando Norris set the fastest time a 33.294 to go a quarter of a second ahead of Nico Hulkenberg. The Sauber driver managed to split the two McLaren’s after going three hundredths ahead of Oscar Piastri. Hulkenberg set his fastest time in the final moments of practice as he took advantage of the rapidly improving track to split the times. Fernando Alonso put his Aston Martin fourth; he was nine thousandths ahead of Max Verstappen’s Red Bull.
Sprint qualifying saw Verstappen beat both McLaren’s to take pole after gong seven hundredths ahead of Lando Norris as the Englishman was just over three tenths faster than his McLaren teammate and title rival Piastri. Norris had looked to be the favourite for pole after topping both SQ1 and SQ2, but Verstappen pipped him on the final run in SQ3. The top three were separated by four-tenths, but Piastri looked not to have an answer for his teammate’s pace as he was three-tenths behind Piastri.
In the Sprint, Verstappen took victory after both McLarens retired after colliding when Piastri was punted into Norris. That allowed Red Bull ceased control of the race and be unchallenged for the rest of the sprint. The win allowed Verstappen to close within just over two race wins of the championship lead, with him just a win behind Norris. The collision wasn’t seen as a breech of the ‘paypa rules’ as there was nowhere Piastri could go as he was hit Hulkenberg. George Russell was second, the Mercedes driver finished the sprint almost four tenths behind Verstappen, with his main rivals out at Turn One.
GP Qualifying saw Verstappen take his second pole of the weekend going three tenths ahead of Norris, as he opened a two-tenths advantage from sprint qualifying. Charles Leclerc put his Ferrari third, six thousandths behind Norris; however, both were just under three tenths off pole. The Englishman managed to edge out Norris despite having his first run deleted following a spin at the final corner.
Verstappen took a dominant win by nearly eight seconds ahead of Leclerc, after he ceased control at the start. The Ferrari driver was then able to become a headache for Norris for much of the race, until the McLaren driver was able to reel him in before a tiny mistake gave Norris the opportunity to dive down the inside and secure second when Leclerc made a mistake at Turn One, allowing Norris to get on the rear before diving past at Turn Eleven.
Norris eventually finished the race seven seconds ahead of the Ferrari, as Leclerc looked to prove a big headache for McLaren. Hamilton was fourth, a second ahead of Piastri has appeared all weekend to struggle for pace. The once-dominant McLaren could do nothing against the flying Ferraris, but he was still able to finish just under four seconds ahead of Russell.
Sprint Pole Position |
Max Verstappen Red Bull – Honda RBPT 01:32.142 |
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Sprint Winner |
Max Verstappen Red Bull – Honda RBPT 37:58.229 |
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Pole Position |
Max Verstappen Red Bull – Honda RBPT 01:32.510 |
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Podium |
||||||
Po |
Name |
Nat |
Team |
Time |
Points |
|
| 1 | Max Verstappen | NED | Red Bull – Honda RBPT | 01:34:00.161 | 25 | |
| 2 | Lando Norris | GBR | McLaren – Mercedes | +00:07.959 | 18 | |
| 3 | Charles Leclerc | MON | Ferrari | +00:15.373 | 15 | |
| Fastest
Lap |
Andrea ‘Kimi’ Antonelli | ITA | Mercedes | 01:37.577 | ||
Championship Standings
Drivers’ Championship |
Constructors Championship |
|||
Po |
Name |
Points |
Constructor |
Points |
| 1 | Andrea ‘Kimi’ Antonelli | 340 | Mercedes | 578 |
| 2 | George Russell | 238 | Ferrari | 444 |
| 3 | Lewis Hamilton | 229 | McLaren – Mercedes | 339 |
| 4 | Max Verstappen | 221 | Red Bull – Ford RBPT | 332 |
| 5 | Charles Leclerc | 215 | Racing Bulls – Ford RBPT | 100 |
What to watch for?
The final run-in begins this weekend with four races in five weekends across the Americas and two other scheduled races in the Middle East, it getting to the pressure point where the championship can be won by Kimi Antonelli this weekend. He has responded well and hasn’t buckled as we have seen with other drivers in recent years.
But it’s another thing when you have the championship on the line; however, he has appeared not to respond badly to pressure this season, and having the chance to seal the championship is another kind of pressure. Antonelli has it all on him as it’s all in his hands to win this championship at some point in the next five races, the majority of which will suit Mercedes.
Mercedes’ closest rival may now be Red Bull and Max Verstappen after he won both races in Southeast Asia, but this weekend could be telling as it’s a more conventional circuit which hasn’t had such a long break. But for Red Bull, it will be about understanding if these gains are genuine and something they can build from for 2027?
Red Bull, as we know, disputes the FIA findings that they have the best power unit, and if they were to win this here, that could be a harder thing for them to argue against. Verstappen, I wonder if he will change some of his criticisms now he has wins under his belt this year?
But we have seen the top four teams all win races and be challenging Mercedes at various points this season, making it hard to predict who will be the closest challengers to them. This could be an important factor as we look to be potentially heading towards the championship being decided.
Austin is a high-speed and downforce circuit where you tend to see the fastest team come to the front; you normally get plenty of overtaking so this could be a huge opportunity for the midfield teams to score points. But though we are at a more traditional circuit which hasn’t had such a long break, this weekend could be closer- the challenge of beating each other.
Ferrari, I think, needs a good weekend; it feels to me that they’ve underdelivered and haven’t been able to maximise their performances this year. Both Lewis Hamilton and Charles Leclerc have won here before, but they need a perfect weekend, I feel to get a win given the resurgence of Red Bull and McLaren.
They, in my view, have also failed to keep up in development and fallen into making strategy errors again; both these issues are getting resolved, but if they want to fully challenge in future seasons and next year for the championships. Developments at this stage of the of the season are focused on 2027, as we have stability in the regulations.
Like the top four teams, this is an important time for the midfield, though its look as there isn’t going to be a major shake-up in their fight. Racing Bulls has a healthy lead over Alpine, but a huge result and the other not scoring to play a role in the battle for fifth in the constructors.
2024 vs 2025 Race Data
P1 Fastest |
SQ1 Fastest |
SQ2 Fastest |
SQ3 Fastest |
Sprint Time |
Q1 Fastest |
Q2 Fastest |
Q3 Fastest |
Race Time |
Fastest Lap |
|
2025 |
01:35.294 | 01:33.224 | 01:33.033 | 01:32.143 | 37:58.229 | 01:33.207 | 01:32.701 | 01:32.510 | 01:34:00.161 | 01:37.577 |
Diff |
+01.692 | -00.616 | -00.200 | +00.940 | -06:52.833 | +00.161 | +00.117 | -00.074 | -01:09.478 | +00.247 |
2024 |
01:33.602 | 01:33.840 | 01:32.833 | 01:33.083 | 31:06.146 | 01:33.046 | 01:32.584 | 01:32.584 | 01:35:09.639 | 01:37.330 |
2025 Lap time comparison
FP1 |
SQ1 |
SQ2 |
SQ3 |
Sprint |
Q1 |
Q2 |
Q3 |
Race |
||||||||||||
Team |
Fastest Time |
Gap |
Fastest Time |
Gap |
Fastest Time |
Fastest Time |
Gap |
Fastest Time |
Fastest Time |
Fastest Time |
Interval |
Fastest Time |
Gap |
Fastest Time |
Gap |
Fastest Time |
Gap |
Fastest Time |
Fastest Time |
Gap |
Mercedes |
01:33.981 | +00.637 | 01:34.414 | +01.190 | 01:33.462 | +00.429 | 01:32.888 | +00.745 | 37:58.524 | +00:00.395 | +00:00.395 | 01:33.311 | +00.104 | 01:33.044 | +00.343 | 01:32.626 | +00.116 | 01:34:29.839 | +00:35.456 | +00:03.778 |
Red Bull |
01:33.548 | +00.354 | 01:33.363 | +00.139 | 01:33.163 | +00.130 | 01:32.143 | +00.000 | 37:58.229 | +00:00.000 | +00:00.000 | 01:33.207 | +00.000 | 01:32.701 | +00.000 | 01:32.510 | +00.000 | 01:34:00.161 | +00:00.000 | +00:00.000 |
Ferrari |
01:33.965 | +00.671 | 01:34.226 | +01.002 | 01:33.983 | +00.950 | 01:33.055 | +00.912 | 37:58.458 | +00:01.224 | +00:00.433 | 01:33.525 | +00.318 | 01:32.869 | +00.825 | 01:32.807 | +00.297 | 01:34:15.534 | +00:28.536 | +00:07.414 |
McLaren |
01:35.294 | +00.000 | 01:33.224 | +00.000 | 01:33.033 | +00.000 | 01:32.214 | +00.710 | + 19 Laps | Did Not Finish | +00:00.000 | 01:33.746 | +00.539 | 01:32.869 | +00.825 | 01:32.801 | +00.291 | 01:34.05.120 | +00:15.373 | +00:07.474 |
Aston Martin |
01:33.639 | +00.345 | 01:34.737 | +01.513 | 01:33.915 | +00.882 | 01:32.910 | +00.767 | 28:53.381 | + 4 Laps | +00:00.000 | 01:33.741 | +00.531 | 01:33.237 | +00.536 | 01:33.160 | +00.650 | 01:35:10.162 | +01:10.001 | +00:05.279 |
RB |
01:34.155 | +00.867 | 01:34.414 | +01.190 | 01:34.241 | +01.208 | N/A | 38:05.053 | +00:04.804 | +00:00.657 | 01:33.551 | +00.344 | 01:33.360 | +00.659 | N/A | 01:35:13.370 | +01:13.209 | +00:03.208 | ||
Alpine |
01:34.653 | +01.359 | 01:34.604 | +01.935 | 01:34.254 | +01.221 | N/A | 38:03.053 | +00:04.804 | +00:00.322 | 01:33.599 | +00.392 | 01:33.661 | +00.960 | N/A | 01:34:02.468 | + 1 Lap | + 1 Lap | ||
Haas |
01:34.333 | +01.099 | 01:35.159 | +01.935 | N/A | N/A | 38:11.805 | +00:13.576 | +00:05.576 | 01:33.921 | +00.714 | 01:33.238 | +00.537 | 01:33.139 | +00.629 | 01:35:04.883 | +01:04.722 | +00:007.473 | ||
Sauber |
01:33.549 | +00.255 | 01:34.236 | +01.012 | 01:33.577 | +00.544 | 01:32.645 | +00.502 | 38:05.878 | +00:05.549 | +00:00.000 | 01:33.551 | +00.344 | 01:33.384 | +00.683 | N/A | 01:34:57.10 | +00:57.249 | +00:04.585 | |
Williams |
01:33.920 | +00.626 | 01:34.239 | +01.016 | 01:33.662 | +00.629 | 01:32.991 | +00.848 | 37:59.000 | +00:00.791 | +00:00.396 | 01:33.741 | +00.534 | 01:33.237 | +00.536 | 01:33.150 | +00.640 | 01:35:20.168 | +01:20.000 | +00:04.254 |
Tyres
| White Hard (C2) | Yellow Medium (C3) | Red Soft (C4) |
