What a salubrious front row we have for the United States Grand Prix today! The 14th at the Circuit of the Americas, a new-age Formula 1 track with old-school vibes, that’s grown on me over the decade and a half of its existence.
One of those modern motorsport arenas that really screams USA to me, with all the nuances and character of great American circuits, from which it no doubt borrows. It feels real, unlike the fakery that increasingly is oozed into our sport.
For me, with Kimi Antonelli on pole position and Max Verstappen P2, we have the best drivers in Formula 1 of this current era. And I’ll stick my neck out and say, probably in the history of the sport, launching from the front row towards that elbow hairpin. That will be glorious to watch.
Since Antonelli burst onto the scene, I can’t think of anyone who hasn’t been amazed and in awe, to a certain extent, of how the kid has gone about his business. And man, he is so likeable on all levels, a young genius racing driver with his endearing exuberance of youth capped with that boyish smile. What’s not to like?
Kimi is clearly delighted with the company he is keeping at the moment, at the pinnacle of the sport. And it is clear that Verstappen, although probably going to be his biggest rival for the next decade, is also enamoured by the young kid.
You can just see it. You can see it in the body language. You can see that there’s genuine brotherhood between Kimi and Max, and Max is not an easy nut to crack. I don’t think I’ve ever seen the Dutchman, nearly a decade older than the Italian, so enamoured by a rival.
And let’s not forget, if his main rivals go missing in action at COTA and the stars align for him, Andrea Kimi Antonelli, born on 25 August 2006 in Bologna, Italy, could be crowned the youngest ever Formula 1 World Champion in Austin today.
We’re in for a spectacular battle for the win today
For me, where drivers rather than teams are my thing, it’s beautiful to see. But that all becomes nothing when Max and Kimi pull their visors down and rush towards Turn 1. What will happen between them as they go up that hill and then flick it as hard left as these modern, cumbersome beasts will go?
We are in for what I believe will be a spectacular fight for the win today, with the two greatest protagonists of the sport at the moment, and perhaps ever, strutting their stuff. A great front row for today’s contest in Austin.
On Row 2, we have the incredible Isack Hadjar. I say incredible because, only two years into his Formula 1 career, he is rubbing shoulders with Max Verstappen, on merit.
Sure, he’s not going to be consistently fast from day one, but this is only his 38th Grand Prix and Max’s 251st. But there’s been no other driver in that ‘cursed’ second Red Bull seat who I’ve seen come close, or at least handle it in the way he has.
Sure, Isack has occasional rushes of blood to his head, but that’s him. At the same time he delivers, he can put down some good laps, and his driving is ever improving. He continues to grow, which shows that he’s learning from Max and not trying to forge his own way. And Hadjar’s mentioned it before: he’s there to learn from the “prime of the prime” in Formula 1.Hadjar for his first Formula 1 win?
There’ll be a time when he’ll have a go and challenge his mentor in the #3 car. But right now, that’s not his job, and in Qualifying on Saturday, Isack did what he had to do: be as close to Max as possible. In Austin on Saturday, the gap was 0.036s between the Red Bulls. Close enough, I would say! A podium today for the Frenchman? Sacré bleu, a first victory?
Next up, Charles Leclerc in P4, the best of the Ferrari duo. A bit confusing for them and for me, to be honest. The red cars ‘won’ every Free Practice session, but “Ferrari falters when it matters“, as Jad Mallak’s Qualifying report was headlined.
In the Red #44 car, Lewis Hamilton will start P5. He, too, was left scratching his head over why he was not at least closer to the front row than he ended up being, considering that in FP3 he was fastest. But this is the way of Ferrari these days. Quick when it doesn’t matter.
Same old story. What should have been an all-red front row did not turn out the way we expected when the weekend began. But maybe that pace in the FP sessions will serve them well this afternoon in Texas.
Which brings us to George Russell, P6 on the grid and four tenths down on the top time set by his teammate and title rival, Antonelli, in the sister Mercedes. This is an age of frustration for George as he helplessly watches his world title hopes flicker away.
Is Russell’s F1 title campaign out of ammunition?
And tellingly, Toto Wolff summed it up when he said the car is better, but the window of performance is narrower. Clearly, this shows that Antonelli is able to extract the maximum from the package, while George ain’t.
If anything, that near half-second gap will be hard to stomach for George, as it is bigger than most of the inter-teammate battles on the grid during qualifying in Austin. To me, it looks like a title campaign out of ammunition and just about shutting up shop.
Talking of shutting up shop, the two McLarens were woeful relative to the teams they were pummelling last year on a regular basis. Oscar Piastri was P7, with Lando Norris P8. The Aussie was seven tenths down on the top time, and Norris a second adrift of P1.
One could say this is a case of how the mighty have fallen. At this point last year, they had already won 12 races and went on to win both Formula 1 Constructors’ and Drivers’ titles. In 2026, they only have two wins on their scorecard, with Piastri yet to taste victory.
I imagine they’ll be in no man’s land for most of the race today, hoping that at the front there’s either some kind of attrition that sees drivers retire or issues that throw them down the order. No matter how you look at it, it’s been a dismal weekend so far for McLaren, which kind of sums up their season to date.
Expect an intense midfield battle
Fiery Fernando… but quite literally in this case! 🔥
Valtteri Bottas had to navigate his way around the temporarily smoldering Aston Martin 👀
#F1 #USGP https://t.co/ibwc89za2J
— Formula 1 (@F1) October 24, 2026
Next up in P9 on the grid, Liam Lawson, again doing wonders in the Racing Bulls. There’s talk that he might lose his drive, which would be insane and obscene if he did so, because he’s ticked every box.
Right now, with the four active drivers they have in the Red Bull F1 pool, they are well served. So why fix something that ain’t broken? Furthermore, when Hadjar had a broken hand, Lawson did an incredible job substituting for him. I wouldn’t be surprised if today he avoids trouble and ends up further up the order than he starts.
Pierre Gasly once again showed that he can wrench performance out of a shitbox, which he did by putting the Alpine P10 on the grid. Great effort by the Frenchman.
However, Lawson and Gasly benefited from Arvid Lindblad, who notably finished P9 in qualifying but took a five-place grid penalty, which means a P14 start for the impressive 19-year-old Briton. Watch him move up the order if he can avoid what is likely to be early-lap mayhem around COTA.
Moving down the grid, P12 for Fernando Alonso and P16 for his teammate Lance Stroll suggest a little bit of improvement there at Aston Martin. For much of the season, they’ve been propping up the grid or struggling at the wrong end of proceedings. But they’re still way off, and I will be surprised if they last the race.
The best American team, Haas, were relatively disappointing, P13 and P15, with Ollie Bearman getting the better of Esteban Ocon. Nothing to see there, apart from midfield mediocrity grinding away with a car they, like most rivals, struggle to understand. Upgrades tend to be downgrades, followed by much head-scratching.
Williams in freefall, Cadillac nightmare
“A tricky day”
Hear from Alex after his Friday at COTA: https://t.co/QJsaelOBaS 🇺🇸 https://t.co/wDuUGKh6CR
— Atlassian Williams F1 Team (@WilliamsRacing) October 24, 2026
It has to be noted that Williams are in a state that beggars belief, with Carlos Sainz P17 and Alex Albon P18. They have their work cut out to make one of the worst cars on the grid head in the right direction. It’s appalling what has become of Sir Frank’s once-great team.
It finished P5 last year, but under the leadership of James ‘Word Salad’ Vowles, it continues to underperform to an embarrassing level. So much so, I felt that Alex Albon was going to start crying at one point during qualifying, such was his frustration.
Something has to happen with that team because, as it is now, it’s sliding down the grid and is probably the second-worst car and outfit in what is the pinnacle of the sport.
Worst, of course, is Cadillac. There has never been, in my memory, a team so bad as this in the modern era. The likes of Marussia, HRT and Caterham, which broke cover a decade or so ago, were bad, but not as bad as this Cadillac outfit. Ironically, many of the people from those forgotten F1 flops are now in the trenches at Caddy!
For their first Texas rodeo, Cadillac have pretty much sent Sergio Perez and Valtteri Bottas to a gunfight with a plastic knife. It’s horrible to watch, and it’s a shame that one of America’s biggest auto brands has become the laughing stock of Formula 1 in its debut season. And on home soil, it’s going to hurt a lot, no matter what the spin doctors tell you.
Finally, Franco Colapinto got himself a 10-place demotion for PU bits, meaning he’ll start P21. And Gabriel Bortoleto, with his 80-place grid penalty for exceeding his quota of power unit elements. Yes, that’s how ridiculous the rules are in this sport we love so much in this current era. Where are they going to start the Brazilian’s Audi from? Dallas?
Antonelli vs Verstappen: A humdinger in store for COTA
Pirelli simulations suggest a one-stop strategy will be quickest for the United States Grand Prix, with teams potentially favouring Soft-Medium to exploit the superior grip of the Soft tyre. The Hard compound remains a viable alternative for the second stint, particularly if an early Safety Car encourages drivers to switch to the durable C2.
Higher-than-expected tyre degradation could make a two-stop Soft-Medium-Soft strategy competitive, with only a small projected time penalty. However, track position, traffic and overtaking opportunities will influence decisions. Ultimately, evolving circuit conditions and race-day temperatures will determine which strategy delivers the best result.
Whatever the case, we’re in for a humdinger of a race, with Kimi Antonelli and Max Verstappen, the big boys, the big dudes, the big cheeses of Formula 1 today, chased by the Keystone Cops, aka modern-day Ferrari. Hopefully, they get their act together. It’s always good for the sport when they win.
And if they don’t, thankfully, they will produce the usual amount of column inches questioning or ridiculing their decisions, depending on how the afternoon pans out. But if they get the maths right and everything works for them, which they can do and have shown they can do on occasions, Leclerc looks good for a podium for sure.
But don’t rule him out of fighting for the race win if their practice victories were anything to go by. Ditto Lewis Hamilton. Let’s not forget that Lewis has won around here five times since the race first happened in 2012. Enjoy the race, folks!