© Antonin Vincent / DPPI
This weekend in Austin, Texas, Kimi Antonelli could emulate Lewis Hamilton’s titles, crowned twice on the American track.
While the task looks daunting for the 2026 championship leader, who must win if he wants to have a chance of clinching the world title this weekend (assuming, for now still valid, that the Qatar and Abu Dhabi GPs take place), his predecessor at Mercedes , seven-time world champion Lewis Hamilton , has secured two of his titles on the Circuit of the Americas track.
In 2015, the world title swung in the Briton’s favor right at the very end of the race. Locked in a bitter battle with his teammate Nico Rosberg, Lewis Hamilton seemed destined to wait another race under the cloudy skies of Texas. Rosberg was leading the United States Grand Prix, and his teammate absolutely had to finish ahead of him to secure the title.
A sudden gust of wind, just a few laps from the finish, forced the German off the racing line, handing the lead of the Grand Prix and thus a third world title to the native of Stevenage, UK. The image of the two men tossing each other the runner-up cap in the cool-down room will remain etched in memory and constitutes one of the most awkward moments between the former best friends…
The 2019 triumph was far more amicable, and the outcome much less surprising, with Hamilton comfortably finishing second in the United States Grand Prix, behind his teammate Valtteri Bottas . A complete triumph for Mercedes, then, as Lewis Hamilton secured his sixth world title, bringing him within one of Michael Schumacher ‘s record , while the team’s number two driver clinched another victory in the premier category.
While no other driver has managed to clinch the world title in Austin, Red Bull secured the Constructors’ World Championship on this same track in 2012, during the inaugural Austin Grand Prix in Texas. Kimi Antonelli would like to become only the second driver in history to win the World Championship at COTA…
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